How is Asa Hutchinson on the 2A? Would you like to be part of an IFC Membership Exclusive in conjunction with Brownells?
IFC members want to know the many views of each Presidential Candidate, but we’re hyper-focused on the Second Amendment. Brownells has assembled an intimate gathering to discuss the candidate’s positions while we offer our concerns about the relentless attacks on this civil right. The national stage must be shaped, and it starts right here in Iowa with the members of the Iowa Firearms Coalition.
IFC Members, if you can attend, please RSVP as we’d like you to come! This is an intimate gathering and small panel though, so the first to commit to attending will help us prepare. In order to truly have an impact and a dialogue to flow freely, we’re limiting numbers to just a few dozen IFC members. Please RSVP to be part of this Second Amendment discussion!
Just 79 days from today, on January 18, 2024, Iowa Firearms Coalition is holding its annual 2A Lobby Day at the Capitol! IFC has every reason to be proud of its signature event. Prior years have included featured speakers such as Kris “Tanto” Paronto (Benghazi/13 Hours) and Stephen Willeford (“The Barefoot Defender”/Sutherland Springs Church Shooting). IFC makes a special effort to bring speakers to you not just for what they have done, or what they know, but for the hard experiences they have had and the wisdom they can share with us. And I’m sure you know by now that Gabby Franco is our featured speaker for this year’s big event!
Why Gabby Franco? Is it because she was the first female shooter to represent her home country of Venezuela in the Olympics in shooting sports? Is it because she was the only female Top Shot contender who made it to the final stage of the competition (Season 4), and and the only woman to compete in the “All-Star Season” of Top Shot? Or is it because in 2013 she published a book Troubleshooting: Mastering Your Pistol Marksmanship? Well…yes — partially.
Back on February 8, 2021, Gabby participated via Zoom in an IFC hosted panel discussion with Iowa State legislators to describe what it was like growing up in Venezuela and how their citizens’ rights were incrementally stripped away. Citizens could not own guns any longer, and Venezuela became a very dangerous country. It was the drastic changes in her home country that drove Gabby to the US, where she became a citizen. Her story is a cautionary tale and one that bears a striking resemblance to many of the gun-control efforts taking place in the US today. And THAT is why you need to hear her story. That is why Gabby Franco is our featured speaker for the upcoming 2A Lobby Day.
But, besides her accomplishments, Gabby demonstrates a quality of character and perseverance that is admirable. It is not as much what she has done as who she is that makes her so very impressive. I want to share something with you that shows her spirit, her determination and her drive. She credits her Olympic training for her abilities to “dig deep”, put failures behind her and move forward with optimism:
“It’s that mindset learned through Olympic shooting that help get Franco through one of those tough patches we all hit in life.
“I lost my job. My ex-husband left me. I was at rock-bottom — dead,” she says. “I remember sitting and crying and not knowing what to do. [But] the mentality of shooting that I learned in Olympic shooting is that you don’t dwell in the past. If you have a bad shot, you don’t worry about the bad shot. You don’t even worry about the future. You don’t worry about what the next shot is going to be, that is not your concern.”
With that lesson learned through shooting, Franco didn’t dwell on the past or anguish over the future. Instead, she focused on the here and now, asked herself what Gabby the shooter would do and made a plan.
“I started thinking,” she says. “I was like, ‘Okay, I can cry all I want over what’s happening to me, but what can I do right now to get out of this situation?’”
Franco knew she could shoot; she had made it to the Olympics after all. She remembers thinking, “I think I can teach one or two things to people about how to shoot well, and that is when I decided I was going to be an instructor.””
I could go on and on with accolades about Gabby’s achievements. Instead, I will share the links below with you so you can explore for yourself, while you wait the next 79 days to meet her in person @ IFC’s 2A Lobby Day!I am beyond excited to meet this remarkable woman! I hope you will join us for a great event to give Gabby Franco a very warm welcome.
Please note: this year’s 2A Lobby Day event begins at 9AM.
The program is from 10:00-12:00. See Flyer for additional information.
Gabby Franco, Olympian, Competitive Shooter, and all-around American talks with Michael Ware of IFC about her time growing up in Venezuela and offers a unique perspective and context for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, especially during these trying times in Israel and beyond.
Gabby will be our featured speaker at the 2024 IFC 2A Day at the Iowa Capitol this year held on January 18th. (Note, this year we’re holding a morning program, so pay close attention to the start times.)
DEFUND THE ATF? Where Does Your Presidential Wannabe Stand, Iowa?
DEFUND THE ATF? Where does your presidential wannabe stand on this Iowa? With the obvious total failure of gun control costing thousands of lives in Israel just days ago, every Iowa Republican caucus-goer needs to know exactly where the POTUS candidates stand on this question.
We all have friends who are Federal Agents. Most of them understand the roles and Constitutional duties of their offices. Many of them have also quietly spoken to me about the necessity to clean the houses of the politicians in their agencies and getting back to core missions.
Freedom is about more than just “keeping the program funded”. It’s an important part of why the Founders wrote the Enumerated Powers Clause of the US Constitution. Of the five powers granted Congress, none of them included gun control in any form.
This is not just a DC Swamp vs the rest of America question. This is about the next step in ensuring that Americans continue to have the ability to defend not just themselves, but our communities, and with the open border invasion being allowed by President Biden’s Administration, our country.
America’s Founding Fathers clearly understood the necessity of the government not having a monopoly on power. Of all the things that they wrote about in the first ten amendments to our Bill of Rights, the second most important thing after being safe in your beliefs, thoughts, and speech was that every person should have a gun!
Clearly, a majority of our friends in Israel now see the need for an armed population that is Ready at All Times, and not just a few military members or the police.
Help us educate Iowan’s on the facts by joining or renewing your IFC membershiphere today.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
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