Jeff Struecker (Blackhawk Down) on Warrior Wednesday EP83

Jeff Struecker (Blackhawk Down) on Warrior Wednesday EP83

Jeff Struecker, IFC’s 2A Day (February 18th, 2025) featured speaker, leads the Unbeatable Army. He’s a decorated soldier who enlisted in the United States Army at age 18 and retired with almost 23 years of active federal service. In 2017, he was inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame.

He spent most of his Army career in the 75th Ranger Regiment. While serving in this unit, Jeff competed in and won the Best Ranger Competition in 1996. He then served at the University of Louisville, where he was recognized as the US Army ROTC, Noncommissioned Officer of the year. Jeff spent his final years in the US Army serving as a chaplain in Airborne and Ranger units.

Join us on 2A Day!  If you’d like to listen to a passionate story in a more intimate setting, purchase a ticket and support the IFC-PAC later in the evening on February 18th, 2025 at our annual IFC-PAC Supper.

2024 IFC-PAC STATE LEGISLATIVE ENDORSEMENTS

2024 IFC-PAC STATE LEGISLATIVE ENDORSEMENTS

2024 IFC-PAC STATE LEGISLATIVE ENDORSEMENTS

The 2024 IFC-PAC State Legislative Endorsements are the focus for this week’s blog. With the election in just over 30 days, and early voting in Iowa starting October 16th, we will skip the news this week. I’m sorry that as a bi-partisan organization, unlike in years past, we do not have a single Democrat Party member or candidate that has earned our support. 

2024 Iowa House and Senate Endorsements*

*To also see NRA Ratings, click on this link to the IFC-PAC website.

NAME CHAMBER DISTRICT INCUMBENT PARTY IFC-PAC ENDORSEMENT
Tim Kraayenbrink Senate 4 Yes R Yes
Jason Schultz Senate 6 Yes R Yes
Mark Costello Senate 8 Yes R Yes
Dan Dawson Senate 10 Yes R Yes
Amy Sinclair Senate 12 Yes R Yes
Mark Hanson Senate 14 No R Yes
Mike Pike Senate 20 No R Yes
Brad Zaun Senate 22 Yes R Yes
Jesse Green Senate 24 Yes R Yes
Kara Warme Senate 26 No R Yes
Dennis Guth Senate 28 Yes R Yes
Doug Campbell Senate 30 No R Yes
Mike Klimesh Senate 32 Yes R Yes
Dan Zumbach Senate 34 Yes R Yes
Dave Sires Senate 38 No R Yes
Charlie McClintock Senate 42 Yes R Yes
Adrian Dickey Senate 44 Yes R Yes
Dawn Driscoll Senate 46 Yes R Yes
Mark Lofgren Senate 48 Yes R Yes
Jeff Reichman Senate 50 Yes R Yes
Robert Henderson House 2 Yes R Yes
Thomas Jeneary House 3 Yes R Yes
Skyler Wheeler House 4 Yes R Yes
Zachary Dieken House 5 Yes R Yes
Megan Jones House 6 Yes R Yes
Ann Meyer House 8 Yes R Yes
Henry Stone House 9 Yes R Yes
John Wills House 10 Yes R Yes
Craig Williams House 11 No R Yes
Steven Holt House 12 Yes R Yes
Jacob Bossman House 14 Yes R Yes
Matt Windschitl House 15 Yes R Yes
David Sieck House 16 Yes R Yes
Devon Wood House 17 Yes R Yes
Thomas Moore House 18 Yes R Yes
Brent Siegrist House 19 Yes R Yes
Brooke Boden House 21 Yes R Yes
Samantha Fett House 22 No R Yes
Ray Sorensen House 23 Yes R Yes
Sam Wengryn House 24 No R Yes
Hans Wilz House 25 Yes R Yes
Austin Harris House 26 Yes R Yes
Oliver Bardwell House 27 No R Yes
David Young House 28 Yes R Yes
Barb McCulla House 37 Yes R Yes
John Dunwell House 38 Yes R Yes
Bill Gustoff House 40 Yes R Yes
Ryan Weldon House 41 No R Yes
Eddie Andrews House 43 Yes R Yes
Dan Gehlback House 46 Yes R Yes
Carter Nordman House 47 Yes R Yes
Brett Barker House 51 No R Yes
Dean Fisher House 53 Yes R Yes
Joshua Meggers House 54 Yes R Yes
Shannon Latham House 55 Yes R Yes
Mark Thompson House 56 Yes R Yes
Pat Grassley House 57 Yes R Yes
Charley Thomson House 58 Yes R Yes
Jane Bloomingdale House 60 Yes R Yes
Michael Bergan House 63 Yes R Yes
Jason Gearhart House 64 No R Yes
Shannon Lundgren House 65 Yes R Yes
Steven Bradley House 66 Yes R Yes
Craig Johnson House 67 Yes R Yes
Chad Ingels House 68 Yes R Yes
Tom Determann House 69 Yes R Yes
Jennifer Smith House 72 No R Yes
Derek Wulf House 76 Yes R Yes
Bobby Kaufmann House 82 Yes R Yes
Cindy Golding House 83 Yes R Yes
Thomas Gerhold House 84 Yes R Yes
Jeff Shipley House 87 Yes R Yes
Helena Hayes House 88 Yes R Yes
Heather Hora House 92 Yes R Yes
Taylor Collins House 95 Yes R Yes
Mark Cisneros House 96 Yes R Yes
Martin Graber House 100 Yes R Yes

Look into your county and city officials’ records and stances on 2A issues and vote accordingly. They are the party’s farm teams. We encourage you to bank your vote early this year so that the candidates can concentrate their efforts on those who have not yet voted.

Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
Member, Board of Directors
Iowa Firearms Coalition

NO MADAM VICE-PRESIDENT, YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT

NO MADAM VICE-PRESIDENT, YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT

NO MADAM VICE-PRESIDENT, YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT

No Madam Vice-President, you can’t just do that — together with other musings from this week. Here we go folks! Hold onto your hats. Remember Joe Biden’s dumb-ass statement years ago that ‘Jill should just point the shotgun out the back door and fire a shot off if she feels threatened’? Well, that statement has just been topped by Heel’s-up-Harris!

The Babylon Bee ran a parody piece this week entitled “Oprah Releases Moving 1-Hour Special On Dangers Of Alcohol Abuse”. The Bee parody highlighted Heel’s-Up’s actual (botched) one-hour interview with The Oprah. During that interview, the sitting Vice-President stated, “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot,”. Without getting into the finer details about self-defense use of force, Castle Doctrine, or Stand Your Ground laws here, most adults understand that there are limits to the use of deadly force in our society. You would think a former prosecutor would. 

…BUT WE SHOULD NEVER LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH

It’s pretty clear that the VP just made the argument that she, like most Americans, has guns for self-defense. The old German word Zeitgeist comes to mind. Its meaning is the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. When both Harris and her totalitarian governor running mate are, or claim to be, gun owners, it becomes much harder to argue that the rest of us minions should not be. Kudos to Mark W. Smith at The Four Boxes Diner for this Zeitgeist reference. 

AMERICAN HISTORY AND ILLINOIS 2023 GUN BANS

AmmoLand.com senior editor F. Reihl wrote a great piece this week about recent history. He wondered aloud how things may have come out differently if Blacks in both East St. Louis and Tulsa had been armed during the race riots of 1917 and 1921. To quote Reihl’s opening paragraph:

The federal trial challenging Illinois’ gun and magazine ban took a poignant turn as U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn reflected on the tragic history of racial violence, questioning how events like the 1917 East St. Louis race riots and the 1921 Tulsa massacre might have unfolded differently if Black victims had access to the types of firearms now banned under the state’s Protect Illinois Communities Act.

I’d encourage you to read the entire article referenced above. It is about the litigation surrounding the 2023 law in Illinois that:

  • bans over 170 specific firearms
  • bans magazines for rifles holding over ten rounds
  • bans handguns that hold more than fifteen rounds

Based on current case law (Heller & Bruen), the Illinois law is clearly unconstitutional. Never forget that gun control in America has its racist roots in the post-Civil War Jim Crow South and the Democratic Party (whose military arm was the KKK). But then, world history is rife with examples of racism being the motivation for a monopoly on power by every despotic government. 

You have heard me say before that we cannot survive as a nation with these loony toons dangerousGovernor Walz - An Opportunist on 2A quacks in power. Now Governor “Tampon Tim” Waltz of Minnesota, agrees with me: He said at a rally the other day; “We can’t afford four more years of this!”

 

 

As Donald J Trump said as he stood up after he was shot: “Fight, Fight, Fight”.

Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
Member, Board of Directors
Iowa Firearms Coalition

IFC-PAC Supper with Jeff Struecker (Blackhawk Down)

IFC-PAC Supper with Jeff Struecker (Blackhawk Down)

After you’ve spent 2A Day advocating for the Second Amendment with IFC at the Iowa Capitol, you should buy a ticket to the IFC-PAC Supper with Jeff Struecker.  This is a fundraiser for the IFC-PAC.

Join the Iowa Firearms Coalition for an engaging & personal evening, interacting with Major Jeff StrueckerMaj. Struecker is a retired US Army Ranger with 17 combat deployments & was portrayed in the movie Blackhawk Down, as well as a Chaplain and award-winning author. Don’t miss this unique chance to connect with a true Iowa hero while enjoying some delicious barbecue from Smokey D’s and listening to live music from local artist Tyler Folkerts.

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR

It has been an honor to serve as your President of the Iowa Firearms Coalition these last nearly six years. One of the first challenges a new leader has, who takes on the position of president of an all-volunteer organization, is to identify your assets and set goals. Let me summarize some of them here:

FREEDOM AMENDMENT CAMPAIGN

The first and foremost task was to develop a successful campaign strategy to pass what you all know as the Freedom Amendment. We as an organization did that by creating an incredibly successful social media campaign. We won 97 of 99 counties — and 65.17% of the vote — in November 2022, adding the 49th Amendment to the Iowa State Constitution.

65%

65% voted for Iowa’s Freedom Amendment

IFC joined up with Five Seasons Media of Cedar Rapids to not only handle the social media side of our effort, but also to help IFC become recognized as the Firearms Experts here in Iowa and surrounding states. We could not have done it without their help, and at a fraction of the price of traditional political campaigns.

 

 

2022 NRA STATE ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR

It was a great honor to represent IFC at the 2023 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in Indianapolis last year to accept the 2022 NRA State Association of The Year Award. I was invited back to speak on effective social media operations at the 2023 NRAAM this year in Dallas.

BUSINESS SIDE OF IFC

In my position as President of the Iowa Chapter of Safari Club International, I spent time my first year developing a budget and cleaning up the business side of the Chapter. The next three years were devoted to laying the foundation for future growth of the chapter’s fundraisers, political action effectiveness, and chapter project support processes. 

At IFC, the Board of Directors, our executive team, and I have done the same thing. We did not just clean up our records.  We ensured near perfection in our State and Federal tax and regulatory filings and compliance for the last five years. While the cutover to a far more cost-efficient and effective membership management system in 2023 brought a new set of problems, we have been effectively working through those issues.  

MONROE COUNTY LITIGATION

While we were in the middle of the Freedom Amendment Campaign, Monroe County sued both IFC, and one of our members. This was after that member asked them to follow the Iowa Code on firearms preemption. It was a great distraction, but IFC ultimately smacked down the Monroe County Board of Supervisors and won. We won not just on the issues, but had our legal fees paid-in-full by the plaintiffs. In addition, $100,000 was paid to IFC to settle the First Amendment Claim that we brought. 

STEPPING DOWN

I could probably write a book just on how these last six years have evolved and how my life has changed in many ways during this period. However, I’d like to introduce you to the new IFC President, Billy Wilson. Billy has a background in successful nonprofit management, and fundraising in the Des Moines area. He has acted as our Gun Show Director and is our current Executive Vice-President.

Here is Billy’s bio on the IFC web pages:

Supporter of the Second Amendment and a lifetime member of both IFC and NRA, Billy joined the IFC to help spread awareness and to help defend Iowa’s Second Amendment rights. He is also a member of the IFC-PAC Presidents 100, and Spartan. Billy grew up in a family with a long history of serving in the military and hunting. Billy enjoys hunting, camping, hiking, and sport shooting with his family. He also enjoys building and tinkering with firearms in his personal collection. He is a Superintendent for a commercial construction company. He currently resides in Ankeny, Iowa.   

Please reach out to Billy with your questions, suggestions, and support as he takes IFC to the next level. 

As for me, I’ll remain on the IFC Board of Directors in an ex-officio status, assisting Billy and the whole IFC team with the transition in this change of leadership, which is effective August 1, 2024. I cannot thank each of you enough for your support and confidence in me. But a special shout out to Michael Ware, Richard Rogers, Pete Brownell, and especially my wife Bridget for all their support and counsel during my tenure.

Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
President
Iowa Firearms Coalition