House "Republicans" Violate Oaths and State Platform - NRA AWOL as usual

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."
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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

All across the country we are seeing our Nation being dismantled by Professional Politicians. The only way we will see change is to change the parties involved. Actually, I'd like to see no party affiliation what so ever! I made a personal promise that I will no longer vote for anyone with a D or R behind his name! Find a strong third party candidate and put your support behind him.

I've heard that there are two sides to every story

I've heard that there are two sides to every story. I think this might be the other side:

Iowa Firearms Coalition
Legislation Update
April 12, 2011


Today the Iowa House of Representatives considered SF 456. This is legislation that will create a pathway for the restoration of your right to carry if you are ever denied a Permit to Carry Weapons on the basis of a mental health disqualification. It also provides for the reporting of historic mental health records to the NICS system while providing federal funding for doing so. This should relieve the concerns of the ISSDA and some of its members about the lack of these historical mental health records in the current NICS background checks. SF 456 cleared the Senate easily, and a smooth, quick passage was expected in the House. This important bill is truly a win-win piece of legislation! Citizens who have been stripped of their rights will have an opportunity to regain them and Sheriffs can have confidence in the accuracy of the NICS background check.

That was only half of the story, though. In a totally surprising move, an amendment, H-1645, was filed to SF 456. Had it passed, this amendment would have provided for permitless carry of weapons in Iowa. The procedure to attach it to SF 456 was brokered by Iowa Gun Owners (IGO).

While IFC is in favor of becoming the next state to join the “group of four” that do not require their citizens to obtain permission to carry a firearm outside of the home, there is a right way and a wrong way to pursue this change. What happened on the House floor today was the wrong way. In opposition of a unified House leadership, an attempt was made to attach a highly controversial and non-germane amendment to a piece of legislation that had wide bi-partisan support in both chambers. Even had this maneuver succeeded in the House, the amendment would have served as a “poison pill” that would have assured the death of SF 456 in the Senate.

In the end, H-1645 was blocked from being attached to SF 456 by a 91-6 vote – a vote that if successful would have suspended House rules and allowed H-1645 to be attached to SF 456. (SF 456 then passed on a 98-0 vote, and is now off to the Governor's desk for a signature.) The net result was a sour attitude that has certainly derailed any chance of getting permitless carry considered this year in any context, and may have even damaged chances to get any traction for it in the second part of the session to be held in 2012.

Neither the NRA nor IFC will be considering the results of the H-1645 procedural vote for grading purposes. You may hear from other groups (and perhaps even the media) that only 6 Representatives stood up for permitless carry in Iowa. This is patently false! The truth is that only 6 Representatives decided to break the rules of the House in order to attach H-1645 to SF 456. That is an important distinction that you need to be aware of as you read and hear things going forward from today, and the reason that this procedural vote is not relevant to any type of grading on gun related legislation. Anyone that would tell you a different story is either ignorant or apathetic of the truth.

Several prominent members of the Iowa House have already been in contact with both the NRA and IFC lobbyists, and have pledged their support over the summer to revive in 2012 important legislation that failed to make it past the funnel this year. They were all dismayed at the games that were played today, and they have made it clear that they appreciate the way that IFC and NRA lobbyists and members represent themselves when dealing with lawmakers. We appreciate that kind of feedback, and we will do everything in our power to continue to protect and advance YOUR right to protect yourself in 2011 and all of the years to come.

We ask that you to keep this in mind when “fundraising” letters and e-mails come your way. There are other groups who will tell you that they are looking out for your best interests, accept no compromises, and that anything less is unacceptable. But if they cannot do so without getting themselves removed from the legislative process, how effective can they really be? IFC knows how to maintain an audience with the legislators that represent us in Des Moines. Other groups do not. They only know how to be confrontational and alienate the very same people that they must work with to get anything accomplished. If you are interested in helping the ONLY group in Iowa that has been successful in advancing your firearms rights, please visit our website today - join IFC, make a generous donation, or volunteer to help us in the leadership positions where we need dedicated people to keep us moving forward.

Click to expand...

I agree with General Sherman's effort to win the Civil War. I may not agree with the methods he employed, though.

amaixner said:

I've heard that there are two sides to every story. I think this might be the other side:



I agree with General Sherman's effort to win the Civil War. I may not agree with the methods he employed, though.

Click to expand...

There are constant poison pill amendments that kill right thinking bills. This sounds like another one. Get your reps to reintroduce a clean version and it sounds like it will pass.

(12) NO BASHING OF OTHER GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS: Regardless of how convinced you are that another gun rights organization is not doing their job, this is not the place to air those concerns unless they are specifically related to an anti-open carry position taken by that organization. All other rants against other gun rights groups will be deleted or the thread locked.

Any further threads of this type will be deleted. Thread will be locked for archival purposes due to the IFC response posted. If the original poster or others want to inquire further, please PM Administrator.

I have been asked how this is bashing and I think it would help for me to explain.

The title of the thread is "... NRA AWOL as usual". That impies that the NRA is AWOL at the state level.

Now ... while many of us working in the states often have occasion to question the specific methods the NRA uses, this is clearly nothing more than bashing them.

Our rule is designed to help us all present a unified front and not degrade to in-fighting.

I hope this makes sense.

For a detailed description of the course of events, see the post by Amaixner above.


John