FREEDOM AMENDMENT FORMALLY ADDED TO IOWA’S STATE CONSTITUTION
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Recognition and protection of the right to keep and bear arms were added to Iowa’s state constitution as the 49th amendment in a ceremony led by the Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on Friday afternoon at a ceremony inside the Iowa Capitol Building.
Statewide Ballot Measure 1, known as the Freedom Amendment, passed with overwhelming support in the 2022 midterm elections with more than 65% of Iowa voters of all political stripes voting in favor of the measure. To put it another way, a majority in all but two of Iowa’s 99 counties voted “yes” for the Freedom Amendment, making it the most popular item on the ballot.
“This day belongs to Iowa,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “With the passage of the Freedom Amendment, thanks to the hard work of IFC’s grassroots supporters and myriad public servants, including Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Elect Brenna Bird, Iowa is a freer, safer state with stronger civil rights protections.”
With Iowa’s passage of the Freedom Amendment, only five states in the country, Minnesota, Maryland, California, New York, and New Jersey do not yet have Second Amendment protections in their respective state constitutions.
“We would like to thank every Iowan who ignored the misinformation campaign launched by shady, out-of-state and coastal billionaire backed groups who attempted to meddle in our internal state affairs in an effort to infringe upon our civil rights and erode our electoral process,” said IFC Chair John McLaughlin. “Iowa is truly a state where liberties are prized, rights are maintained and where nonpartisanship concerning our fundamental rights is alive and well.”
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, an affiliate of the NRA and NSSF, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s most effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
(Pictured above from Left to Right: Representative Steve Holt, IFC Board Member and Chief Lobbyist Richard Rogers*, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl**, and Secretary of State Paul Pate)
*Richard Rogers is the recipient of NRA’s Distinguished Advocate Award
**Representative Matt Windschitl is the recipient of NRA’s Defender of Freedom Award
Dear IFC,
It is a very Great and Good Accomplishment that the ordinary common man and women has the(which is natural from our creator) RIGHT etched into the Iowa Constitution. To me at lest, the future of America is going to be very difficult place, over the next years. Depending on how thing fall out, this could be more important than any of us can “Know” at this time. I “know of no way, of predicting the future, but by the past”. Merry Christmas 2022 !