It feels good to win one once in a while, doesn’t it?!
Yesterday, after being subjected to 4 months of withering attacks against our character and our way of life, gun owners watched as 7 out of 7 anti-gun amendments went down to defeat in the US Senate!
The assault weapons ban was defeated, the ban on “high cap” magazines was shot down, and the much talked about “Manchin-Toomey” sellout – designed to appeal to nominally pro-gun Senators – was soundly defeated!
Thank you for all of your calls and emails on behalf of your gun rights.
Senator Grassley, who has been sending mixed messages to gun owners for months, was a very vocal defender of the 2nd Amendment today.
As we’ve been very quick to sound the alarm regarding Senator Grassley’s troubling statements of late, we’ll be quick to acknowledge his performance today as well.
President Obama, Vice-President Biden, virtually all the national media, millions and millions of special interest money from activists like Mayor Bloomberg – the gun-grabbers threw everything they had against us.
While gun owners can’t compete with the money that anti-gunners spent, we have the one thing they lack – grassroots support.
Your calls, emails, and personal visits with Senator Grassley made sure that he didn’t yield to the gun-grabbers. And it made the difference all across the nation as in town after town gun owners made their voices heard.
As good as this feels however, this fight is far from over!
In fact, there are still more amendments being voted on today in the Senate!
And just moments after the Senate adjourned yesterday, President Obama held a press conference announcing that he sees this as “just round one.”
Just as bad were the comments from Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid who stated: “We are not giving up, and this is not over. I will do everything I can to continue our efforts to pass stronger background checks.”
And believe me, Harry Reid has the power to do this- and the moment he gets the votes he needs he’ll try this again.
In fact, yesterday, after all that he’s done to advance Universal Registration, Senator Reid actually VOTED NO on the bill. This was done on purpose, as now Reid has the procedural right to revisit this bill any time he chooses.
What’s more, now that they know how organized gun owners are and how quickly they react to gun-control, you can bet that when Obama and Senator Reid try again they’ll move even faster!
Iowa Gun Owners will keep you up to date on these fights as they move forward and we’ll alert you to any action needed.
But for today, thank you for all of your financial support over the last few months as IGO worked to defeat state level gun control and keep the pressure on Senator Grassley at the same time!
Without your support the waves of mail, postcards, emails, auto-calls – the entire IGO program – would not have been possible.
But again, let’s not make the mistake of assuming that this fight is over.
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
Iowa Gun Owners
P.S. After months of planning and millions and millions of dollars spent trying to browbeat pro-gun Senators, all of the President’s proposals went down to defeat yesterday in the United States Senate!
They did so for one reason – grassroots pressure from folks like you firing off your emails and making your phone calls.
Gun owners don’t have unlimited funds, and we don’t get taxpayer monies to lobby with- but we are organized and we don’t let up, and that’s what carried the day!
However, we can’t quit as President Obama made it clear yesterday that this is “just round one.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid actually voted against the bill yesterday to ensure he has the procedural right to bring this bill up again any time he chooses!
In fact, the Senate is voting this morning on the final two amendments to this bill. So please, stay vigilant and contact your Senators again right now and insist that they vote NO to gun control.
Thank you again for your support in helping us keep the pressure up on Senator Grassley and Harkin – it made a huge difference.