I’m getting a little nervous, with the next session of the Iowa General Assembly almost upon us, as I haven’t received your renewed membership for 2020 yet.
If you already renewed your membership online or through the mail and our records simply haven’t had time to catch up — then I certainly apologize for the confusion.
But if you have not yet renewed your membership, won’t you please take a few minutes to fill out your online 2020 Membership Renewal form IMMEDIATELY?
As you’ll see below, next session is going to be explosive with a growing number of Republican lawmakers talking about passage of ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation here in Iowa.
Make no mistake, this is a far greater threat to our Second Amendment freedoms than an ordinary AR-15 ban or a ban on magazines that hold over 10 rounds of ammunition.
That’s because this legislation would destroy the idea of ‘due process’ in our great state, by allowing a liberal judge to order your firearms seized and your gun rights suspended — all before you’ve ever been convicted of a crime!
Instead of the courts presuming your innocence until the government convicts you of a criminal charge before a judge or jury, ‘Red Flag’ laws would allow a politically motivated judge to simply declare you guilty, forcing you to prove your innocence after the fact!
As it stands, virtually anyone could file one of these complaints; meaning that your bitter ex, your liberal aunt who lives in California, or an angry neighbor who doesn’t like the Second Amendment could ruin your life with a simple phone call!
It’s already happening in states that have passed ‘Red Flag’ laws.
Just two months ago, a Florida man with the same name as a suspected criminal was ordered to surrender his firearms over a case of mistaken identity.
He had no hearing. No chance to go before a judge. Nothing.
In fact, even though the sheriff’s office acknowledged that this was a case of mistaken identity, the gun owner was forced to go before a judge and beg to have his firearms returned weeks later — and to pay the storage fees that the state charged him!
Despite all of these assaults on our gun rights and our due process guarantees, Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windshitl has bragged on Iowa Press about his meetings with House Democrats as he works to advance this legislation.
As if battling ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation wasn’t enough of a challenge for gun owners next session, we also have to be prepared to defeat ‘Universal Background Checks.’
While gun grabbers would like you to believe that these checks would stop violent crime, that’s absolutely false.
The August shooting in Dayton, OH, that left 10 people dead, was carried out by a madman who passed a background check!
The November 2017 shooting in Sutherland Springs, TX that left 27 people dead, was carried out by a madman who passed a background check.
The October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, NV that left 57 people dead, was carried out by a madman who passed a background check.
I could go on and on as virtually every mass shooting over the last ten years was carried out by a shooter who first passed a background check — proving once and for all that these checks are useless at stopping violent criminals!
So if they don’t stop criminals, why are the gun-grabbers pushing for them so hard?
That’s easy, they want a list of every gun owner in Iowa!
And that is exactly what last year’s ‘universal background check’ bill (H.F. 127) would do; create a massive database of gun owners by requiring that every firearms transfer be approved by the government first.
Put another way, you would be a CRIMINAL for handing down family firearms to your adult children/grandchildren without government permission, under this proposal.
You would be a CRIMINAL for selling a firearm to a lifelong friend without government permission, under this proposal.
You would be a CRIMINAL for even loaning a firearm to a buddy for pheasant opener without government permission, under this proposal!
You see, that’s all this law would be used for; building a database on otherwise law-abiding gun owners and making criminals out of them for not begging government permission to sell or giveaway their firearms.
Over a dozen lawmakers were pushing that bill in Des Moines last session, and many more are planning to add their name as cosponsors next session!
Iowa Gun Owners is getting ready to go to war to defeat both of these proposals next session, whether they are sponsored by Republicans or Democrats.
(To renew with an enhanced membership which includes a FREE T-Shirt and more from IGO, go here.)
And since the best defense is usually a good offense, defeating these bills starts with us doing everything we can to finally get a vote on Constitutional Carry in the House and Senate!
Constitutional Carry is a very simple concept.
If you are legally allowed to own a firearm, you would be allowed to carry that firearm without having to beg permission from the government first.
It’s the Second Amendment, the way our forefathers intended it. More than that, it’s the Second Amendment freedoms that gun owners in over 30% of America currently enjoy, as a whopping fifteen states currently have this law on the books!
This list includes nearby states like South Dakota and Missouri, and three states that passed Constitutional Carry this year alone.
Despite the popularity of this bill and despite the fact that we passed the bill through the Senate Judiciary Sub-Committee in February, Republican leaders in both chambers took extraordinary steps to block this legislation from passage last session.
But that was then.
Next session will be the last chance for lawmakers to deliver on their promise to make Iowa the next Constitutional Carry state before they have to face their voters in the 2020 primary and general elections.
And believe me, vulnerable lawmakers in key districts are terrified of what gun owners will do to them at the ballot box if they betray us next year.
They are right to be afraid.
After all, gun owners have destroyed dozens of legislative careers in the Capitol during the last five election cycles, including that of 34-year incumbent State Senator Mike Gronstal, the Senate Majority Leader!
But for us to have any chance at passing this bill, we need to keep the grassroots pressure on lawmakers in Des Moines at an all-time high using every tool at our disposal!
(Remember, all enhanced memberships of $75 or more come with a FREE T-Shirt and more.)
I know that I’ve told you this before, but honestly, I don’t say it near enough. Thank you, for being such a steadfast supporter of the Second Amendment and of this organization.
Every success that we’ve had over the past eleven years is because of you! It’s because of you that not one gun control bill has passed into law here in Iowa since Iowa Gun Owner’s formation.
It’s because of you that we finally made Iowa a Stand-Your-Ground law state after a six-year long battle!
And it’s because of you that many lawmakers are flat-out afraid to vote for open gun control because they fear it could cost them their seats.
So I can’t bear to see you walk away now — not with everything that is on the line for gun owners 2020.
I know that’s a lot, and if it’s simply too much, I hope you will at least agree to a gift of $50 or $25?
Please remember that any enhanced membership of $75 or higher comes with a decal and FREE IGO T-Shirt!
As always, the amount you choose to renew at is up to you. Just please be as generous as you can and renew your membership for 2020 right away.
For Iowa,
Aaron Dorr
Chairman
Iowa Gun Owners
P.S. If you have already renewed your membership in Iowa Gun Owners for 2020 and our records simply haven’t updated in time — please forgive this unnecessary reminder.
Next session will bring a major fight as gun grabbers seek to pass ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ and ‘Universal Background Check’ legislation!