Dear Iowans,
I apologize for the mid-week email. As you know, we do our best to keep the amount of email we send to a minimum so we don’t spam you. However, there are a few important things that have come up that I need to tell you. It’s somewhat long, and I apologize, but you’re going to want to read this. And be sure to read to the end, because I have an awesome surprise for you too!
First, I’ve received word from a few legislators that some senators are considering ways to amend HF517, such as to remove Capitol Carry, the standing provision for preemption lawsuits, to grant exceptions to preemption for various government interests and buildings, or to remove the emergency powers protection. Obviously, this is a no-go from a civil rights perspective, and we here at IFC cannot and will not support any of that. Just as bad though, any amendments the Senate makes to HF517 may jeopardize the passage of HF517 by making it unsupportable by House Republicans when it goes back to the House!
In short, if the Senate tinkers with HF517 in any way other than making technical amendments, HF517 could literally fail and we’ll end up with nothing. I don’t say that to scare you to get you to do something or give me money like other groups do, it is the God’s honest truth.
So what I really need you to do right now is CLICK HERE and go to our Action Center to send your senator an email, to tell them that they need to urge the Senate Republican leadership to get HF517 to the floor quickly, and to get it passed without any substantive amendments. It will take you less than a minute to do this, and it makes a huge difference! If you’re really motivated to get this signed into law, we’ve attached a list of all the Senate Republicans at the bottom of this message. Send them a quick note respectfully urging them to pass HF517 as is.
Secondly, there are rumors that HF517 might come to the floor of the Senate sometime next Tuesday, March 28. I can’t guarantee that; no one can. But with that said, if you could free up your schedules for Tuesday and come to the Capitol like many of you did during 2A Day, and start pulling senators out and delivering this message in person, that would be phenomenal and tremendously powerful. Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox and our Facebook page over the next few days, because we’ll be letting you know when the vote is scheduled the very moment we know ourselves.
Third, I also need you to turn out to your nearest Republican senator’s town hall meeting this weekend. If you live in their district, great. If not, go to the closest one. I need you to tell them, IN PERSON, that you expect them to vote for HF517 without adding amendments, period, end of story. Tell them we put them in the majority because we want good gun laws on the side of the citizen for a change, and we don’t want them to screw this up and jeopardize HF517 in the House. To find out where your nearest Republican senator’s town hall meeting is this weekend, click here.
Lastly, I’ll be blunt with you: IFC needs you to join up as a member. Why? Because of things like I just said above. The more members we have, the more influence we have in the legislature and during elections. It’s all about numbers and pressure. I’m thinking ahead to 2018 and 2020 here, because it’s clear that some Republicans in both the House and the Senate haven’t gotten the message yet—the message that they were elected to the majority for a reason, and we expect them to support Second Amendment rights and vote for pro-gun legislation, no games, no weak spines, no if’s, and’s, or but’s.
The only way to continue to increase our influence and electoral power is to simply continue growing our membership. It’s that simple. There are tens of thousands of you who subscribe to this email list, so if even 10% of you signed up, we’d be unstoppable. So please, JOIN IFC! IFC membership is cheaper than taking the family to the movies, and considering all IFC does for gun rights in Iowa, won’t you consider helping sustain our mission?
To incentivize joining the IFC team, we’re doing something special for the next month: In recognition of the one year anniversary of IFC legalizing suppressors in Iowa, we’re giving away a free SilencerCo Omega to one lucky IFC member—and we’re even covering the $200 tax stamp fee!
You read that right: We’re giving away one of the best cans on the market for nothing. It is absolutely, 100% free, right down to the tax. All you gotta do is be a member. New members, old members, life members, it doesn’t matter because they’re all eligible to win!
We’ll randomly pick a winner while the IFC team is down at the NRA Annual Meeting next month, and we’ll announce the winner on Saturday, April 29th. Visit our webpage for more details!
Thank you, to all of you, for all your continued support.
Defending your Second Amendment rights in Iowa,
Barry B. Snell
Executive Director
Iowa Firearms Coalition
Senate Republican Email Addresses
jake.chapman@legis.iowa.gov, dennis.guth@legis.iowa.gov, randy.feenstra@legis.iowa.gov, jeff.edler@legis.iowa.gov, bill.anderson@legis.iowa.gov, bill.dix@legis.iowa.gov, craig.johnson@legis.iowa.gov, julian.garrett@legis.iowa.gov, tim.kapucian@legis.iowa.gov, tim.kraayenbrink@legis.iowa.gov, mark.lofgren@legis.iowa.gov, mark.costello@legis.iowa.gov, mark.chelgren@legis.iowa.gov, tom.greene@legis.iowa.gov, waylon.brown@legis.iowa.gov, michael.breitbach@legis.iowa.gov, rick.bertrand@legis.iowa.gov, ken.rozenboom@legis.iowa.gov, charles.schneider@legis.iowa.gov, jason.schultz@legis.iowa.gov, mark.segebart@legis.iowa.gov, tom.shipley@legis.iowa.gov, amy.sinclair@legis.iowa.gov, roby.smith@legis.iowa.gov, jerry.behn@legis.iowa.gov, jack.whitver@legis.iowa.gov, dan.zumbach@legis.iowa.gov
Word has come to me that there are a few senators among you who are considering making amendments to HF517, the omnibus gun bill. I know some of you want to cut Capitol carry out. Some of you want to remove the legal standing provision in the preemption section. Others want to add specific exemptions to preemption, such as for courthouses, or remove emergency powers protections. I know there’s a few other things some of you want to add or subtract as well. Senator, I know all these things, and I cannot support it.
So let me cut to the chase right off: HF517 needs to be brought to the Senate floor for a vote immediately, without further delay, and you need to pass it as is, without any amendments other than technical corrections.
With respect, as an Iowan and as a voter, I want to remind you that Republicans were given the majority for a reason. One of the primary reasons was gun rights, plain and simple. We were sick and tired of our Second Amendment rights being denied and subject to the emotions of uneducated, anti-gun legislators. So we organized, we voted, and we sent some of them home and put the rest in the minority. Republicans didn’t get the majority by accident.
I know you have a lot of pressure from pro-government interests and lobbyists, people whose job it is to lobby against my civil rights, often even at the taxpayer’s expense. However, you should know that’s wrong, and I don’t care what government interests think about my rights. I don’t care about what some group of government attorneys think about my rights. I don’t care what any of these kinds of groups think. Those groups don’t vote. I do. Most of them don’t donate money or time to political causes, either. But I do.
Senator, it’s time to stiffen your spine. Where’s that bold new Senate we were promised? I supported the election of the new majority, and I want to support you and be proud of the new agenda now, so please give me the chance. Give me the chance to shake your hand someday and say “thank you” for standing up for my rights, and not buckling under the pressure to do otherwise. Give me the chance to thank you for not chipping away at HF517.
Tell the Republican leadership that The People’s civil rights are more important than fireworks or bottle redemptions or workman’s comp, and it’s time to stop delaying. Get HF517 to the floor and vote on it immediately, without trying to amend it!