The text of the bill as passed by the house last evening is here.
It goes to the senate. I can't offer a confident prophecy on its chances there. Comments in the previous Constitutional amendment note also apply here.
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The best argument the opponents could dream up seems to be that we're turning gentle, agrarian Iowa into the "Wild, Wild West."
That's nonsense. But even if it were true, so what?
Wander though the Boot Hills of Deadwood, Tombstone and the like and two things will stand out. (1) They're pretty small places. (2) In even the toughest towns of frontier legend, moving to the local grave yard courtesy of a gunslinger's bullet was a remote danger compared to, say, the fatal results of untreated acne.
The point being, Ladies and Gentlemen of the statist left, Clint Eastwood westerns are tales written to entertain, not exhaustively researched narratives of the norm in the 19th Century American West.
Mar 1, 2012
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.
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.
Feb 29, 2012
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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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.
---
Timing of the stand-your-ground action isn't clear yet.
---
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 textupcoming.
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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
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