(SIOUX CITY, Iowa) — The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) is calling for a formal investigation into allegations of voting improprieties at the Woodbury County Courthouse after receiving multiple reports of a polling staffer providing false information about Public Measure 1, also known as the Freedom Amendment, to voters prior to them casting their ballots.
The Freedom Amendment, if approved by voters, will add the right to keep and bear arms to Iowa’s state constitution.
Three voters tell IFC that on three separate occasions, they were told by a polling staff member that should they decide to vote “yes” for Public Measure 1, “it would allow felons to have guns.” This information is both incorrect and may have consequently influenced voters to vote “no” who had spoken with said staffer prior to casting a ballot. It remains unclear how many voters the staffer in question may have given false information concerning the Freedom Amendment before they voted.
At least one of the voters who has been in touch with IFC tells the organization they are in the process of filing a report over the incident with the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office. IFC has reached to both the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office and the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office and has called for an immediate investigation into the allegations.
“Fair elections are a pillar of our democracy and what has allegedly transpired at the Woodbury County Courthouse is both highly illegal and calls into question the integrity of any early voting that took place there,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “We call on Woodbury County Auditor Patrick Gill to remove the polling staffer in question immediately and we demand the state conduct a formal investigation to uncover the extent to what allegedly occurred.”
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 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.
Harriet Hageman, constitutional lawyer and candidate for Congress from Wyoming, proudly endorses the Freedom Amendment. Turn your ballot over and VOTE YES for Iowa’s Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment! We’re thankful for the support. THANK YOU!
Do you know that Iowa is one of only six states that do not recognize our precious Second Amendment rights in their constitutions? It may seem hard to believe, but Iowa, which adopted “shall issue” Permits to Carry Weapons in 2010 and became a “constitutional carry” state in 2021, shares that dubious distinction with California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Minnesota.
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 is no easy task. The course is long and there are many hurdles and pitfalls along the way. But the good news is that what the IFC calls the “Freedom Amendment” has now passed two consecutive Iowa General Assemblies and the issue will be on the ballot for Iowa voters to decide on November 8, 2022.
The proposed 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 Register’s own polling suggests that 58% of Iowans support Public Measure 1, which affirms and guarantees that Iowans may own firearms for their own use and purposes. Despite this, The Register and other non-public influence peddlers have decided to line up against it. An October 30 Register front page editorial contained primarily hyperbole and “what if” scenarios attempting to sway public opinion against the amendment.
Conveniently left out was the single most important fact, and possibly the one very reason all Iowans should support this amendment: Public Measure 1 does not change the fact that those people who are now prohibited from owning firearms will somehow be able to legally acquire them after ratification.
Prospective buyers will still be required to undergo a NICS background check, and any convicted felon or domestic abuser, among others, will still be denied legal purchase. The primary issue of this amendment should not be “strict scrutiny” by which it should be measured, but the legal obtaining of a firearm.
Firearms, drugs, vehicles, and just about any other type of property or services are readily available through illegal, and seemingly non difficult means. Most violent crime nationwide is the result of known career criminals obtaining weapons illegally, and then breaking additional laws using them to intimidate, rob, maim or kill others.
Iowans do not ordinarily commit crimes and laws regulating citizens from obtaining anything will only affect those who do not break them. Legalese on paper has little effect on an intentional lawbreaker; only swift and sure action by those in authority can keep repeat offenders from continuing to prey on the residents once they have been caught, tried and convicted. The trend today in states within easy driving distance from central Iowa, however, has been to release violent criminals back into the general public, often without even having to post bond. It has also become fashionable in large metropolitan areas to simply release violent prison inmates without serving sentences, or to allow rioters, not protesters, to take over entire sections of cities, completely abandoning the citizens who elected officials have been sworn to protect.
Public Measure 1 merely affirms the US Second Amendment process into the Iowa Constitution and insists that what it says on paper is how it shall be enforced. This is how all law should be judged and as such, should be overwhelmingly supported and passed on November 8.
Craig L. Swartz National Rifle Association Board of Directors Iowa Sportsmen’s Federation Executive Director Iowa State Rifle and Pistol Association Board of Directors Adel Iowa 50003
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