Straight_Shooter
Regular Member
Iowa Republican Platform, paragraph 7.15:
"We demand full restoration of 2nd Amendment rights and call for a state law authorizing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms, open or concealed, without a permit."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
April 13, 2011
In a stunning act of betrayal the House Republican leadership team yesterday made
it perfectly clear that they do not care about your gun rights - by voting AGAINST
Constitutional Carry.
That's right - yesterday Iowa Gun Owners obtained a vote on Constitutional Carry
on the Floor of the House and the result was an overwhleming "NO" vote.
Before going further, we want to inform you about some history that you should be
aware of.
Beginning back in 2009 Iowa Gun Owners forced a vote on the Floor of the House when
the Democrats controlled the majority. The Republican party was only too happy to
vote yes on a procedural vote to advance your gun rights. In fact, all Republicans
voted yes on that procedural vote in 2009.
They did so because they felt that the Democrats were blocking gun bills and they
wanted to force a vote so that Iowans would know who supports their gun rights and
who does not.
As election season rolled around last Fall, House Republicans made it clear to Iowa
Gun Owners that they were looking forward to our assistance in electing pro-gun
Republicans as we rolled out close to 100,000 pieces of mail informing you, our members,
as well as many other gun owners, which Democrats voted against gun rights in 2009 and
2010.
They made it clear that once they had the majority, Constitutional Carry, Stand-Your-
Ground and our other gun bills would sail right through the House. That didn't happen.
As you may recall, on election night, dozens of anti-gun Democrats were defeated and
replaced with candidates who correctly answered the Iowa Gun Owners 2010 Gun Rights
Candidate Survey.
The survey specifically asked if the candidate would support Constitutional Carry and
if the candidate would seek tough, roll call votes, so that you and I would know which
candidates are pro-gun and who just says that they are.
Well yesterday, when the vote came, dozens of politicians broke their campaign promises.
You see, early on this legislative session, Iowa Gun Owners was concerned since House Leadership
placed all of our gun bills in the Public Safety Committee - under the control of anti-gun
Representative Clel Baudler - even after we asked them to put the bills in another committee.
That also didn't happen.
Long time members of Iowa Gun Owners will recall that Baudler has constantly been a problem
in the fight to advance gun rights. He voted against Constitutional Carry on the Floor last year.
This year, he continued to give our gun bills to the most anti-gun subcommittees possible and
even the NRA had major difficulties getting him to advance gun bills without watering them down
first.
But House Leadership insisted that Baudler would "play ball." That too, didn't happen.
House Leadership them moved our Constitutional Carry bill into the Ways and Means Committee under
the control of Rep. Tom Sands - an IGO member. We were promised quick movement of this bill and
while it got passed out of subcommittee, that's as far as it got. Another commitment broken.
By now you can see the pattern that was forming.
Politicians love the support and help of gun owners at election time - but they try to forget about
them and ignore them the minute the election is over. They are quick to support us with procedural
votes when they want to gain the majority party, but once they have it they'll do anything they
can to avoid being seen as extreme.
It was painfully obvious this year. Besides not moving Constitutional Carry the House Republicans
took no action on:
Stand-Your-Ground Legislation - our bill that would enhance your ability to legally defend yourself in Iowa.
Permit-to-Purchase Repeal Legislation - our bill that would allow law abiding Iowans to buy guns without needing
permission.
The Emergency Powers Legislation - a bill that would specifically deny the state the power to seize weapons from
your home in the aftermath of a disaster. This is in response to the police action after Hurricane
Katrina.
Pre-Emption Reform Legislation - a bill that would reign-in wildly anti-gun Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller as
he violates Iowa code 724.28 and authorizes counties and cities to ban guns on their property.
I could go on and on. House Republicans were moving none of these bills.
We were not going to allow that to happen.
Many politicians have come to us in the last few days and weeks telling us that 'next year will be
the year' and 'we just need more time to educate the freshman, try again later' and on and on.
They wanted to ensure that there wasn't going to be a gun vote this year.
But unlike so many others, Iowa Gun Owners is not in the business of going to the Capitol to
make phony friends and hoping to get an invite to the next cocktail party. We do not make back-room deals.
We are there to fight for your gun rights - period.
So after a long trail of broken promises, as documented above, the board of Iowa Gun Owners
decided that it was time to take action. We met with House Leadership late last week and they
continued to give us no answer as to when we were going to see votes on our bills.
So yesterday, when a different gun bill was brought to the Floor, we took the opportunity to
run Constitutional Carry as an amendment to that bill.
Lead by fierce pro-gun Representative Tom Shaw, this amendment simply would have allowed law
abiding Iowans the right to carry a gun WITHOUT needing to beg government permission. It would
allow you to obtain a permit if you wanted one for reciprocity purposes but it was optional.
It does away with the burdensome requirements currently in place like mandated government
training, the fees for the training, the fees for the permit, etc.
It would elevate Iowa to the status of states like Alaska, Vermont, Arizona, and Wyoming that
have Constitutional Carry and are some of the safest states in the nation.
When House Republicans got wind of the amendments that Representative Shaw was having drafted for
Iowa Gun Owners, they flew into a rage!
Members of the leadership team rushed to representatives from Iowa Gun Owners and begged and
eventually threatened us, trying to get us to pull the bill. (In our next alert, we will tell you
more about the specific players in the House who were working overtime to prevent this vote.)
When we would not compromise they went to Representative Shaw and tried to pressure him. But
Shaw, like Iowa Gun Owners, did not come to Des Moines to be a part of the inside power games
that occur in the Capitol. He ran to defend the Constitution!
(That's also why Iowa Gun Owners was so involved in his campaign with boots on the ground, direct
mail, and financial support from our Political Action Committee.)
At the appropriate moment, Representative Shaw stood and spoke of his amendment for Constitutional
Carry. In the ultimate betrayal, the amendment was ruled non-germane, and it became immediately
clear that House Republicans were going to completely walk away from their promise to Iowa's gun
owners who helped elect them.
Not to be out-maneuvered, Representative Shaw exercised procedural rules that would allow the body to
consider the bill anyway. At this point, Shaw's move was ruled out of order. But in a historic move,
Shaw then challenged the ruling of the Chair and asked for a vote on whether or not he was out of order.
Make no mistake: procedure is where gun bills die. Procedure is where freedom dies.
If you let the anti-gunners run procedure they will trample your rights every time. The members in the
House Republicans who are secretly anti-gun were using every trick in the book to keep their views from
being exposed.
By forcing this vote Representative Shaw was shining sunlight directly on those members. This was the
gun vote that matters for 2011. For those who don't agree, don't forget that in 2009 when we forced the
almost identical vote with then Representative Kent Sorenson, the House Republicans all voted with us
and were quick to condemn the Democrats for being anti-gun.
They can't have it both ways.
As the vote began, it appeared that members of the House were leaving the chamber so as to not be required
to vote. Seeing this happen, Representative Kim Pearson (another freshman legislator that Iowa Gun Owners
helped heavily in the campaign season last Fall) immediately invoked another House rule that requires the
members to come back in and vote.
Forced to vote, the members of the House abandoned gun rights in droves. Worse, dozens and dozens of
politicians who gave Iowa Gun Owners SIGNED surveys in the campaign season voted no on this bill.
But the great news is that Iowa Gun Owners continues to expand the number of politicians who are willing
to go to the mat for your freedoms.
In our next alert we are going to highlight the members of the House who voted to defend the 2nd Amendment
yesterday and we will very soon be informing you of those who did not as well as some special cases of
betrayal that can't go unnoticed.
Stay tuned for our next alert to learn more about the winners and losers in this week's historic gun vote in the House.
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
"We demand full restoration of 2nd Amendment rights and call for a state law authorizing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms, open or concealed, without a permit."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
April 13, 2011
In a stunning act of betrayal the House Republican leadership team yesterday made
it perfectly clear that they do not care about your gun rights - by voting AGAINST
Constitutional Carry.
That's right - yesterday Iowa Gun Owners obtained a vote on Constitutional Carry
on the Floor of the House and the result was an overwhleming "NO" vote.
Before going further, we want to inform you about some history that you should be
aware of.
Beginning back in 2009 Iowa Gun Owners forced a vote on the Floor of the House when
the Democrats controlled the majority. The Republican party was only too happy to
vote yes on a procedural vote to advance your gun rights. In fact, all Republicans
voted yes on that procedural vote in 2009.
They did so because they felt that the Democrats were blocking gun bills and they
wanted to force a vote so that Iowans would know who supports their gun rights and
who does not.
As election season rolled around last Fall, House Republicans made it clear to Iowa
Gun Owners that they were looking forward to our assistance in electing pro-gun
Republicans as we rolled out close to 100,000 pieces of mail informing you, our members,
as well as many other gun owners, which Democrats voted against gun rights in 2009 and
2010.
They made it clear that once they had the majority, Constitutional Carry, Stand-Your-
Ground and our other gun bills would sail right through the House. That didn't happen.
As you may recall, on election night, dozens of anti-gun Democrats were defeated and
replaced with candidates who correctly answered the Iowa Gun Owners 2010 Gun Rights
Candidate Survey.
The survey specifically asked if the candidate would support Constitutional Carry and
if the candidate would seek tough, roll call votes, so that you and I would know which
candidates are pro-gun and who just says that they are.
Well yesterday, when the vote came, dozens of politicians broke their campaign promises.
You see, early on this legislative session, Iowa Gun Owners was concerned since House Leadership
placed all of our gun bills in the Public Safety Committee - under the control of anti-gun
Representative Clel Baudler - even after we asked them to put the bills in another committee.
That also didn't happen.
Long time members of Iowa Gun Owners will recall that Baudler has constantly been a problem
in the fight to advance gun rights. He voted against Constitutional Carry on the Floor last year.
This year, he continued to give our gun bills to the most anti-gun subcommittees possible and
even the NRA had major difficulties getting him to advance gun bills without watering them down
first.
But House Leadership insisted that Baudler would "play ball." That too, didn't happen.
House Leadership them moved our Constitutional Carry bill into the Ways and Means Committee under
the control of Rep. Tom Sands - an IGO member. We were promised quick movement of this bill and
while it got passed out of subcommittee, that's as far as it got. Another commitment broken.
By now you can see the pattern that was forming.
Politicians love the support and help of gun owners at election time - but they try to forget about
them and ignore them the minute the election is over. They are quick to support us with procedural
votes when they want to gain the majority party, but once they have it they'll do anything they
can to avoid being seen as extreme.
It was painfully obvious this year. Besides not moving Constitutional Carry the House Republicans
took no action on:
Stand-Your-Ground Legislation - our bill that would enhance your ability to legally defend yourself in Iowa.
Permit-to-Purchase Repeal Legislation - our bill that would allow law abiding Iowans to buy guns without needing
permission.
The Emergency Powers Legislation - a bill that would specifically deny the state the power to seize weapons from
your home in the aftermath of a disaster. This is in response to the police action after Hurricane
Katrina.
Pre-Emption Reform Legislation - a bill that would reign-in wildly anti-gun Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller as
he violates Iowa code 724.28 and authorizes counties and cities to ban guns on their property.
I could go on and on. House Republicans were moving none of these bills.
We were not going to allow that to happen.
Many politicians have come to us in the last few days and weeks telling us that 'next year will be
the year' and 'we just need more time to educate the freshman, try again later' and on and on.
They wanted to ensure that there wasn't going to be a gun vote this year.
But unlike so many others, Iowa Gun Owners is not in the business of going to the Capitol to
make phony friends and hoping to get an invite to the next cocktail party. We do not make back-room deals.
We are there to fight for your gun rights - period.
So after a long trail of broken promises, as documented above, the board of Iowa Gun Owners
decided that it was time to take action. We met with House Leadership late last week and they
continued to give us no answer as to when we were going to see votes on our bills.
So yesterday, when a different gun bill was brought to the Floor, we took the opportunity to
run Constitutional Carry as an amendment to that bill.
Lead by fierce pro-gun Representative Tom Shaw, this amendment simply would have allowed law
abiding Iowans the right to carry a gun WITHOUT needing to beg government permission. It would
allow you to obtain a permit if you wanted one for reciprocity purposes but it was optional.
It does away with the burdensome requirements currently in place like mandated government
training, the fees for the training, the fees for the permit, etc.
It would elevate Iowa to the status of states like Alaska, Vermont, Arizona, and Wyoming that
have Constitutional Carry and are some of the safest states in the nation.
When House Republicans got wind of the amendments that Representative Shaw was having drafted for
Iowa Gun Owners, they flew into a rage!
Members of the leadership team rushed to representatives from Iowa Gun Owners and begged and
eventually threatened us, trying to get us to pull the bill. (In our next alert, we will tell you
more about the specific players in the House who were working overtime to prevent this vote.)
When we would not compromise they went to Representative Shaw and tried to pressure him. But
Shaw, like Iowa Gun Owners, did not come to Des Moines to be a part of the inside power games
that occur in the Capitol. He ran to defend the Constitution!
(That's also why Iowa Gun Owners was so involved in his campaign with boots on the ground, direct
mail, and financial support from our Political Action Committee.)
At the appropriate moment, Representative Shaw stood and spoke of his amendment for Constitutional
Carry. In the ultimate betrayal, the amendment was ruled non-germane, and it became immediately
clear that House Republicans were going to completely walk away from their promise to Iowa's gun
owners who helped elect them.
Not to be out-maneuvered, Representative Shaw exercised procedural rules that would allow the body to
consider the bill anyway. At this point, Shaw's move was ruled out of order. But in a historic move,
Shaw then challenged the ruling of the Chair and asked for a vote on whether or not he was out of order.
Make no mistake: procedure is where gun bills die. Procedure is where freedom dies.
If you let the anti-gunners run procedure they will trample your rights every time. The members in the
House Republicans who are secretly anti-gun were using every trick in the book to keep their views from
being exposed.
By forcing this vote Representative Shaw was shining sunlight directly on those members. This was the
gun vote that matters for 2011. For those who don't agree, don't forget that in 2009 when we forced the
almost identical vote with then Representative Kent Sorenson, the House Republicans all voted with us
and were quick to condemn the Democrats for being anti-gun.
They can't have it both ways.
As the vote began, it appeared that members of the House were leaving the chamber so as to not be required
to vote. Seeing this happen, Representative Kim Pearson (another freshman legislator that Iowa Gun Owners
helped heavily in the campaign season last Fall) immediately invoked another House rule that requires the
members to come back in and vote.
Forced to vote, the members of the House abandoned gun rights in droves. Worse, dozens and dozens of
politicians who gave Iowa Gun Owners SIGNED surveys in the campaign season voted no on this bill.
But the great news is that Iowa Gun Owners continues to expand the number of politicians who are willing
to go to the mat for your freedoms.
In our next alert we are going to highlight the members of the House who voted to defend the 2nd Amendment
yesterday and we will very soon be informing you of those who did not as well as some special cases of
betrayal that can't go unnoticed.
Stay tuned for our next alert to learn more about the winners and losers in this week's historic gun vote in the House.
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director