IFC hit the ground running today on behalf of its members! Today, January 8th, marked the first day of the 2024 Legislative Session at the Capitol, and IFC was there. More specifically, our esteemed volunteer Lobbyist, Richard Rogers was there. If you are a member and have not yet met Richard, be sure to introduce yourself at the upcoming 2A Day at the Capitol. Richard is a fixture at the Capitol during the legislative session, always working to further our goals. He also works hard for IFC members throughout the year, as do all of our Board members. Richard focuses on building relationships with legislators and helping to bring them up to speed on Second Amendment issues. He religiously follows Second Amendment court cases and posts frequently, not only to bring them to your attention but also to explain why they are important to all of us who are concerned and involved in 2A issues. He’s very active on Facebook so be sure to follow him there.
Richard was joined today by Chris Lee, representing the National Shooting Sports Foundation, our close friend and ally. NSSF is also very active at the Iowa State Legislature, protecting and furthering our Second Amendment rights. Here is a link to a short video they recorded today while at the Capitol, discussing the legislative focus for NSSF this year.
If you want an update on IFC’s legislative agenda (indeed, on “all things IFC”), be sure to attend the 2A Lobby Day at the Capitol, being held this year on Thursday, January 18th. We are starting in the morning this year, so be sure to get there by 9:00 a.m. — there will be a shuttle from the parking area, as in the past. You will have the opportunity then to meet our event Sponsors and some of our Trusted Partners. Check out the discounts or special offers available to you as an IFC member.
The official program begins at 10:00 a.m. until noon. It is during this time that you will hear about IFC’s legislative proposals for 2024, some of which are carried forward from efforts that began last year. You will also have the opportunity to hear from our featured speaker, Gabby Franco, a Top Shot contender. Gabby represented Venezuela in the Olympics; in fact, she was the first woman Olympian for that country in shooting sports. She eventually left Venezuela, largely because of their prohibition against civilian gun ownership, and became a U.S. citizen. She has written a book, TroubleShooting, and is a highly acclaimed firearms instructor. She also speaks to groups around the country about what it is like to LOSE your right to keep and bear arms. Her message is sobering and should be a wake-up call to all of us.
After the program, you will have an opportunity to meet with your legislators, if you like. IFC volunteers can walk you through the process, which is really easy. Legislators pay attention when a constituent shows up at ‘their house’ to talk to them.
So, What Does Our Lobbyist Do For IFC?
The work of a lobbyist is NOT easy. Every single person who approaches a legislator wants something. Lobbyists must build and maintain relationships with an ever-changing slate of legislators and often must bring the newly elected legislators up to speed on Second Amendment issues. This includes education about the constitutional protections we have, about ongoing court cases, as well as about proposed legislation.
There is immense competition for legislators’ time and Second Amendment issues can be very detailed and contentious. You should be very grateful that Richard is willing to continue this work for all of us — he’s been doing it for many, many years. If you do run into him at 2A Lobby Day, be sure to shake his hand, and thank him for his tireless service.
Unable to get to the event at the Capitol? Then join us for the evening IFC-PAC Supper! The prime rib dinner is being served up at the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine in Altoona, from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m. There, you will hear again from our featured speaker, Gabby Franco, with a more in-depth and personal telling of her story. You will also hear from the folks on the IFC Board. This is where you will get the “inside scoop” about why certain legislation is being proposed, what we’re trying to accomplish for our members — in fact, for all Iowa gun owners — and some of the strategy necessary to accomplish these goals.
The first time I attended 2A Lobby Day and then the IFC-PAC Dinner, I thought it was strange that they had the same featured speaker for both events. However, having attended both events the past three years, I can tell you that the evening event is ALWAYS riveting. The speakers are free to truly tell their stories at the evening event. They aren’t standing in the Rotunda of the State Capitol. Everyone who attends the Supper is a “friendly”; there is no reason to be cautious about what they are saying and they aren’t as constrained by a tight schedule. It’s a much more casual gathering. Good food, good content, good people and good fun. Your only requirement? Show Up! (Especially all you women shooters. I KNOW you’re out there!)
Your “To-Do” List!
Attend the 2A Lobby Day at the Capitol, if you can. We must make an impression on the Legislature and strength is shown through the number of people who show up and voice their concern for Second Amendment issues. When our loud voices ring through the Rotunda, you can bet it gets the legislators’ attention! As you know, we face constant opposition. The legislators need to see our members and hear from them.
Join your friends, or make new ones, at the IFC-PAC Supper that evening! It truly is a fun event, as well as being informative! Click here for Tickets
Find Richard Rogers at one of these events and tell him just how much you appreciate what he does for us. His job is often thankless! 🙂
Present and willing – the foundational pieces for saving lives. Now add a healthy dose of training, and you’re arguably very prepared to stop a threat, put evil on hold, and spare the lives of innocent people.
We’ve got problems, but we’re asking all the wrong questions, which means we’ll get the wrong answers. Too many will say something thoughtful like, “When are we going to do something?” They would be right to ponder and ask a question like that, but what you’ll get in return, if anything, is a bunch of manure splashed across the wall in hopes some of it sticks. And that’s a really poor way to consider and erect policy.
Let’s ask the hard question. “How many lives are we willing to forfeit each time something bad happens?”
Yeah, I wrote that. And you read it. There is no way to eliminate evil. Stop being silly and thinking if you could ban one more gun or curtail one more civil right, evil would cease. That mentality is as stupid as it is dumb. Rather, let’s agree on the TRUTH. Evil exists and for as long a man has walked the Earth, it has been present. Knowing this, the question pivots away from how to remove evil, to what we’ll do when evil presents itself. That’s the right question to ask, and we all know the answer. Some are just not comfortable admitting the answer, that’s all.
When evil shows itself, if you’re present and willing, you intercede. YOU STOP IT.
Being present and willing are foundational to stopping the gratuitous harm of others. With training, your speed and odds of success increase exponentially. That’s it. There’s no magic formula. Are you present? Are you willing? Are you trained in ways that allow you to reach your full potential? If you can answer yes to the first two, and the third is well in hand with more planned, you’re what the innocent among us require to make it home at night. Not the wholesale curtailment of the good guy’s rights. Not a bunch of Pollyanish ideas that have never and will never work, but give us some warm feelings. No. Why have we departed from the TRUTH?
When the bad guy shows up with a plan to hurt people, why don’t we act on our plan? That requires you and I to be present, then willing. And the more trained we are, the better off everyone will be. May the Almighty bless them, but no police response time is going to compare to a person who is present and willing in the school. No SRO is going to react as quickly to disaster in a classroom as the teacher standing there. Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise – that’s a fool’s errand. When the person present is willing and prepared the body count these killers amass, plummets.
Evil exists when the bad guys have a monopoly on violence in “Gun Free Zones” – when we remove that advantage two things happen. 1, What violence they inflict is quickly halted, and 2, fewer and fewer attempts will be made due to logical outcomes for the perpetrator.
Join IFC in the fight to stop these phony “safe” zones that are anything but… The families in Perry and the community as a whole have suffered in unimaginable ways. The past is granite, but the future is malleable. If you don’t choose to be present, willing, and prepared you’re not communicating your compassion, but rather your indifferent cruelty.
John McLaughlin, IFC Chair 515-724-4164 jmclaughlin@iowafc.org
(MOVILLE, Iowa) — The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) strongly condemns Thursday morning’s attack at Perry High School.
“Our prayers are with the Perry community following this morning’s act of evil. Iowa must, finally, harden soft-targets and empower school staff who love their children enough to protect them to do so. Signs don’t stop evil, good people do,” said IFC President, Dave Funk.
IFC has offered free active-shooter training to Iowa educators and school staff, most recently at the IFC Educators Academy this past August in Johnston. The intensive three-day training program provided participants with the essential skills and knowledge needed to effectively respond to active shooter threats in schools.
IFC has also worked with school districts in the state to increase their security and allow for trained staff to exercise their constitutional rights on school grounds.
IFC continues to lobby Iowa lawmakers to ban “gun-free zone” signs that are endangering the lives of students and emboldening criminals to commit acts of evil. Additionally, IFC has included in this effort, the need to end Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) policies that are preventing schools from taking the necessary and scientifically proven steps needed to protect students and staff during a crisis.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, Iowa’s official NRA State Association, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s only effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
Rep Matt Windschitl – R (Iowa House Majority Leader), champion of 2A defense and advancement here in Iowa, and Recipient of the NRA Defender of Freedom Award, walks us through a myriad of topics including upcoming legislation, Iowa Caucus, and more. Tune in to get the skinny! Chase these links to learn more about Rep Windschitl.
Happy New Year from the Free State of Iowa, which celebrated its 177th birthday on December 28th! It’s New Year’s Day 2024 as I write this. Many of you know how I wound up an Iowan. However, for those of you who do not, here is how it all happened. Having been born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and as a newly minted private pilot, I enlisted in the US Air Force expecting to see the world. The Air Force sent me to Omaha… Now that you’re finished laughing, it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.
You see, having grown up in even-then economically declining and freedom-crushing State of New York, finding the clear skies of Nebraska and Iowa at age eighteen was a Godsend. I then finished up my professional pilot flight training, graduated from the University of Nebraska (I know, my Huskers football team is not what it used to be). I ultimately received a Direct Commission as a Warrant Officer in the Iowa Army National Guard. I flew attack helicopters out of Waterloo for most of my Army career.
Why might I bring this up on New Year’s Day 2024 you might ask? Well, growing up in New York gives me a unique perspective on how rapidly those dangerous quacks on the Left destroy everything they touch. Be it States, corporations, institutions, or families. Point to anything that has gotten better by centralized government or totalitarian control in history. None of us can.
That’s why Free States like Iowa, Florida, and Texas continue to prosper, and Blue States like California, Minnesota, and New York are in economic collapse with exploding crime rates. We watch as the State of New York prosecutes our former President on “trumped up” civil financial fraud charges. It is glaringly apparent that if you get on the wrong side of the leftists in power, they will destroy you — by any means necessary. Who in their right mind would ever invest in New York State again?
2024 – Election Year
2024 is an election year. It’s obvious that one party is doing everything it can to disarm law-abiding citizens and ensure that it can exert one-party rule in perpetuity. Not just by controlling every institution of government, but also by ensuring it has a monopoly on power.
Rush Limbaugh used to say that the world is ruled by the aggressive use of force. The Left knows this, that’s why they want to disarm every one of us. Free People can fight back, slaves cannot.
Watch for legislative updates here from the Iowa State House over the next few weeks right here and on the IFC-PAC web pages.
I know that economic times are tough, but to ensure that we at IFC & IFC-PAC can keep fighting for you, please purchase your tickets to the IFC PAC Prime Rib Dinner on January 18th. Hopefully, I’ll see you there, after meeting each and every one of you at IFC’s annual 2A Lobby Day that morning.
Help us educate Iowans on the facts by joining or renewing your IFC membership here today. And please stay Ready at All Times.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
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Richard is a fixture at the Capitol during the legislative session, always working to further our goals. He also works hard for IFC members throughout the year, as do all of our Board members. Richard focuses on building relationships with legislators and helping to bring them up to speed on Second Amendment issues. He religiously follows Second Amendment court cases and posts frequently, not only to bring them to your attention but also to explain why they are important to all of us who are concerned and involved in 2A issues. He’s very active on Facebook so be sure to follow him there.
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