The right to keep and bear arms has been added to Iowa’s state constitution after voters approved Public Measure 1, also known as the Freedom Amendment, at the ballot box on Tuesday.
The passage of the Freedom Amendment was made possible thanks to the grassroots efforts of the Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC), which through their network of advocates, supporters, and volunteers, successfully lobbied the Iowa Legislature to approve the ballot measure in two consecutive legislative sessions before the issue was brought to Iowa voters.
“This is a historical day for freedom, civil rights and the Hawkeye state,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “The right to self-defense and bear arms is here to stay in Iowa and we are grateful for the thousands of Iowans who took time out of their days to cast a vote in favor of liberty.”
With the passage of the measure, Iowa joins nearly every other state in the Union in adopting its own version of the Freedom Amendment. Only five states in the country, Minnesota, Maryland, California, New York and New Jersey, do not have Second Amendment protections in their respective state constitutions.
Polling done prior to Election Day showed the Freedom Amendment was expected to be the most popular item on Iowans’ ballots, with strong support among registered Republicans, Independents and Democrats.
“We could not be happier that Iowans of all political stripes and backgrounds came together to support a nonpartisan issue that impacts us all,” said IFC Chair John McLaughlin. “While shady out-of-state billionaire backed organizations may have attempted to meddle in our elections, confuse voters and spread misinformation, we are proud to say Iowans knew better.”
In the days prior to Election Day, IFC received multiple reports of alleged attempts by a poll worker to misinform voters about the Freedom Amendment at the Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux City. These allegations are being investigated by the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office, and the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. It remains unclear at this time what impact these alleged actions may have had on voters. IFC plans to follow this case and advocate that should any poll worker be found to have broken the law, they are held accountable for their actions.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, an affiliate of the NRA and NSSF, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s only effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
Take A Few Moments To Be Thankful For How IFC Won The Freedom Amendment Vote.
Nearly two years ago, the IFC Political Action Committee leadership sat down with a potential vendor to map out the most efficient course of action to ensure Iowans turned out and voted yes for the Freedom Amendment on November 8th this year.
As you might know, we won all but two counties, of course to no one’s surprise one of them was the forever anti-gun Johnson County, and by a margin of fewer than 160 votes out of 34,000 cast we just missed winning in Story County. However, the rest of Iowa carried the day, garnering more votes than any other candidate this year. Clearly bi-partisan support for the right to defend ourselves, our families, our homes, and if necessary the State of Iowa itself carried the day.
IFC PAC can thank the efforts of several statewide candidates, including Governor Reynolds, Attorney General-elect Brenna Bird, all four Congressional candidates, and the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action’s Grassroots Committee among others for their support of the Freedom Amendment.
What did IFC do differently than the traditional campaigns of years past? We hired 5 Seasons Media out of Cedar Rapids to run a purely digital campaign. We went where Iowa voters are every day, and spent a year and a half educating and building relationships with them.
Sure we produced a few yard signs and our leadership appeared at various events and forums across the state in the last few months of the campaign. But by any metric, the earned media 5 Seasons garnered for IFC, and the hundreds of thousands of individual Iowans who engaged with us on just Facebook alone were instrumental in this victory.
Please remember every day that your vote made a difference in this 97 of 99 counties victory with nearly 66 percent of Iowans voting yes on protecting our right to keep and bear arms. I’ll be reaching out in the very near future with ideas on how you can help ensure pro-freedom majorities continue to be held in the Iowa General Assembly and in Washington, DC.
Thank you again for your vote, and your membership. Without them both we won’t continue winning. Please enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Did you know that Iowa is NO LONGER one of six states that do not recognize our precious Second Amendment rights in their constitutions? We’re no longer in the “I like to trample your civil rights” club consisting of California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Minnesota. That all changed on November 8th, 2022. 2 out of every 3 voters in Iowa SAID YES to freedom and liberty.
The Freedom Amendment is the culmination of over a decade of hard work. NRA and IFC have been partnered in this monumental endeavor from day one. We built the language together, worked through the tweaks together, and pushed this forward when others didn’t even bother to declare “for” or “against” on the resolutions for the Freedom Amendment as they passed through the Iowa General Assembly. It may sound odd, but lots of people show up to celebrate and take credit when there is a win. Too few actually roll up their sleeves and work the issue day and night on behalf of others. We’re proud to partner with NRA.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, Iowa’s only effective gun-rights organization, has been hard at work for years to get this fixed! Amending Iowa’s Constitution was no easy task. The course was long and there are many hurdles and pitfalls along the way. But the “Freedom Amendment” is now Section 1A of Iowa’s Constitution, having met the requirement to pass in two consecutive General Assemblies and then be ratified by a majority of Iowa voters.
Congratulations Iowans, you did it!
The newest Amendment to Iowa’s Constitution, the Freedom Amendment, reads:
“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.”
The number of “thank yous” we owe is epic and we’re not sure we can do them all justice. But, the best start is to high-five your liberty-loving friends and family that supported Iowan’s civil rights and then hit our IFC Action Center to send the Legislature a thank you note for pushing the measure forth for Iowans to ratify with their votes.
2. Join the Iowa Firearms Coalition and become not just a member but an active volunteer in the fight to preserve and maintain our God-given rights! IFC Membership
3. Consider donating to our sister organization, IFC-PAC, so we can continue to protect the right to keep and bear arms for Iowans of every color, sex, and creed. IFC-PAC Donation
***Since this publication at 8 am when 20 Sheriffs publically offered their support, 4 more Iowa County Sheriffs have joined in support of the Freedom Amendment:
(TIPTON, Iowa) — Nine more Iowa Sheriffs are publicly endorsing the Freedom Amendment ahead of Election Day. They include Sheriff Marty Arganbright (Guthrie County), Sheriff Ken Pingrey (Carroll County), Sheriff Kirk Dolleslager (Grundy County), Sheriff Chad Sheehan (Woodbury County), Sheriff Jamie Van Voorst (Sioux County), Sheriff Aaron Dodd (Franklin County), Sheriff Brandon Doiel (Harrison County), Sheriff Jeff Pratt (Monona County) and Sheriff Travis Oetter (Mills County).
(Here are the 4 from today: Sheriff Tim Beckman, Howard Co. Sheriff John LeClere, Delaware Co. Sheriff Mike Tschirgi, Clayton Co. Sheriff Kevin Wollmuth, Osceola Co.)
These latest public endorsements come only days after 11 other Iowa sheriffs also announced they too would be turning their ballots over to vote “yes” for the Freedom Amendment. Those other Sheriffs are Sheriff Warren Wethington (Cedar County), Sheriff Dan Tredrow (Van Buren), Sheriff Quinn Riess (Muscatine), Sheriff Keith Davis (Wayne), Sheriff Jared Schneider (Washington), Sheriff Jason Barnes (Madison), Sheriff Jason Sandholdt (Marion), Sheriff Adam Infante (Dallas), Sheriff Jeff Vandewater (Adair) and Sheriff Joe Carico (Warren) and Sheriff Robert Rotter (Iowa).
“As a long-time Iowa peace officer, I have never seen this amount of support among other peace officers for a public measure on the ballot,” said Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington. “As peace officers, we swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of Iowa and the United States and I’m proud to see so many others, who also wear the badge, aren’t afraid to be counted as supporters of Iowans’ civil rights.”
The Freedom Amendment, if approved by voters, will add the right to keep and bear arms to Iowa’s state constitution. Only six states, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Maryland, California, New York and New Jersey, have not already adopted their own versions of the Freedom Amendment in their respective state constitutions.
“The right to self-defense is among the most basic rights we enjoy as Americans,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “We look forward to having this right enshrined in Iowa’s Constitution on November 8th and we are grateful to have the support of Iowa’s law-enforcement community towards our efforts to make this happen.”
Recent polling from the Des Moines Register and Iowans for Tax Relief has also shown it’s not just members of law enforcement who are backing the Freedom Amendment but a strong majority of everyday Iowans too.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, an affiliate of the NRA and NSSF, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s only effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
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