Join IFC as we support NRA-ILA in the big Legislative Kickoff Meeting!
Make plans now to join NRA-ILA staff for an important NRA Legislative Kickoff Meeting at Machine Shed in Urbandale, on Tuesday, February 21st, at 6:30 p.m.! Following a very successful election year in Iowa, we are in the rare position to promote and pass Pro-2A legislation. This meeting is a great opportunity to meet your Iowa NRA staff, get critical federal updates, learn more about the Iowa legislative session, and hear directly from some of your State Representatives!
The event is FREE, along with NRA materials and gear. Light Hor d’Oeuvres & Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited; RSVP below.
IFC AWARDED “2022 NRA OUTSTANDING STATE ASSOCIATION AWARD”
The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) has been named “2022 NRA Outstanding State Association” by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most prestigious honor that can be given by the nation’s largest Second Amendment rights group to a local affiliate. There are 51 state NRA affiliates in the country.
“We are truly honored and humbled to receive this recognition on behalf of our all volunteer nonprofit organization,” said Dave Funk, Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) President. “We would like to thank all of our members and supporters across the state who have rallied behind our organization and helped us usher in some of the most impactful civil rights reforms in the country.”
IFC received the award in the wake of groundbreaking pro-freedom victories in Iowa. Some of these include:
The passing of Statewide Ballot Measure 1, which added the right to keep and bear arms to Iowa’s Constitution in November.
The passing of Constitutional Carry legislation, which removed the requirement for law-abiding Iowans to obtain a government permission slip before they can purchase or carry a firearm.
The overturning of Monroe County’s anti-First and Second Amendment actions in court.
The passing of 37 Second Amendment Sanctuary County resolutions in recent months among many other accomplishments.
As part of the award, IFC will be given a four-figure donation from the NRA and will have their affiliation dues waived for the next year.
“This is only the beginning,” said Funk. “Just wait and see what we have in store at IFC to further recognize and protect Second Amendment rights in 2023 – we look forward to our most significant legislative session to date.”
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, an affiliate of the NRA and NSSF, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s most effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
I just got this email from Representative Windschitl moments ago. Check it out:
Today was a monumental day for Iowan’s freedoms. On election night this past November Iowan’s overwhelmingly voted to amend the state’s constitution to protect our individual, fundamental right to keep and bear arms. Today, I had the honor and privilege to attend the ceremony celebrating the passage of Proposition 1, also known as the Freedom Amendment.
The Freedom Amendment passed with over 65% approval throughout Iowa, garnering more votes in the state than any other statewide candidate. The amendment passed in 97 of Iowa’s 99 counties. This overwhelming support by Iowan’s embodies the state motto, “Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.” I am proud to serve constituents in this state, the greatest state in the nation.
This effort to amend our state constitution has been over 10 years in the making. I want to personally thank the Iowa Firearms Coalition, the NRA, and every Iowan who believed in this cause and brought that passion to the ballot box, because it could not have been accomplished without the great people of this state.
The 90th General Assembly is right around the corner and I look forward to your thoughts and feedback as we craft our legislative agenda for 2023. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time and I look forward to continuing to serve you to move Iowa forward.
Image above from left to right – Iowa House Representative Steve Holt, IFC Board Member, and Chief Lobbyist Richard Rogers, Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, and Secretary of State Paul Pate.
FREEDOM AMENDMENT FORMALLY ADDED TO IOWA’S STATE CONSTITUTION
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Recognition and protection of the right to keep and bear arms were added to Iowa’s state constitution as the 49th amendment in a ceremony led by the Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on Friday afternoon at a ceremony inside the Iowa Capitol Building.
Statewide Ballot Measure 1, known as the Freedom Amendment, passed with overwhelming support in the 2022 midterm elections with more than 65% of Iowa voters of all political stripes voting in favor of the measure. To put it another way, a majority in all but two of Iowa’s 99 counties voted “yes” for the Freedom Amendment, making it the most popular item on the ballot.
“This day belongs to Iowa,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “With the passage of the Freedom Amendment, thanks to the hard work of IFC’s grassroots supporters and myriad public servants, including Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Elect Brenna Bird, Iowa is a freer, safer state with stronger civil rights protections.”
With Iowa’s passage of the Freedom Amendment, only five states in the country, Minnesota, Maryland, California, New York, and New Jersey do not yet have Second Amendment protections in their respective state constitutions.
“We would like to thank every Iowan who ignored the misinformation campaign launched by shady, out-of-state and coastal billionaire backed groups who attempted to meddle in our internal state affairs in an effort to infringe upon our civil rights and erode our electoral process,” said IFC Chair John McLaughlin. “Iowa is truly a state where liberties are prized, rights are maintained and where nonpartisanship concerning our fundamental rights is alive and well.”
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, an affiliate of the NRA and NSSF, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s most effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
(Pictured above from Left to Right: Representative Steve Holt, IFC Board Member and Chief Lobbyist Richard Rogers*, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl**, and Secretary of State Paul Pate)
*Richard Rogers is the recipient of NRA’s Distinguished Advocate Award **Representative Matt Windschitl is the recipient of NRA’s Defender of Freedom Award
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.
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