Iowa Gun Owners

P.O. Box 3585

Des Moines, IA 50323

www.IowaGunOwners.org

Dear Friend,                                                                                                                                                  July 6, 2009

Do you agree with the following statement, “I can’t find anywhere in the 2^nd Amendment where it says that a person should be allowed to carry a concealed firearm on their person out in public…the 2^nd Amendment doesn’t address that nor does it guarantee that.”

If you are like the rest of the members of Iowa Gun Owners you are outraged when you read this!

As a friend of the 2^nd Amendment you may be thinking to yourself, “This must have been said by Sarah Brady or Attorney General Eric Holder or some other anti-gun bureaucrat in Washington.”

What would you say if I told you that this statement was made by your sheriff, Lonny Pulkrabek?

That’s right.  Sheriff Pulkrabek said this recently while talking to Jan Michaelson on WHO radio in Des Moines.   You can listen to the interview yourself by going to this web address: http://mickelson.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=474403.

That’s why it’s important for you to sign and return the enclosed petition regarding Sheriff Pulkrabek to Iowa Gun Owners today!

You see, Sheriff Pulkrabek believes that he alone gets to decide who can and who can not have the means to defend themselves from a violent criminal attack.

To make this decision, Sheriff Pulkrabek makes law abiding citizens like you come before him and prove to him that your life is worth defending.

But don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself what the sheriff said in the same interview on WHO, “I just want them to tell me, in a couple of sentences under the justification, why it is that they feel…a need for them to carry a firearm.”

You see, it doesn’t matter to your sheriff that the right to keep and bear arms is God-given and constitutionally guaranteed.

Nor does it seem to matter to him that numerous studies have proven that states with a real right-to-carry have drastically lower crimes rates.

So why then would Sheriff Pulkrabek, who is charged with maintaining the peace of Johnson County, be so adamantly opposed to your having a gun for self-defense?

Is it possible that he believes that only the police should be carrying guns? Read this quote from Sheriff Pulkrabek, taken from the same interview, and decide for yourself. “Yeah, I am curious why people feel the need or why they want to carry a firearm when I know hundreds and hundreds of police officers, who are full time police officers, that don’t always carry off-duty.”

Did you catch what he said? He can’t understand why you would want to be able to defend your families because he knows police officers who don’t carry off duty! What kind of standard is this?

Using the sheriff’s logic, you would not be able to have a spare tire in your trunk if the local mechanic doesn’t carry a spare tire either! This is an abuse of power and it needs to be stopped.

So please, take a moment to complete the petition to Sheriff Pulkrabek and return it to us here at Iowa Gun Owners!

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is a group in Iowa that is fighting to protect your right to keep and bear arms!

Iowa Gun Owners is a new group in Iowa that was founded on the idea that the right to keep and bear arms is not something that should be subject to a politician’s personal whims.

Our members believe that it’s time for Iowa to join states like Vermont and Alaska in allowing law abiding citizens to carry a weapon for self-defense WITHOUT needing a permit!

Only by passing a REAL Right-to-Carry law will the people of Iowa, and specifically Johnson County, be free from this abusive system that allows Sheriff Pulkrabek to deny you your rights based on his personal anti-gun agenda.

Iowa Gun Owners realizes that there are many good sheriffs out there who do an excellent job of enforcing the law while maintaining their constitutional moorings. We thank them for their service to our state.

But Sheriff Pulkrabek is clearly not one of those sheriffs!

That’s why I hope that you’ll take a minute and complete this petition to Sheriff Pulkrabek. If he never hears any objections from his constituents then he’ll continue to work against your right to keep and bear arms.

Don’t forget, unlike your state representative and state senator who are currently out of session and unable to change anything, Sheriff Pulkrabek can change his mind regarding your gun rights today!

That’s why it’s vital that Sheriff Pulkrabek hears from you immediately! And don’t be afraid to express your outrage.   After all, Sheriff Pulkrabek works for you.

I would also encourage you to join Iowa Gun Owners. No other group in Iowa takes a No Compromise position when it comes to defending your gun rights.

We are committed to effecting real change when it comes to Iowa’s gun laws. From eliminating the abusive permit-to-carry system, to informing our members about anti-gun politicians such as Sheriff Pulkrabek, to passing a “castle doctrine” bill here in Iowa, Iowa Gun Owners is on the front line fighting for your rights.

But we need your support.

That’s why I’m also asking you to include the largest donation that you can to help us cover the cost of this special Johnson County program and our other efforts across Iowa!

The more money we raise the more people we can contact in Johnson County to let them know about Sheriff Pulkrabek.

So if you can, please include a generous contribution of $250,  $100,  $50 or $ 35.   As part of this special Johnson County Program, any amount you give today will also cover the cost of a year long membership to Iowa Gun Owners as well!

If you can afford more, by all means, please contribute what you can.

With an increased Democrat majority in the General Assembly and a fellow conspirator in the Governor’s Mansion, the gun grabbers in Des Moines can hardly contain their excitement.

They believe now is their chance to start ramming anti-gun legislation into law.

The only thing stopping them right now is you and me. We must organize now before it’s too late.

That’s why you and I must make our voices heard.

So please return the enclosed petition to Sheriff Pulkrabek with the most generous contribution you can afford, to help me mobilize more Iowa gun owners.

Whatever you can do — $250,   $100 or   $35 — will help.

But please, sign and return your petitions TODAY.  That’s most important.

Yours for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms,

Aaron Dorr

Executive Director

P.S. Sheriff Pulkrabek is aggressively opposed to your right to keep and bear arms.   His own words demonstrate this. o let’s send a message to him that he can not ignore!

So please sign and return the enclosed petitions regarding Sheriff Pulkrabek TODAY!

Hello!   Welcome to Iowa Gun Owners (IGO) website.   IGO is the only NO COMPROMISE gun rights group in the state of Iowa.   Since being formed in January of this year IGO has been growing explosively!

In the last legislative session IGO drafted and our members supported the REAL Right-to-Carry bill.  Eventually all the calls, emails, a trips to Des Moines to meet with their elected officials paid off for our members.  In the final hours of the 2009 session the REAL Right-to-Carry (House File 596) bill received a procedural vote of 49-49 with 2 members not present!

Now that we have identified who our friends and enemies are we can get to work. Come join us!

Representative Clel Baudler’s (R-58) gun bill, HF193, has been amended in committee and recently reintroduced as HF746. Many in the House are trying to throw their support behind this bill. However, the members of Iowa Gun Owners are adamantly opposed to this bill. Please keep reading if you value your right to keep and bear arms in Iowa.

First, while many are calling this a “shall issue” bill, including the NRA in their recent endorsement of this bill, the language is very clear. “724.7 The issuance of a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons shall be by and at the discretion of the issuing officer who shall, before issuing the permit, determine that the requirements of sections 724.8 through 724.10 have been met.”[1]

Passing this bill would do absolutely nothing to remove the arbitrary power that some gun-grabbing sheriffs use to deny the people of Iowa their right to carry a gun for self-defense. Why is it that Iowa, being pressured by the ISSDA (Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association), remains one of only twelve states that still have a may issue carry system? Most east coast states have better gun laws than Iowa including New Hampshire where now even a 16 year old can carry a concealed weapon! This is about government officials abusing their authority and Iowa Gun Owners couldn’t be more opposed to this portion of the bill.

Secondly, HF746 raises the age limit on those who can apply for a nonprofessional permit from the current eighteen to twenty-one. “724.8.1 The person is eighteen years of age or older for a professional permit or twenty-one years or older for a nonprofessional permit.

When the current law allows for eighteen year olds to apply for permits HF746 is a step backwards in that it takes that right away from all those in Iowa age 18-20. In other words, an eighteen year old can go away to war for our country and, if discharged before the age of twenty-one, is still not eligible to carry a gun for self-defense! The same applies to eighteen year olds who are currently able to carry concealed “under direct supervision” of their parent or legal guardian.

The excuse commonly heard is that this is necessary because other states won’t give Iowa reciprocity if we allow eighteen year olds to carry concealed. But as everyone who carries concealed knows, when you carry in another jurisdiction you have a duty to know and obey the laws of that jurisdiction! So for example, when a twenty year old from Iowa wants to go to Minnesota, in the company of his parents, he simply has to stop carrying concealed when he gets to the Minnesota border. It’s that simple. Why would we want to deny the right of self-defense to so many Iowans?

Next, HF746 leaves very troubling language in the list of factors that make a person eligible to obtain a permit. “724.8.5 The issuing officer reasonably determines that the applicant does not constitutee a danger to any person.”

What standard is used by the sheriff in making this determination? Must someone be convicted of a crime in criminal court? Would an anonymous phone call to the sheriff’s office alleging harassment against someone be enough to make that person ineligible to obtain a permit? No one knows because there is no standard in the code. The sheriff can simply decide that he doesn’t like guns and deny you for any reason he wants. Leaving this language in the bill clearly makes it a may issue bill.

Fourth, the Baudler bill makes someone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence unable to get a permit for the rest of his/her life! “724.8.8 The person is not subject to a protective order pursuant to 18 U.S.C. } 922(g)(8) and has not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence pursuant to 18 3 22 U.S.C. } 922(g)(9).”

Obviously Iowa Gun Owners is not condoning domestic violence. Several of the members of our board of directors have had careers as peace officers. We know first hand the harmful effects of domestic violence and are utterly opposed to it. However, we also know that few areas of the criminal code are more easily abused and manipulated than domestic violence laws. In many cases all discretion is taken away from the officers on the scene and they are often required to arrest someone! Many times people are arrested when other means of resolving the situation would be better suited to all involved. These people will lose their rights to carry a gun for self-defense for the rest of their life under this provision…all over a misdemeanor!

Even if, for example, a husband and wife are going through a difficult time in their marriage and one of them gets arrested for striking the other, does that mean that ten, twenty, or even thirty years later that that spouse should be helpless in the face of a violent criminal attack? Iowa Gun Owners does not think so.

Finally, HF746 lays out a detailed live fire shooting test that all applicants will have to pass in order to apply for their permit. This test specifies how many rounds must be fired at the five, seven, and ten yard line and in how many seconds.

Iowa Gun Owners is all for its members obtaining the highest caliber training that he/she can afford to enable them to safely and effectively carry a firearm for self-defense. In fact, some of our board members have traveled to many different states to participate in week long “shooting schools” to hone their abilities with firearms.

But we do not agree that the government has the right to tell her citizens how many rounds they must fire at the five, seven and ten yard line to be able to defend themselves from a violent criminal attack! How many Iowans are going to be scared away from seeking a permit because of language like this? How many women will become victims in their lifetime due to the implications of this bill? Again, we encourage people to become proficient shooters, but mandating this is not the government’s job.

In conclusion, HF746, while being touted as a step forward for gun owners, is clearly a step backwards that will restrict many more people in Iowa from receiving a permit to carry a gun for self-defense. While gun owners are used to being attacked from many liberal Democrats clearly we need to watch some of our Republican “friends” as well.

The board of Iowa Gun Owners would urge our members and all who cherish their right to keep and bear arms to actively oppose this bill and demand that their elected officials do the same.

If this bill is passed then many Democrat as well as liberal Republican House members will be campaigning next time claiming to be pro-gun when clearly this bill is anything but. IGO is disappointed that the NRA doesn’t understand this either.

Instead tell your representative to do all he/she can to support HF596 popularly known as the Real Right to Carry Bill being championed by Rep. Kent Sorenson.  This bill, modeled after the common sense gun laws in Vermont and Alaska does not require a law abiding citizen to grovel before a government official to get a permit to carry a gun for self-defense. If you are not a felon or otherwise barred from owning weapons than you can carry without needing a permit! This is true freedom and it’s time that your elected leaders know that you will not accept anything less!

For more information go to our website at www.iowagunowners.org or email info@iowagunowners.org. Also, be sure to read the open letter to Rep. Baudler below.