GUNCON 2024 is happening and it isn’t too late to get your tickets and be part of the “collective” as it were… This event is the next evolution of our TGC Panel you know and love. We are bringing together some of the top content creators, some of your favorite brands, and YOU all at the Brownells HQ! There will be tours of the Brownells facility, tons of cool guns and gear, as well as some big giveaways!
The Gun Collective is brought to you by Jon Patton, and he produces all the content for TGC. Jon makes every effort to be honest and forthright, focusing on educating firearm owners and enthusiasts, while pay close attention to continual quality content. The news, reviews, videos, or podcasts you see coming from TGC is top tier. That’s what makes GUNCON 2024 being held in our neighborhood so exciting. You can listen to the panelist discussions, talk to vendors directly, and shake hands with the people you’ve followed for years. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.
IFC is a sponsor! Read all about GUNCON 2024 HERE. Listen in with Michael Ware of IFC and Jon Patton of The Gun Collective as they discuss what is going on with GUNCON 2024 right here in the middle of little ol’ Iowa.
Well, everyone deserves a break and our illustrious President, Dave Funk, is taking one this week. I’m subbing for this week’s President’s Message and there’s some stuff to get through! Here goes…
‘Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn’t exist here. So you can’t argue Second Amendment. This is New York.’
Re-read that quote…
Judge Darkeh, in New York City, has no regard for the Constitution or the Bill of Rights – especially the Second Amendment! Consequently, an ordinary guy – a software engineer with a machine shop in his basement – is sitting in prison while real criminals get cashless bail. Mr. Taylor got interested in gunsmithing during COVID (when New York was completely shut down), and legally ordered parts and lower receivers to begin building firearms. He is a hobbyist. He reportedly never even fired the firearms. He never sold any of the firearms. Yet today he is in one of the worst prisons in our country, while his attorney attempts to appeal the case. His attorney estimates it will take two years of appeals to work the case up to the Supreme Court.
Of course, reactions from around the 2A community are predictably and justifiably loud and angry. mrgunsngear on YouTube posted this video with his take on the case that provides background about New York law, details about this case, and about Mr. Taylor. Listen here to Colion Noir’s outrage over this case. And Guns & Gadgets expressed their disbelief about the case here.
In Other Anti-Constitutional News…
Watch this Undercover Video from James O’Keefe, featured in this article from American Thinker. Mr. O’Keefe is having a conversation with a six-year DOD employee, called Jason Beck. Mr. Beck has a senior position within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and routinely writes prepared responses for his bosses when they go to Capitol Hill to testify to Congress. Specifically, his title is the ‘Associate Director, Total Force Requirements & Sourcing Policy’. Like others currently in (unauthorized bureaucratic) ‘power’, he openly advocates to just ignore, discard, and trample upon the Constitution and American gun owners. In particular, he tells Mr. O’Keefe in the video that gun owners should be stripped of their guns…by the National Guard…by force. “Take them all away.” All guns.
“The DoD employee casually noted that he “would like to do some work on the state’s monopoly on violence.” When asked what state’s monopoly on violence meant he replied, “It’s the idea that the state, meaning the country, uh, is the only sort of legitimate purveyor of violence …” Anyone else feel a chill?”
The article succinctly concludes with this observation:
“Disarming the citizenry is the hallmark of totalitarian rule. It is one of the first steps in enslaving a people. It goes hand-in-hand with one party rule, censorship, and “re-education camps.” If the people put up with this, they deserve to be treated like livestock.”
Don’t think they aren’t coming for your guns. They are impeding gun rights in every possible manner, putting gun shops and manufacturers out of business with a zealous application of bureaucratic rules. They are conducting lawfare in every court they can, to bankrupt gun owners and gun businesses into submission. They are determined and WE are in their crosshairs.
Back to Iowa – And YOU
As few as fifteen years ago, gun laws in the State of Iowa were not necessarily very good. We certainly did not enjoy the 2A freedoms we have today. We had “May Issue” (carry permits), instead of “Shall Issue”. We did not have Constitutional Carry. We did not have the Freedom Amendment. In fact, there have been many Second Amendment legislative victories since IFC was formed. You should count your blessings that you live in Iowa, and not New York. Or California. Or Colorado. Or Oregon. Or Maryland. Or Illinois. Or Washington. Or New Mexico… I think you get my point. The success in Iowa did not happen by accident!
The Iowa Firearms Coalition has been remarkably successful over the past dozen or so years, at introducing favorable legislation to enhance and protect Second Amendment rights for all gun owners in Iowa. IFC has also been extremely effective at keeping “bad 2A bills” from passing. Check out this updated page for a history of IFC’s legislative actions.
JOIN IFC!
You should be thankful to have such an effective organization working on your behalf. However, there is no question that there is strength in numbers – and we need your participation! It is just a fact that legislators listen more closely to larger groups. There is more work to be done, as was outlined recently in this IFC blog. Become a part of the fight. Second Amendment challenges are everywhere and it takes all gun owners to keep our rights intact.
Membership in IFC is not expensive. Even if you belong to a national gun rights organization, you should join IFC. IFC is involved at a state level – and those laws affect you each and every day. Being a member keeps you up-to-date on legislation being proposed, or passed, as well as Second Amendment developments and firearms industry news. In addition – an ADDED BONUS to membership is the discounts offered by our Trusted Partners and Affiliates to our members. Check it out here!
GUNCON 2024 is happening and it isn’t too late to get your tickets and be part of the “collective” as it were… This event is the next evolution of our TGC Panel you know and love. We are bringing together some of the top content creators, some of your favorite brands, and YOU all at the Brownells HQ! There will be tours of the Brownells facility, tons of cool guns and gear, as well as some big giveaways!
The Gun Collective is brought to you by Jon Patton, and he produces all the content for TGC. Jon makes every effort to be honest and forthright, focusing on educating firearm owners and enthusiasts, while pay close attention to continual quality content. The news, reviews, videos, or podcasts you see coming from TGC is top tier. That’s what makes GUNCON being held in our neighborhood so exciting. You can listen to the panelist discussions, talk to vendors directly, and shake hands with the people you’ve followed for years. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.
On this day back in 2023, IFC met with Governor Kim Reynolds. Our Chair, John McLaughlin, accompanied me and met with Governor Reynolds to discuss the matter of school security, an issue of great concern to her as well as to IFC. John and I explained how the only way to keep casualties to a minimum in the event of an attempted mass school shooting is to confront the perpetrator with force within the first thirty to sixty seconds. The only effective means of ensuring that ability is to have quick response security team members (trained and armed staff) dispersed throughout the school.
We also discussed with her how some pioneering schools that had already begun to select, extensively train, and arm non-teaching staff had been forced to abort their programs in order to maintain their insurance coverage. IFC told the Governor that we viewed that as a speedbump, rather than a roadblock, to this project.
A year later, the legislature passed and Governor Reynolds signed, the Students First Safety Act, which is intended to enhance school security in Iowa. It does this in large part by granting qualified immunity for the use of reasonable force to schools and their armed staff members who meet certain stringent requirements for initial and recurring training. Already, we are seeing indications that the Students First Safety Act is likely to bring new players into the marketplace for insuring Iowa’s schools. Such competition will undoubtedly be good for all.
It is past time for Iowans to protect our students – and school staff – in the same way we do elected officials, sporting events, concerts and other mass gatherings, etc. A significant number of schools have already expressed an interest in exploring this concept. IFC expects that as the necessary training becomes more widely available, many schools will eventually adopt quick-response security teams. We certainly hope so. We owe it to our children.
IFC Victories and Disappointments in the 90th Iowa General Assembly
Iowa’s 90th General Assembly adjourned its second and final regular session in the wee hours last Saturday morning. Legislators left the Capitol after three and a half months and headed to their homes throughout the state. Some legislators are retiring, while others will now begin to ramp up their campaigns for the election next November – or, in some cases, for the primary election in June. Now is an appropriate time for those of us in the Second Amendment community to begin to evaluate how we fared in the 90th GA and start to plan for the 91st. First, the good news…
In case you missed the disappointments, take a LOOK HERE to view them.
Part I – Victories
Of the bills of primary interest to IFC this year, the following are the ones that passed both the House and Senate. The Students First Safety Act and the Second Amendment Privacy Act were signed by Governor Reynolds almost immediately. We expect that she will sign the others as well.
This bill is focused on enhancing security in Iowa’s schools. It directs school districts with a minimum enrolment of eight thousand students to employ at least one private school security officer or school resource officer in each high school building. These officers are required to undergo annual and quarterly training approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS). School districts with less than eight thousand students are also encouraged to utilize security officers.
Most importantly in IFC’s view, the bill authorizes the issuance of professional permits to carry firearms to qualified school employees who comply with the initial and recurring training requirements to be established by DPS. Under this new law, school employees who meet these requirements and are authorized by their school to be armed are granted qualified immunity should they need to use reasonable force in the performance of their employment. The schools are also granted qualified immunity. It is expected that this provision will facilitate the ability of Iowa schools that choose to arm staff members to obtain insurance coverage by encouraging competition in the marketplace. The company that currently enjoys a virtual monopoly on public school insurance in Iowa has so far refused coverage to any school that authorizes armed staff.
IFC is confident that eliminating schools as phony “gun-free zones” and establishing rapid response security teams composed of armed school staff members is the single most effective means of limiting casualties should evil threaten to harm Iowa’s school children.
HF2652 – school security infrastructure
This bill established requirements and standards to improve public school security and provided for the training of existing school staff to form armed quick-response security teams under the provisions of the Students First Safety Act.
This bill is intended to prevent discrimination on the basis of transactions involving firearms and ammunition. It prohibits the assignment by financial institutions, credit card processors, etc. of transaction codes to Iowa-based retailers that specifically identify them as firearms dealers. The new law also prohibits a person or any unit of Iowa government from keeping a record or registry of privately owned firearms or their owners, with exceptions for criminal investigations, prosecutions, and the like.
HF2556 – a bill to strengthen current protections against regulation of weapons by political subdivisions of the state by establishing a schedule of damages that may be awarded by the court in lawsuits brought against a local government for enacting or maintaining an unlawful restriction in violation of Iowa Code 724.28. The damages may be assessed up to $5,000 for unknowing violations and up to $25,000 for knowing violations. This law becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2025. IFC wishes to acknowledge and thank Rep. Bill Gustoff for authoring this bill and shepherding it to enactment with wide bipartisan support. Rep. Gustoff is not only a great legislative champion of your Second Amendment rights but has been IFC’s attorney since our creation.
HF2421 – a bill to limit the liability of a federal firearms licensee (FFL) that enters into voluntary “firearm hold agreements” “for any act or omission arising from or subsequent to a firearm hold agreement and resulting in personal injury or death…, including the return of a firearm to the individual firearm owner…at the termination of a firearm hold agreement.” This bill was sought by Iowa mental health advocates and championed by IFC.
While several other minor bills endorsed by IFC passed, these – and the two failed bills to be discussed in Part II, were the main focus of IFC’s testimony at the Capitol and of our efforts to educate both legislators and the public.
Tomorrow, we’ll discuss two major disappointments and the implications of those losses.
-Richard Rogers – IFC Board Member and Chief Lobbyist
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