Real Right-To-Carry Poised To Make Huge Strides This Year
Iowa--(Ammoland.com)- Two years ago, when Iowa Gun Owners was formed, Iowa had some of the worst gun laws in the country.
You needed government permission to do virtually anything when it came to buying or carrying a gun for self-defense.
A permit to buy…and the fees…later on a class on how to carry a gun…and pay the fee after waiting for months for the class. Later on a permit to carry…and pay another fee and wait for a few more weeks…with baited breath.
After all that, the sheriff could and often times did deny your permit… …often with no explanation or justification whatsoever.
Only a handful of states had laws this bad, IE: New Jersey. Then Iowa Gun Owners got involved in the fight to defend and enhance your Second Amendment rights.
At first we were called crazy. Nut-jobs. Idiots who didn’t understand how the political process worked. But we held on. We grew. Our membership grew and your support continued to help this organization.
At the end of the 2009 legislative session, due to all the pressure you helped create, we obtained what no one else had ever achieved: a roll call vote in the House on a REAL Right-to-Carry bill which would allow all law abiding Iowans the option to carry a weapon for self-defense WITHOUT all the classes, fees, and waiting.
Of course some said this was meaningless. But the anti-gunners didn’t think that vote was meaningless. They knew that now they were on the record as being opposed to gun rights.
They knew that they needed to do something about that or else they would face the wrath of the voters in 2010.
And so they passed a gun bill last year. While it provided some marginal improvements over existing law, it came at a terrible cost.
But what would you expect from a bunch of anti-gunners? They wanted to tell you that they were pro-gun without really doing anything.
So they passed a bill that takes guns away from young Iowans. They passed a bill that takes guns away from those with simple misdemeanors. While claiming to be pro-gun, they passed a bill that makes it easy for veterans to have their guns striped from them.
And for the lucky few who are allowed to carry a gun…well you have to get certified every couple of years for the rest of your life!
(Maybe some of you have seen the signs in Des Moines on the side of the road, advertising for training? Pretty sweet deal if you are the company offering the training – it costs $400 for the class!)
Anti-gun politicians wasted no time in trying to tell you how pro-gun they were. In fact they began to flaunt their new found pro-gun positions immediately.
Through it all you helped IGO stay fixed on the goal of passing a REAL Right-to-Carry bill. We worked hard and got a floor vote on our legislation.
Now we had what we were shooting for: a target list.
While the institutional gun lobby was endorsing Chet Culver, notorious anti-gun Senators like Keith Kreiman, Amanda Reagan, Daryl Beall as well as gun hating Representatives like Kevin McCarthy, Doris Kelley, McKinley Bailey, Ray Zirkelbach and more- we went to work.
With your support we launched a massive mail campaign to our members and other gun rights enthusiasts across Iowa in the week before election day exposing anti-gun candidates for who they were. When election night was over we were pleased to help kick out over 20 anti-gun legislators in the House and Senate.
Our long two year fight paid off and we now have a much different make-up in the House, Senate and Governor’s Mansion.
Now the fight to pass solid gun bills can begin again. Only this time we’ve got the support of the majority of the House, and even Governor elect Branstad supports REAL Right-to-Carry according the survey he returned to us.
In fact, the same groups and out of state organizations that said we were crazy and too extreme for Iowa are now joining in the fight to pass a REAL Right-to-Carry bill.
Thank you for all of your support which helped to get us to this point!
We look forward to contending for your gun rights again this legislative session.
For our members, your renewal notices are in the mail and you should be receiving them soon. For those who have not yet joined please consider doing so today. You can join at a variety of membership levels that you can learn more about by clicking HERE.
Also, please take a moment to check out our redesigned website. While it’s still under re-construction, please take a moment to sign our petition in support of REAL Right-to-Carry.
While you are at it, forward the petition page to a few of your friends. Word of mouth is still one of the best tools we have in growing Iowa Gun Owners.
We look forward to another aggressive year of fighting with you to defend our 2nd Amendment freedoms.
Contact Us: You can contact us in the following ways:
Email: info@iowagunowners.org Phone: 515/309-7858 Mail: P.O. Box 3585, Des Moines, IA 50323 Website: www.IowaGunOwners.orgAbout:
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