On behalf of the Board of Directors, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Iowa Gun Owners!
We hope you enjoy some quality family time this weekend, as you rest up from the year that was and prepare for the year to come.
2014 was certainly an eventful year in our fight for gun rights here in Iowa.
Legislatively, there were no significant changes to report, as key Senate Democrats as well as House Republicans maintained a virtual lock on all pro-gun bills that we were trying to pass in the legislature.
They do this for a reason, of course, and that is because they are desperately trying to avoid being on the record voting either for or against your Second Amendment rights.
But try as they might to hide their record, IGO is determined to expose gun grabbers, regardless of their party affiliation, so that voters in their districts will not be fooled by cheap campaign rhetoric.
And so once the 2014 legislative session adjourned, IGO turned its attention to the 2014 elections with gusto, quickly launching a statewide candidate survey program.
Armed with these surveys and voting histories, IGO set about a state-wide program to highlight targeted legislators in key legislative districts to make sure that gun owners would be informed and mobilized.
And on election night just last month, numerous entrenched incumbent anti-gun legislators went down in defeat, thanks to active gun owners who knew the truth!
People like State Senator Daryl Beall, who had long voted against Constitutional Carry as well as a whole host of pro-gun reforms on the floor of the State Senate.
Legislators like State Representative Dan Mullbauer , who publicly called for a house-to-house confiscation of all semi-automatic firearms.
Legislators like former speaker of the house Pat Murphy, who ran for congress this year.
Murphy tried to convince many that he was a pro-gun candidate, however, he voted against Stand-your-Ground, Constitutional Carry, and used his position as the speaker of the house to make sure that other pro-gun bills never saw the light of day.
After spending over 2 decades in the Iowa legislature, Pat Murphy is now looking for a full-time job!
Of course, at the same time, IGO has been busily fighting at the local level, as towns and cities across the state try to limit and restrict your rights to keep and bear arms, thanks to our radically anti-gun Attorney General, Tom Miller.
And whether it was in small towns like George, IA, in extreme NW Iowa, or in much larger cities like Burlington, or in moderate-sized towns in the heart of Iowa, like Tama and Nevada, Iowa Gun Owners was able to stop gun grabs every single time we got involved!
If you’d like to read about how IGO defeated these local gun bans, please click here, here, and here.
Of course, every piece of targeted mail we were able to get sent out, every mass email that we deployed, every automated phone call that we launched, every radio ad that we ran, and every targeted internet ad that we ran, was only possible thanks to your generous support!
Unlike the anti-gun lobbyists in Iowa, Iowa Gun Owners does not receive taxpayer funds, and we won’t need to – as you have shown time and time again, you are willing to rise to the occasion every time we ask.
2015 promises to be a likewise eventful year, as besides our fight in the legislature, it will be incumbent on gun owners to make sure and expose anti-gun politicians who are seeking a run for the White House.
If you’re watching the news, you know that the run for the 2016 Republican and Democratic nominations is already underway in our state, as candidate after candidate is already trucking across Iowa trying to secure connections with the grassroots.
We look forward to doing our part in making sure that gun owners know exactly where these candidates stand on the Second Amendment!
Of course, we’re going to have our work cut out for us the in legislature as well, as key anti-gunners still have a lock on legislative committees – and they are already plotting to kill pro-gun bills without them ever seeing the light of day.
Rest assured, IGO will fight tooth and nail to ensure that anti-gun legislators, regardless of their party affiliation, are exposed state-wide if they clamp down on your gun rights.
So thank you for all you’ve done to help Iowa Gun Owners in 2014!
If you have not yet had a chance to renew your membership for 2015, please do so today!
Last but not least, if you’re not already a part of it, be sure to “Like” Iowa Gun Owners on Facebook!
The Iowa Gun Owners’ Facebook page is already the largest non-sports page in Iowa, with over 50,000 new supporters joining our list of pro-gun activists in 2014 alone.
Make sure you’re not missing out on the up-to-the-minute alerts on the issues confronting gun owners in Iowa- “Like” our page today!
Once again, Merry Christmas to you and your family, from all of us here at Iowa Gun Owners!
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
P.S. Merry Christmas from the Board of Director of Iowa Gun Owners!
2014 was a very busy year in the fight for the Second Amendment here in Iowa, as anti-gun candidates were kicked out of the legislature, town-by-town gun bans were stopped, and no gun control legislation was allowed to pass into law – thanks exclusively to your support!
2015 promises to be a similarly eventful year as the unofficial run for the GOP and Democratic nominations for Presidency have already begun.
If you have not renewed your 2015 membership, please do so TODAY!