Iowa Gun Rights Constitutional Amendment

The language finally approved is here.  It would arguably affirm the strongest self-defense rights in the country.

Procedure: An Iowa Constitutional Amendment must be approved by both house and senate in two sessions separated by an election, i.e., two "General Assemblies" in our jargon. Then it must be approved by voters. The next step for this one is the senate where Democrats control things this year. Next is passage -- in identical form --  in the 2013 or 2014 session.

O. Kay Henderson, news director of Radio Iowa and a savvy reporter, says senate passage is unlikely. That may be slightly strong. Two years ago the conventional wisdom ruled out passage of shall-issue because of a Democrat senate and governor. But that was also an election year, and anti-gun lawmakers took a second look at citizen sentiment. They had a sudden epiphany revealing that shall-issue was a very statesmanlike policy indeed.   We'll see.

Iowa's Own RKBA Amendment and UPDATE: SYG approved

The house debated and passed (60-38) the amendment before getting to the SYG bill. It's just a first step, and the earliest it could go to the electorate for ratification would be 2013.

The operative text is:"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed ." 


The absence of the supposedly qualifying phrase in the federal Constitution stands out, doesn't it?  Go Hawks! :)

There's more wordage, but it's stictly procedural.

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Timing of the stand-your-ground action isn't clear yet.

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EDIT:

SYG just passed.

And I've just learned there are dueling sources on the content of the constitutional amendment. The Des Moines Register now says:

Under a tweak to the amendment’s language approved during the debate this evening, it now bars the state from infringing or denying a person’s right to “acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms” and would prohibit firearm licensing, registration or special taxation in addition to echoing the language of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.


It should all be sorted out by morning. See you then. Tired of damn near live-blogging this.











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Update: Theeeyyyrrr Back

The Great Democrat  Anti-Gun Skedaddle of '12 is over. The Flighty Forty said they  took their little hike to make a  point  That point being that the conservative/libertarian majority should be forbidden to act like a majority.

The pretext for the argument centers on whether Republicans told Democrats the gun bills would be debated today. He said. She said.

The stand-your-ground bill seems quite reasonable to me and gives cops all the room they need to investigate defensive use of deadly force. What they can't do under it is harass you or slap you in jail while they "investigate" for a few weeks, or months.

Link to the bill text upcoming.
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The case of the runaway hoplophobes

"Those guns are scary, aren't they, Fauntleroy? We must  run and hide."

Thus spake one Iowa Democrat house member to another this morning, whereupon all 40 Democrats skeddaddled rather than debate reasonable gun control. At this writing they're still missing,  and the 60 Republicans down there are sitting around, twiddling their thumbs.

At issue are one bill and one resolution scheduled for consideration today. The latter would begin the process of amending the state Constitution to guarantee certain firearms rights.

The bill is a stand-your-ground measure permitting the citizen to defend himself anywhere and remove our current "duty to retreat."

May I say a word or two directly to my Democrat friends? Thank you.

"Guys and gals, you weren't elected to pitch hissy fits and hit the mattresses. You're being paid to debate and vote, even on things which require a change of your dainty linen. This point may not be lost on your constituents on a Tuesday about eight months from now."

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My primary reaction, however, is an uncontrollable giggle. Life in the political monkey house, etc.