THANK YOU BROWNELLS!

Thank you Brownells, indeed! Second Amendment supporters should be thankful that Brownells is such a champion of 2A issues. We had the opportunity to again experience this first-hand last Saturday, when a team from IFC attended GunCon at Brownells. This is the third year Brownells has hosted media influencers from around the country to hold live-streamed panel discussions on various 2A topics, showcase a variety of quality guns and gear available on site from many different vendors, and provide a forum for both national gun rights organizations and Iowa’s own Iowa Firearms Coalition, to meet with people.

[Photos and comments about GunCon were contributed by all IFC team members.]

The Panelists & Sessions

Typical of Brownells and The Gun Collective, the event was a huge success and very well attended.  Doors opened at 10 a.m.  Our team arrived at 8 a.m. to set up, and there were already lines of people waiting outside the entry doors. Audience members were able to ask questions of the panelists, and those tuned into the live stream could also submit questions to be answered. Check out this link, and scroll down to see a list of featured panelists and the vendors at GunCon. Our own IFC volunteer Lobbyist, Richard Rogers (pictured in the red shirt, above) participated in panel discussions. Richard has a vast knowledge of the history of 2A legislative and case law developments, both nationally and in Iowa, and we were proud to have him represent IFC.

IFC TRUSTED PARTNERS

In addition to Brownells, two other IFC Trusted Partners were at the event also.  Trusted Partners add value for our members by offering discounted prices on goods or services, when purchasing them with a discount code through IFC’s website. In fact, you can more than pay for your annual membership fee by purchasing discounted goods through our Trusted Partners — buying quality goods that you would have purchased anyway. Vice President and volunteer, Billy Wilson, made sure to thank our partners, on behalf of our members.

Old Friends

But it was not all serious discussion!  Stephen Willeford, representing Gun Owners of America (GOA), had some fun with their photo board and props. GOA was in the booth next to ours.  Other 2A rights organizations represented were FRAC and the Second Amendment Foundation. Stephen (pictured on the right in this photo) is best known as “The Barefoot Defender” in the Sutherland Springs church shooting in Texas a few years ago.  IFC invited Mr. Willeford to speak to our members at the 2A Lobby Day a couple of years ago, and again at the IFC-PAC Supper that evening. The events of that day had a profound effect on Mr. Willeford and his impactful story is raw still.

Speaking of 2A Lobby Day–our Lobby Day event in 2025 will be held on February 18th, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Iowa Capitol, as always. The keynote speaker is Iowa native, Jeff Struecker, known from Black Hawk Down. You won’t want to miss this event.  We’ll let you know when tickets go on sale.

Takeaways

Talking with the IFC team after the event, the things that most impressed us were:

• There were people from everywhere! We talked with folks from Denver, from Florida, from Nebraska, Missouri, and certainly from Illinois!  (Kansas State Rifle Association had their big annual meeting on the same day as GunCon this year, so we didn’t run into many from Kansas this year.) Eric Hansen, our Events Coordinator, said that the folks from Illinois all told him the same thing: they are looking at options for moving across the river. Illinois gun laws are driving them to greener pastures – like Iowa!
• People were willing to drive six to ten hours to attend the event. It is important to them and the event offers something for everyone. The benefit of learning from the various panelists firsthand was a big draw for attendees.
  • There were all kinds of people at the event. People of all ages and backgrounds; people with varying degrees of firearms experience and different interests. Although still a predominantly male crowd, there were many women in attendance and they were not just companions along for the ride! The involvement of women with guns was a frequent topic mentioned by the panelists.
• The folks who stopped by our booth — and there were MANY! — were very appreciative of the work done by IFC since its inception. The degree of interaction with them, the length of discussions, and the concerns they have about protecting gun rights, were impressive.

What Next?

All in all, it was a great day! Getting to interact with hundreds of people from all walks of life, with common concerns and interests, was rejuvenating! As you can see, we are growing our presence and outreach, and we could really use your talent. We are an All-Volunteer organization. Volunteer and discover all the fun you are missing! The folks at IFC are great to work with and very helpful.

Also, if you are not yet a member of IFC, or if your shooting friends are not members, what are you waiting for? One of the appalling statistics I heard from the 2A Rights panel was that over 126,000 Iowa gun owners are NOT registered to vote! And, looking at gun owners nationally, over 9 million gun owners are not registered to vote. That does not bode well in terms of protecting our interests.

Our Second Amendment rights are under serious attack. For heaven’s sake: JOIN IFC & VOTE!

Second Amendment Matters