It didn’t take long.
48 hours into the 2014 legislative session, the politicians in Des Moines are already working overtime to confuse and sandbag pro-gun bills like Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation.
And it’s happening in both chambers.
You see, every election year, politicians who are on the record against gun rights start to get scared.
They remember the friends that were there in the General Assembly with them in years past, friends who were supposed to win their re-elections with ease, but who are no longer there.
They remember the mailings, postcards, emails, phone calls and Facebook posts that Iowa Gun Owners did in those campaigns exposing voting records and educating voters on how the candidates answered their candidate surveys.
They know what informed gun owners can do in tight elections – and it scares them.
The politicians know that Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation are in drafting and that gun owners are going to want an up or down vote on these bills.
The last thing that they want to do is vote on tough gun bills like this because then it leaves a record.
They would prefer to just be able to come home to their districts, having no record, and be able to continually reassure you that they are pro-gun. It’s that much easier if they can hide behind “cover bills.”
The idea behind a cover bill is simple: co-sponsor the bill knowing that it will die or do almost nothing if it becomes law and then loudly tell the voters how strong on gun rights you are.
That’s what HF2012 would do.
Current Iowa law prohibits children under the age of 14 from shooting a handgun or possessing the ammo to go into a handgun – even under Dad’s watchful eye. Clearly this is outrageous and needs to be fixed.
To fix it, the General Assembly should simply erase that code section and allow the parents to decide when it’s time to teach Junior how to shoot. But that would be controversial.
Instead, this sets up the perfect cover bill scenario. The bill would change the age from 14 to 12 – thus doing almost nothing to effect real change here in Iowa and at the same time give politicians political cover when facing their re-elections.
Don’t believe that are that devious? Don’t take our word on it – we’ll give you a real life example.
Representative Dan Muhlbauer (D-Manilla) came out around Christmas time in 2012 and called for the banning and house-to-house confiscation of ALL semi-automatics in the state!!
It was one of the most shocking anti-gun statements we’ve ever seen uttered in Iowa or anywhere else!
Your wife’s concealed carry pistol, the Ruger .22 you teach your children or grandchildren to shoot with, even your Remington 11/87 .12 gauge that you take pheasant hunting – they would all be illegal if Rep. Muhlbauer had his way.
Once IGO exposed his radical agenda, gun owners from across the state began to unleash a torrent of angry calls and emails on Muhlbauer and he backed down for now.
This same Rep. Muhlbauer is up for re-election later this year in a fairly pro-gun district – leaving him very nervous about what the voters are going to decide.
That’s why it was a no brainer for him to co-sponsor HF2012, which he did.
From now until election day he will stand up and declare himself loudly pro-gun despite the fact that he’s one of the most radically anti-gun members of the entire state legislature!
And he wasn’t the only anti-gunner to sign this legislation.
Too often, well-meaning politicians don’t understand when they are being played by their opponents. Sometimes, they don’t understand that the very bills they draft will be seized upon by the other side and used against us over the long haul.
That’s what HF2012 will do – accomplish virtually nothing from a policy standpoint, but give tremendous political cover to bad politicians.
That’s why I’m asking you to do two things right now:
1. Call your Representative and tell him/her that you want them to co-sponsor Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation being brought forth by Rep. Tom Shaw. (While we don’t have bill numbers as of this writing, they will be coming out soon.)
Tell them that “cover bills” like HF2012 are not going to cut it and that you expect to see up or down votes on substantive bills – not trifling bills that do next to nothing to advance our gun rights.
The Capitol switchboard is 515-281-3221. You can email them the same message if you prefer and you can find their info by following this link.
2. Call House Speaker Kraig Paulsen’s office and tell him that you expect to see his chamber vote this session on Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation – not cover bills.
His office number is 515-281-3521.
Don’t let the political class in Des Moines spin you!
Expect them to complain, tell you that you’re being lied to, and generally be disagreeable. This is what happens when grassroots pressure is brought to bear and their schemes are shown to be what they really are.
Double down on them and insist that they get on the record with their support of Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground – which are being filed by Rep. Tom Shaw!
If you can, please consider chipping in whatever amount you can right away to help IGO mobilize as many gun owners as possible!
We’re currently working on mobilizing as many people as possible across Iowa to aid in this fight by direct mail, focused internet marketing, and massive email deployments.
Whether you can chip in $50, $20 or even just $10 – every penny helps us reach out to more people.
But please make you calls right away as that’s most important!
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
P.S. The politicians in Des Moines are afraid. It’s an election year and they’ve stalled, blocked, delayed, and side-stepped Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation since they were elected in 2012.
Anti-gunners are afraid of voting because when they vote “No” they are then officially on the record and they know what happens to politicians who oppose the 2nd Amendment here in Iowa.
So they have drafted a cover bill – a bill designed to die or accomplish next to nothing if passed into law – hoping to be able to confuse you at election time by telling you that they do support your gun rights.
It’s a lie – don’t fall for it. HF2012 is a cover bill that will set our gun rights back long term.
So please, take a moment to immediately call your Representative and the Speaker of the House Kraig Paulsen right away and tell them that you don’t want to see them move “cover bills,” but rather you want them to co-sponsor and vote in favor of Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground legislation!
To reach your Representative call 515-281-3221.
To reach Speaker Paulsen’s office call 515-281-3521.
Then please consider chipping in whatever amount you can to assist Iowa Gun Owners in mobilizing as many Iowans to this fight as we possibly can.
