Twenty-nine Iowa senators are sponsoring Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR2) to amend the state’s constitution by adding explicit protections for Second Amendment rights, thereby blocking common Democrat-sponsored gun controls.
The text of SJR2 says, “The right of an individual to acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms to defend life and liberty and for all other legitimate purposes is fundamental and shall not be infringed upon or denied.”
The text goes on to say that “mandatory licensing, registration, or special taxation as a condition of the exercise of this right is prohibited, and any other restriction shall be subject to strict scrutiny.”
The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) is asking gun owners to urge their respective lawmakers to support the amendment, as the Iowa constitution currently has no Second Amendment protection clause.
Other gun owners will try to convince you there’s more important gun legislation to work on but the fact is without a [right to keep and bear arms] provision in the state constitution every single pro-gun law in Iowa is in danger of being wiped out by judicial activism or a runaway legislature. Stand Your Ground, Constitutional Carry, your Permit to Carry – all pro-gun owner legislation requires that citizens have a guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Right now you, the People of Iowa, are living without this critical protection.
KIMT reports that opponents of the amendment worry that it will undercut the state’s ability to impose additional requirements before law-abiding citizens can carry guns for self-defense.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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