Grab a friend and head to the range to celebrate 2A Day! Patronize one of the participating ranges below and take advantage of free firearm rental or limited free ammo. Ask your local participating range about free firearm rental or limited free ammo. Or head to the range of your choice to send rounds downrange. Be sure to share your experience and post on social media using the hashtag #2ADay.
Too far away from a participating range? Use this link from the NSSF to find a range near you and go celebrate your rights and freedoms!
Make your voice heard! Click on the links to find your US Representative and Senators, and contact them to let them know how important your 2nd Amendment freedoms truly are! Check out the tips for effectively reaching your elected representatives.
1. Find Your Legislator.
Locate your federal or state legislators using this site. Phone calls and emails to your reps are good, but nothing beats talking in person. Visit them at your capitol or schedule a meeting if you can.
2. Know Your Issue. Know Your Bill.
Understand your issue so you can communicate well and educate your rep. If you want them to take action on a specific bill, be sure you know the bill’s number which can be found on Congress’ or your state legislature’s websites.
3. Keep Your Comments Brief and Specific.
You may only get a moment of their time, so within the first minute of your letter, call, or meeting, your rep should know who you are, where you’re from, why you’re reaching out to them, what your position on the issue is, and what you want them to do about it.
4. Above All Else, Be Nice!
Legislators are just regular people, and nobody responds well to someone being rude or confrontational. Be courteous and respectful, and you’ll amplify the impact of your message.
Join
The most important thing you can do is join with us to help preserve, protect and expand your 2nd Amendment rights. Join a state level organization promoting gun rights where you live. Join a national organization to help protect freedom for the whole country. Join both! Get your friends, neighbors and family to join, too!
These organizations are working hard to protect your 2nd Amendment rights. Please consider joining one or more of them today.
2nd Amendment Foundation (SAF)
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1976 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue.
The mission of the Iowa Firearms Coalition is to continue as the preeminent organization representing Second Amendment concerns for all firearms owners in the state. We seek to ensure that the government at all levels recognizes and protects the fundamental right of all Iowans to keep and bear arms and to defend themselves and their loved ones. We will staunchly defend the rights of hunters and sportsmen and advocate for their interests. We seek to partner with like-minded organizations in order to increase our effectiveness in accomplishing these goals.
The National Rifle Association is America’s longest-standing civil rights organization. Together with our millions of members, we’re proud defenders of history’s patriots and diligent protectors of the Second Amendment.
Ethan Settle of Crossroads Shooting Sports walks us through indoor range time, their facility, AND 2A Week sponsored by Brownells! Seek out Brownells and the landing page for 2A Week. Celebrate, Advocate, Join! A portion of ALL the sales this week at Brownells (through 2/23/25) will go to IFC and others. Use code “Freedom” for discounts when spending over 250 clams… 😉
2A Lobby Day and IFC-PAC Dinner are Next Week! It’s hard to believe that our 2025 Second Amendment Lobby Day and the IFC-PAC Dinner is already upon us! Amazingly, it looks like reasonable weather for Iowa in February, for a change. We really need your support, not just through your dues, but through your attendance at next week’s events. Legislators respond to numbers. More people attending tells the legislators that Iowans care about their Second Amendment rights. When many people attend our Second Amendment Lobby Day, it makes the job of IFC’s lobbyist and others working with the Legislature on your behalf, a little easier. Hopefully, I’ll meet you in Des Moines on February 18th.
2A LOBBY DAY
This is a free event held in the Rotunda of our beautiful State Capitol. Plan to attend! Why? Here are a few reasons:
Meet & Learn —
Hear directly from IFC leadership about this year’s legislative efforts to further improve gun laws in Iowa
Learn how you can help, by talking to your Representative &/or Senator about legislative matters of particular interest to you
IFC volunteers will be on hand to help you with this, if you are not familiar with the process
Meet your IFC volunteers and learn about volunteer opportunities
Meet like-minded people who are passionate about preserving our Second Amendment rights
Hear from state legislators about Second Amendment issues
Meet NRA representatives and hear about what they are doing to rejuvenate the NRA
Learn about IFC’s status as an NRA-State Affiliate Organization, and how that benefits our members
Browse and Enjoy —
Arrive at noon so you have time to talk to your legislators and to meet the IFC Trusted Partners
Click HERE to see who IFC’s Trusted Partners are, and check out discounts available to IFC members!
Browse their tables to learn what they do and what they offer
Get swag!
Featured Speaker —
We are so fortunate to have Major Jeff Struecker (ret.) at the Capitol for this year’s Second Amendment Day. Hear his riveting story which is portrayed in the blockbuster movie Black Hawk Down. He is a retired US Army Ranger with 17 combat deployments. Major Struecker is a ‘home-grown’ Iowan, from Fort Dodge. He is also a Chaplain and award-winning author.
The official program is from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. We encourage you to arrive at noon, to allow time for the above activities. There will be a shuttle van from Parking Lot 16 (look for the flags); we can drop you off right at the Capitol and take you back to your vehicle afterwards.
IFC-PAC DINNER
IFC has stepped up its game for this year’s IFC-PAC Dinner to be held at the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine in Altoona, located at 1100 Shriners Pkwy. Don’t miss this unique chance to connect with Major Jeff Struecker (ret.), a true Iowa hero, of Black Hawk Down fame. His presentation in the evening will be more in-depth and personal. It’s a chance to hear more about his unique story, while enjoying some delicious barbecue from SmokeyD’s. Cost of the event is $75. Buy your tickets NOW! Scan the QR Code to purchase.
Here’s the Schedule:
5:50 — Doors open
5:50 PM – 7:00 PM – Drinks, Raffle entries,
and Live Music from local artist Tyler Folkerts
6:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Supper (meal from Smokey D’s)
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM – Meet & Greet with Jeff Struecker & IFC Leadership
8:30 PM – 9:00 PM – Raffle drawings & Door Prizes
IFC TRUSTED PARTNER OF THE WEEK: FIREARMS LEGAL PROTECTION
This week’s Trusted Partner is Firearms Legal Protection.After significant research, our Chairman, John McLaughlin has settled on FLP as the best option out there. We highly encourage you to look into them as your legal protection in the event you need an attorney following a defensive use of a firearm.
IFC Warrior Wednesday EP89 – Richard Rogers on the Recent Court Battles – Listen to Richard Rogers offer a rundown of the historic US court cases, how they tie to recent court cases, and their significance. Don’t miss out on the understanding of these transmogrify the future.
Two major wins for 2A occurred this past week! One is the affirmation that 18 to 20-year-olds can purchase and possess handguns. The second is a reluctant decision regarding the Hughes Amendment — that machine guns cannot be restricted to pre-1986 production.
18 TO 20-YEAR-OLDS ARE A PART OF “THE PEOPLE”
A Fifth Federal Circuit Panel of Judges has ruled that 18 to 20-year-olds are indeed part of “The People” as defined in the Second Amendment, and that there is no historical evidence to allow blanket prohibitions to purchase or possess handguns. From Ammoland:
“This week the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1)—which together forbid Federal Firearms Licensees from selling handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds—violate the Second Amendment.
Applying the text-and-history test for Second Amendment cases set forth in NYSRPA v. Bruen, the Fifth Circuit began its analysis by considering whether the regulated conduct is covered by the Second Amendment’s plain text. First, the court concluded that “the right to ‘keep and bear arms’ surely implies the right to purchase them.” Next, the court determined that 18-to-20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Amendment because “There are no age or maturity restrictions in the plain text of the Amendment” and because 18-to-20-year-olds were traditionally required to provide their own arms for service in the militia and posse comitatus.
Since the plain text covers the purchase of handguns by 18-to-20-year-olds, the court next considered whether the federal prohibition is consistent with America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
The court concluded that it is not. During the founding era, as noted above, 18-to-20-year-olds were required to acquire and possess firearms.”
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES ON MACHINE GUNS
IFC Past Chairman Michael Ware published an IFC Blogearlier this week:
“Be aware that a federal district judge in Mississippi has just ruled, albeit grudgingly, that the federal law [18 U.S.C. § 922(o)] prohibiting possession or transfer of a machine gun that was not lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986, is an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment rights of the appellant and has dismissed the criminal charges against him. As this was a criminal case, the decision is “as applied” only to that individual. This leaves open the possibility that the law might withstand constitutional scrutiny with a different set of facts. It would take a successful “facial” challenge to invalidate the law broadly.
This is at least the second federal district judge to rule this way since the Supreme Court upended Second Amendment jurisprudence in its Bruen decision in June 2022. As noted in this judge’s opinion (attached), Bruen has rendered “obsolete” or “abrogated” previous court precedents upholding the law in such cases.”
The blog notes that:
“The judge expresses skepticism about the historical analysis method mandated by Bruen, highlighting the confusion it has caused in lower courts and the potential for judicial overreach in historical interpretation.”
I want to address the Federal Judge’s reluctance to write this decision. I disagree, and point out that SCOTUS made it very easy. First, is there any historical basis for the restriction? And second, if there is not, then the case must be resolved in the citizen’s favor. End of discussion. Cases like these are how we build the foundation of eliminating the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the National Firearms Act of 1934, one block at a time.
IFC has worked for years to eliminate the offensive weapons section of Iowa Code. Hopefully, this recent case is helpful to that effort.
IFC TRUSTED PARTNER OF THE WEEK: HATPOINT TARGET
HatPoint Target is a successful, early-stage company that manufactures a lightweight polymer target stand, in the U.S.A. The stand is very tough and useful across many different shooting disciplines.
Recreational target practice, hunting enthusiasts, law enforcement, military, gun ranges, and competition courses, find this target stand to be a useful product and include this as part of their shooting gear, setup and experience.
IFC Members can use discount code IFC10% at checkout!
IFC’s annual 2A Day – Shuttle from parking area
2A LOBBY DAY AND THE IFC-PAC DINNER
2A Lobby Day on February 18th at the State Capitol is fast approaching. Don’t forget to get your tickets for the IFC-PAC BBQ Dinner that evening with Iowa Hero, Major Jeff Struecker of Black Hawk Down fame.
Join Rick Largesse of SSV Concepts talking about training and firearm proficiency with Michael Ware of IFC. You’d be surprised how overlooked and undervalued focused improvement can be. Listen in and reconsider your practice and range sessions.
Sign up now for our e-mail alert list to stay plugged into what's going on with your 2A rights here in Iowa.
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