For several years, Iowa Gun Owners’ members have been pushing to repeal the Iowa permit to purchase law on the grounds that having it in place is unconstitutional.

Having to obtain a permit to exercise a constitutional right is just backwards.

More, it harkens back to the era of “Jim Crow” laws from last century where one group of citizens denied the right to own firearms to another group of citizens.

As a result, most states have repealed these laws. In fact Iowa is one of only a handful of states with this law still in place.

Some have questioned why we want this law gone so badly.

It’s simple: we don’t want any law abiding citizen to have to get permission for the right to defend themselves. Just as importantly, we don’t want the government having a list of gun owners which is exactly what this permit process results in.

Of course, we’ve all been called quacks and nuts for thinking that anything bad could ever happen from having a de facto gun owner’s registry in place.

The liberal media, the anti-gun lobby at the Capitol, and anti-gun legislators all try to make you feel guilty for simply wanting your rights without notifying any government agency.

We don’t care what they think, and we’re on a path to replacing those legislators with pro-gun legislators who will advance the 2nd Amendment here in Iowa.

But now we are seeing validation of our concerns from those at the highest levels of government.

In light of all the recent disclosures about the incredible breadth and scope of the federal government’s data collection efforts, 26 U.S. Senators have fired off a letter to the head of the National Security Administration (NSA) demanding to know one thing: are you or are you not keeping records of guns and gun owners in the United States?

Of course, no one is expecting a straight answer from the NSA.

But the mere fact that over 25% of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, are concerned enough to demand an answer to this question is chilling.

History makes is clear what happens when governments establish these lists.

Which makes it all the more important that we pass legislation at the state level that protects the rights of law abiding Iowans – and ensures they can buy a firearm without having to obtain government permission or add their name to a government database.

This type of government intrusion so often starts at the state level.

Who can forget what happened in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – when cops went house to house collecting privately owned firearms from homeowners who needed them to survive?

More recently, just a few months ago it was revealed that government officials in Missouri gave their entire list of over 163,000 permit holders to the federal government!

163,000 more law abiding Americans who are on a government database just because they want to exercise their constitutional rights.

Some may think, ‘I’ve nothing to hide – I don’t care if I’m on a list.’

But don’t fall for this approach; this is exactly what anti-gunners are hoping you’ll think. They want to use your patriotic feelings as a tool to manipulate you into remaining silent while these programs are going on.

This is exactly why Iowa Gun Owners works so hard to remove the need for a permit to purchase and carry firearms.

If your name wasn’t added to a list when you bought your self-defense firearm, it can’t be “mistakenly” transferred over to a federal database.

Next session IGO will be working aggressively to see movement on this bill. Please stay tuned so that you’ll be ready to help out with your calls, emails, and personal interaction with your legislator when the time comes.

For Freedom,

Aaron Dorr
Executive Director

P.S. Last week 26 U.S. Senators sent a letter to the head of the National Security Administration (NSA) demanding to know whether or not the NSA is building/keeping a database of guns and gun owners.

While no one is expecting an honest answer from this administration, we all know deep down that anti-gunners in an Obama administration are very likely compiling this data – especially in light of all the recent scandals.

This is exactly why IGO has been fighting so aggressively to end the permit to purchase firearms here in Iowa. A remnant of a bygone “Jim Crow” law – the idea of needing a permit to exercise a constitutional right is ridiculous.

Next session IGO will be working aggressively to see movement on this bill. Please stay tuned so that you’ll be ready to help out with your calls, emails, and personal interaction with your legislator when the time comes.