Iowa REAL Right-to-Carry Bill Update from the Capitol
Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 4:09 pmIowa REAL Right-to-Carry Bill Update from the Capitol
Iowa Gun Owners
Iowa – -(AmmoLand.com)- A few hours ago the concealed carry bill that we alerted you to yesterday, House File 2528, was handed over to a sub-committee consisting of Representatives’ Rick Olson, Jim Lykam, and Clel Baudler.
(This is the bill that the Democrat leadership brought forth on their own initiative. As a leadership bill it is exempt from the normal legislative deadlines.)
This is interesting indeed because Representative Olson is no friend to gun owners. In fact, when he was in charge of a previous concealed carry bill this year he took a compromised bill and made it far, far worse.
It was so bad that if you were to give a gun to your college bound daughter, or if a grandparent gave a gun of familial importance to a grandchild without state permission, both you and the recipient would be felons for life if convicted! This goes way beyond current Iowa code.
There was much more about that bill that was very dangerous but we didn’t alert you to it because it did not emerge from the funnel process in time for consideration and wasn’t ever actually filed. Instead, it was just being passed around the Capitol.
So with Rep. Olson in charge of the sub-committee anything could happen to this bill. He may do what his party leadership wants him to do and pass the bill out of committee as is. But he also may make the bill worse, maybe a lot worse.
Representatives of Iowa Gun Owners will be on hand to see how this plays out and will keep you updated.
As we said in our most recent alert, we want a vote on the REAL Right-to-Carry bill as it is brought forth as an amendment to HF 2528. We want your Representative and Senator to vote right on that. That’s the vote that we are grading. What happens on the Floor after that is less important to us and we are somewhat neutral on it.
However, all of that changes if this bill changes. If suddenly we see provisions that make gun laws more restrictive as mentioned above, or if we see language that allows you to lose gun rights because some government official thinks that you may, possibly, down the road sometime be a danger to yourself or someone else based on hearsay evidence or similar provisions, then we will be opposed to this bill in its entirety.
We are not going to support a bill that takes guns away from whole classes of people while granting them to a few.
The legislative process is very fluid and most of these deals are being cut behind closed doors and at the behest of the special interest lobbies. In fact, Capitol sources indicate that just moments ago lobbyists in favor of this bill were seen working together with lobbyists for anti-gun Attorney General Tom Miller. This bill may get way worse and we need to be prepared for that possibility.
Please take a moment to email these three legislators and tell them that you would like to see this bill get improved with an amendment using the language of House File 2241.
- You can reach Rep. Olson at this address: rick.olson@legis.state.ia.us
- You can reach Rep. Baudler at this address: clel.baudler@legis.state.ia.us
- You can reach Rep. Lykam at this addres: jim.lykam@legis.state.ia.us
Alternatively, or in addition to your emails, please feel free to call these three up and tell them this over the phone. Their numbers are given below.
- For Olson call: 515-281-7545
- For Baudler call: 641-431-3309
- For Lykam call: 515-281-3221 and ask to be transferred.
Please do this today as the details are being hammered out as we speak. And it does not matter whether or not you are a constituent of them or not. They are the ones that leadership has put in charge of this bill and, as such, are the ones to contact at this time.
We have included the same pre-written email below that was used a few days ago. Feel free to use it or write your own.
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(Pre-Written Email)
Dear ____________________,
House File 2528/Senate File 2379 is being billed as pro-gun but it is far less pro-gun that what is currently available in the legislative process.
This bills raises the age on applicants, allows me to lose my guns for mere misdemeanors, allows Iowa vets to lose their guns easier by incorporating dangerous federal language about mental health, creates entirely new ambiguous code sections related to carrying under the influence which can be harmful to gun owners, and more!
The only gun bill that I consider to be truly pro-gun this session is House File 2241/Senate File 473. The REAL Right-to-Carry bill restores my right of self-defense without making anti-gun compromises.
I therefore urge you to use all procedural tools available to you to move HF2241/SF473 onto the Floor as an amendment to improve this bill.
I will be closely watching your vote on this amendment process.
Sincerely,
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Yours for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms,
Aaron DorrExecutive Director
Iowa Gun Owners
About:
Iowa Gun Owners (IGO) was formed in January of 2009 to combat the oppressive gun laws in the State of Iowa. IGO does not believe that you, as a law abiding citizen, should have to beg permission from the government to be able to defend yourself and your family. That’s why we are working so hard to get a Vermont/Alaska style carry law passed in Iowa. In these states, unless you are a convicted felon or otherwise barred from possessing weapons, you don’t need a permit to carry a gun for self-defense! Join us now! Visit: www.iowagunowners.org
