Guest Blog? You bet!
Many of you remember IFC’s over-a-decade-long push to add the Right to Keep and Bear Arms to our state’s constitution – known as the Freedom Amendment. While reading Iowa Speaker Pro Tem John Wills‘ update from the statehouse, I asked him if he’d be willing to publish it here as a guest blog. So, here you go:
Friends,
Last week, I started out my newsletter with the first right in the Iowa Constitutions, Bill of Rights. I got a lot of comments. A few were, “I didn’t know Iowa had a Bill of Rights” or “The first Right in the Iowa Bill of Rights is pretty inclusive”. So, I thought, why not continue to discuss our State’s Bill of Rights.
This is a good time to tell you how our State Constitution can be amended. An amendment starts out in both the House and the Senate of the Iowa Legislature who passes a Resolution in two general sessions. The Iowa Legislature functions on a two-year general session and so a resolution must be passed during one General Session and then passed again in a second General Session. This process takes a minimum of 3 years and many times a full 4 years. When passed the second time the proposed amendment is placed on the next general election ballot, which could be 1 or 2 years later, for the qualified voters in the State to weigh in on the measure. The process is tough as it should be because changing or modifying our Constitution should not be taken lightly.
Recently, voters in Iowa added a new right to the Bill of Rights following the Amendment Process I described above. That Amendment is Section 1A the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.
This amendment was added to make Iowa like other States and the Federal government in having this right in the Bill of Rights. By adding this right to the Iowa Bill of Rights we now have a “Second Amendment” to our State Constitution and are protecting the right to own and bear arms in this state and our Right to Keep and Bear Arms is protected to the highest level in our state law.
The Iowa Bill of Rights, has a broad 1st right that says you have the right to happiness and several other things but in Iowa the Right to Bear Arms is the second right that we are given. Just as in the U.S. Bill of Rights, the Iowa Bill of Rights takes away the rights of the Government and gives them to you, the people. In the Iowa Bill of Rights we see some really interesting rights that as we go more into discussion of the Iowa Bill of Rights you will see a theme of a broad sense of our founding fathers wanting to protect Iowans rights and to have a free-standing public.
After the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, is the 2nd right in the Bill of Rights, which is Political Power. In Section 2 of the Iowa Bill of Rights it specifically states: “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.”
What a great segway from the first 2 rights in the Iowa Bill of Rights. With the first Right stating that we are all free and equal in our State and you have the right to keep and bear arms, but that all power, political in nature is held by the people. To me these first few rights in the Iowa Bill of Rights is masterful in telling each resident of the State that you are worthy, you have rights, and you are in control of this state.
What the Political Power right in the Iowa Bill of Rights says to me is there are reasons for the state government to exist but that the people have the right to change that when needed. There are several ways for the public to do that but mainly that is done through representation through the Iowa House and Senate. As we go through the Iowa Bill of Rights, I hope that you find this foundational knowledge to be something near and dear to you. The rights that we will talk about over the next few weeks are what makes Iowa such a great place to live and makes Iowa’s government such a responsive body.
Sincerely,
Recent Comments