It all comes down to control of the Iowa Senate.

Yesterday, your right to bear arms suffered a blow because the radical anti-gunners who control the Senate, Majority leader Mike Gronstal and President Pro-Tem Steve Sodders, are terrified of allowing a vote on Stand-Your-Ground legislation.

It’s simple. They have members of their caucus who would support this legislation and many who would not.

Some of those who would vote no on Stand-Your-Ground are up for re-election in 2016 – and Senator Gronstal is scared that those incumbents who vote against the 2nd Amendment will be thrown out of office.

Senator Gronstal has a 26-24 hold over the Iowa Senate.

If he loses just one seat in 2016, the Senate splits power between both parties. If he loses two seats, Senator Gronstal loses control altogether.

Senator Gronstal is unwilling to risk that.

So yesterday Senators’ Gronstal and Sodders ignored the wishes of tens of thousands of Iowa gun owners and used procedural rules to BLOCK Stand-Your-Ground law from being voted on in the Senate.

Worse, using procedural rules ensures that there isn’t a vote – so your anti-gun legislator can tell you they support your gun rights, when it’s a lie.

Not having to vote on Stand-Your-Ground means that they’ll have an easier time getting away with it.

Of course, this changes nothing regarding who’s to blame. It’s been Senate Democratic leadership who’ve been working behind the scenes all year to stop this bill.

And when 24 Senate Republicans eagerly cosponsored this bill, not one single Democratic senator joined them.

Yesterday, as Senator Rick Bertrand fought to advance this bill, not a single Democratic senator broke ranks and supported his attempt to get a vote on this bill.

Not one.

These legislators should talk to former Senator Daryl Beall and ask him what happens to politicians who work against the gun rights of Iowans.

Some of you may have been hearing from others in the legislature about our need to compromise, to ask for much less than what we want, in hopes that the benevolent dictators in the Senate would ‘throw us a bone.’

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been one to beg for my rights.

If a legislator won’t support the 2nd Amendment, the voters in that district should be informed about that decision and they can take appropriate action during the next election cycle.

We’ve been doing that here at Iowa Gun Owners, with your help, for a long time – and many anti-gun legislators are no longer elected due to educated voters making informed decisions at election time.

Yesterday showed what a lie the whole “compromise, and maybe if we’re nice, they’ll give us a gun bill” mentality is.

Gronstal took the watered down bill the House passed (after they refused action on Stand-Your-Ground legislation) and totally gutted it.

So not only did he kill Stand-Your-Ground, but everything else that he’d fooled other organizations and naïve legislators in the House into believing that he would support.

This is what happens when you substitute mobilizing gun owners for inside games and backroom deals. You get played. And Iowans pay the ultimate price for this.

As it stands now, the only bill that did pass the Senate was a much altered version of the suppressor bill. It’s so weak that not even the NRA or any other state organizations supported it.

Understand this: Iowa Senate leadership blocked ALL of the gun bills for the moment in an attempt to not have to vote on Stand-Your-Ground legislation, trying to protect their political careers.

Period.

That bill now moves back to the House, where the House will have to start again with this process if they want to see it move.

This may give us a chance to re-attach Stand-Your-Ground legislation to this bill. We’ll let you know more about that when the time comes.

In the meantime, check out the closing statements made by Senator Rick Bertrand who exposes the anti-gun members of the Senate for playing politics with the 2nd Amendment.

 
Make sure you take a moment to thank Senator Bertrand for all of his work this year on behalf of your right to keep and bear arms. Lots of legislators talk about being pro-gun.

Few have the guts to fight for it.

You can contact Senator Bertrand via Facebook or you can email him at [email protected].

More to come.

For Freedom,

Aaron Dorr
Executive Director

P.S. Late Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Judiciary Chairman Steve Sodders used procedural means to BLOCK Stand-Your-Ground from being allowed to be voted on in the Senate.

After tens of thousands of Iowans told the Senate by phone, email, and Facebook to advance this important bill, they refused yesterday when given the chance.

More, they took what was already a political cover bill, stripped and gutted it, and then passed a barely recognizable bill back over to the House.

This was allowed to happen because senior members of the House leadership team, as well as naïve organizations here in Iowa, believe the best way to advance our rights is to make cozy backroom deals and make quick compromises.

Yesterday showed what happens to schemes and gimmicks like that.

This session is not over and the bill now heads to the House, giving us another chance at obtaining a vote on Stand-Your-Ground legislation. We’ll keep you informed.

In the meantime, be sure to thank Senator Rick Bertrand for all of his efforts on behalf of the 2nd Amendment thus far this year.