Two years ago I was sitting in my office meeting Mr. Jay Lewis for the first time.
Mr. Lewis had just been released from jail here in Polk County after having been wrongfully arrested and charged in a valid self-defense shooting.
The jury saw through the prosecution’s case and in 90 minutes released this law abiding gun owner from jail, where he had languished for almost 4 months.
However, in that time, Mr. Lewis lost his job with the federal government, spent every dime he had to cover jail expenses, and had his apartment foreclosed on and virtually all of his worldly possessions tossed out on the curb.
When I met him, he was homeless, penniless, and desperate. (Thankfully, IGO members were able to greatly help Mr. Lewis and he eventually recovered.)
The prosecutor here in Des Moines just shrugged and smugly said, “I don’t know why people are afraid of jury trials. I’m not.” Of course not, his life wasn’t wrecked as a result of spending 112 days in jail!
I never want to see a story like Mr. Lewis’ in an Iowa newspaper again.
The fact that honest, law-abiding citizens can and DO have their lives turned completely upside down for exercising their God-given RIGHT to self-defense INFURIATES me.
This madness must stop. And it must stop NOW.
The good news is that just this week Rep. Tom Shaw filed the Iowa Stand-Your-Ground Bill – which, once passed, will ensure that you and I are never sitting in Jay Lewis’s shoes.
That’s why it’s absolutely vital you sign the petition DEMANDING that your State Representative and State Senator vote in support of Stand Your Ground legislation IMMEDIATELY. More on the petition in a moment.
As you know, the Iowa Stand Your Ground Bill simply states that law-abiding Iowa gun owners can defend themselves against attackers without fear of prosecution.
Here in Iowa, instead of the law empowering you to defend yourself, you have to try to do everything in your power to run away from armed thugs — even when outnumbered and facing violent, convicted felons like Mr. Lewis was!
I know you’re not surprised.
Whenever some thug commits a horrific crime, the gun-grabbers always rush to place blame — not on the criminals themselves — but on law-abiding gun owners!
So is it any surprise they’ve written the law to protect criminals first — even when you and your family’s safety is at stake?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I believe the law should put the interests of law-abiding Iowa citizens ahead of bloodthirsty thugs.
After all, do you really want to start second-guessing yourself in a situation where there are lives on the line — or be forced to depend on the “good will” of an overzealous prosecutor or judge?
Jay Lewis found out firsthand what can happen when anti-gun government officials are calling the shots.
And he was proven innocent!
That’s why I’m counting on you to help me turn up the heat on the Iowa General Assembly IMMEDIATELY.
You see, I can literally guarantee that right now, anti-gun Democrat Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal is already scheming behind closed doors to KILL this legislation without so much as a vote.
He knows if the State Senate votes on this bill it will either pass — or many of his anti-gun Senate Democrats will face the music at the ballot box this November, possibly costing him his majority.
So he’d rather just strangle Stand Your Ground legislation behind the scenes.
The only thing that can stop him is YOU.
What the media and some politicians just don’t understand is that Iowa Gun Owners is interested in one thing and one thing only — standing up and FIGHTING for our God-given rights to Keep and Bear Arms.
And as far as I’m concerned, politicians can either get in line, and stand up for our Second Amendment freedoms — the freedoms many of them have pledged and still claim to uphold — or they’ll be exposed for what they are, and pay the price at the ballot box.
It’s their choice.
But today, with a shortened legislative calendar, there really is no time to waste.
I’ve put together a detailed battle plan to pass Stand-Your-Ground legislation — a plan that starts with your signed petition — so please don’t delay, sign your petition today.
Secondly, I hope I can count on your generous financial support to help pay for the rest of our critical program.
If funds allow, my hope is to launch a massive mobilization blitz, to include :
>>> Two 30,000-piece mailings into targeted districts, DEMANDING the General Assembly pass Stand Your Ground legislation;
>>> Hard-hitting email and internet ads to further turn up the heat on targeted legislators;
>>> Targeted leafleting and media interviews explaining the importance of the Iowa Stand-Your-Ground Bill — and exposing EVERY legislator working against us;
>>> Newspaper, radio, and even TV ads if I can raise enough resources to make sure Stand-Your-Ground legislation is passed into law.
The good news is, just waging this fight puts you and me in a win/win situation.
Either the Iowa General Assembly passes our bill . . .
. . . or you and I get a list of legislators who will have to defend their outrageous votes come election time. So please sign your petition right away!
With the November elections just months away, that’s a decision no anti-gun politician wants to make.
So please, in addition to your signed petition, please rush me your most generous contribution.
This fight is absolutely critical.
All I ask is that you please sign your petition and be as generous as you can. Members like you are the true backbone of Iowa Gun Owners — and the real reason for all of our success.
So please don’t delay. Please sign your petition and please consider your most generous contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50 or $35 TODAY!
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
P.S. The Iowa Stand-Your-Ground Bill — which states that Iowa gun owners can defend themselves without fear of prosecution — has just been introduced in the Iowa House by Representative Tom Shaw.
After meeting Mr. Jay Lewis, and hearing about his awful ordeal where he spent almost 4 months in jail and lost virtually everything he had, I’m more determined than ever to see this bill enacted.
So please sign your petition in support of Stand-Your-Ground legislation IMMEDIATELY!