Shocking Attempt to Take Your Gun Rights Away Introduced in Iowa
Iowa – -(AmmoLand.com)-There is a reason that Iowa Gun Owners calls itself “Iowa’s Only No Compromise Gun Group” – and it’s not just because of the snazzy sound of it.
It’s because we are not willing to make back room deals and compromise one piece of your rights away to secure another.
Maintaining this philosophy has kept Iowa Gun Owners from falling into one political trap after another for the last two legislative sessions. You see, when you trust an anti-gun politician to help you with your legislation you run the risk of getting burned.
We are here to warn you about another last minute attempt to take a watered down gun bill and make it truly terrible for Iowans.
This needs your immediate attention!
As we warned you last week, anti-gun legislators Senator Mike Gronstal and Representative Kevin McCarthy introduced companions pieces of legislation in the House and Senate that looked somewhat decent – relatively speaking.
This was done not because these two are pro-gun but because many anti-gun incumbents are scared about their re-election campaigns and they want to be able to say that they supported a gun bill.
Of course, it wasn’t REAL Right-to-Carry and so we asked you to contact your State Senator and State Representative to urge them to support amendments to make the bill reflect the REAL Right-to-Carry bill.
(For those new here, and new folks join here every single day – REAL Right-to-Carry would allow any law abiding Iowan the right to carry a weapon for self-defense WITHOUT having to beg government permission first. This is already the law in Vermont, Alaska, most of Montana and may soon become law in Wyoming and Arizona.)
From the start we suspected a trap was coming and today it came.
Senator Keith Kreiman, the same one who managed the Iowa Disarmament Act of 2010, has an amendment ready to go on this bill that would do the following:
Guts Iowa’s preemption law, 724.28. This is the important legal principle that states that no political subdivision may enact gun laws that are more restrictive than state code. Without this law in place your town may allow you to carry weapons for self-defense but the town next to you may deny that right – and you may be arrested for not knowing their laws. That’s right – Kreiman’s amendment will allow each individual municipality to decide which of your 2nd Amendment rights that will accept and which ones they will reject.
(Imagine driving from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids with your concealed carry permit in hand and when you get to Cedar Rapids you get stopped for running a red light. The officer asks for your license, registration and then asks if you have any concealed weapons in the car. You are trying to be honest and say that you do but that you have your concealed weapons permit with you. It will not matter – you can be arrested for having a concealed weapon in a town that prohibits this!)
This is a major, major step backwards for gun owners in Iowa and reduces this bill from a mere ‘shall issue’ back to ‘may issue.’ Allows you to be denied a permit for a mere misdemeanor assault charge! Note we are not talking here about domestic violence – we have been fighting that fight all session but it was recently made law. No, this amended language says that you will be denied a permit for a fist fight you were in 10, 20, 30, maybe 40 years ago while in a senior in high school! Of course, assaults don’t require actual physical contact in the eyes of the law. You can be arrested and convicted for actions that seem to be offensive or insulting to someone else. And this thresh hold will now be used to decide whether or not you have the right to defend yourself in public for the rest of your life! Soon spitting on the sidewalk will also be grounds for losing your 2nd Amendment rights if this keep up.
Destroys any idea of this bill still being ‘shall issue’ by allowing the government to deny you a permit to carry a weapon if they think that probable cause exists that you are likely to use your weapon in an unlawful manner or in a negligent manner. That’s right – the government gets to look into the future and decide that you may, in the future, act in a negligent manner – and you will lose your right to self-defense in public because of this. For those of you who live in counties where your sheriff refuses to issue permits, or only gives them out to a chosen few, just think of how this statue will be abused! Folks there is more – but we simply don’t have time to include it now.
This is what happens when you start to compromise and decide what rights you can barter away – ‘they’ always get what they want and you get stuck with the leftovers.
Iowa Gun Owners will not do this. The anti-gun crowd may have killed our bill this session but we will never concede the fight and give them what they want.
It’s time to call your Senator and Representative (this has been introduced in the Senate for now but may quickly come to the House version of this bill) and demand that he or she oppose this amendment. If this amendment is adopted then they need to vote no on the final passage.
If this amendment is adopted then Iowa Gun Owners will be scoring the final vote as a gun vote, not just the vote to amend this with the REAL Right-to-Carry language.
This is a very dangerous attack. Please call and email your Senator and Representative immediately and tell them to oppose this. We are down to the last few days of the 2010 session and things will be happening quickly.
Once you’ve done that, take a moment to send an email to Senator Keith Kreiman and let him know what you think of his attack on your 2nd Amendment rights. His email address is: [email protected].
To find out who your State Representative and Senator is please FIND OUT HERE.
To find the email address of your State Representative please click EMAIL.
You can reach your Representative by either calling the House switchboard at 515-281-3221 (ask to be transferred) or by clicking on your State Representative’s name once you hit the link above and calling the number given with their information.
- To find the email address for your Senator please click EMAIL.
- To call your Senator please call 515-281-3371 and ask to be transferred.
- Feel free to use this pre-written email below or compose your own.
Thanks for your help in this pivotal fight!
(Please note that this amendment is not yet available online. We obtained a copy while working at the Capitol today but as of yet there is no online version for you to look at.) —————————————————————————-
(Pre-Written Email)
Dear ____________________,
Recently I learned of a sneak attack on my gun rights being launched by anti-gun State Senator Keith Kreiman that would:
eliminate Iowa’s preemption law which would allow any city in Iowa to make up their own gun laws and prosecute me for breaking them, even if I didn’t know about them; allows me to lose my right to carry a weapon in defense of violent criminal attack because of a mere assault conviction that may have occurred 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years in the past; allow the government to deny my right to carry a gun because of a crime that I MAY commit in the future! I expect you to do all you can to stop this anti-gun amendment and instead support the REAL Right-to-Carry bill that would allow all law abiding Iowans the right to carry a gun for self-defense without having to obtain government permission first.
Please don’t bargain my rights away in some attempt to “get something done” – please fight for the 2nd Amendment and the REAL Right-to-Carry bill.
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