Iowa House Passes Two Gun-Rights Bills After House Democrat Drama

Those who support a citizen’s right to carry and bear arms, as well as, use them in the defense of their home will be happy with the votes that took place tonight in the Iowa House.  The Iowa House passed HJR 2009, a proposed constitutional amendment that affirms the language of the 2nd Amendment on a 61 to 37 vote.

Especially noteworthy is the the following language in the bill:

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 second bill that passed on a 60-38 vote was HF 2215, an enhanced Castle Doctrine/”Stand Your Ground” bill allows someone to use force, even deadly force against those whom they believe is threatening to kill or cause serious injury, or those who are in the act of committing a violent felony.

Neither of these bills were passed before the House Democratic Caucus walked out of the Statehouse to play hooky on the taxpayer dime.  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) didn’t feel House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner) gave them enough notice.

McCarthy said, “We have been double-crossed as a caucus, and we’re not going to sit back and be treated with historic misuse of power.”  Wow… it was on the debate calendar.  If actually debating something that was on the debate calendar is a misuse of power I have to wonder what he thinks of Senate Dictator Majority Leader Mike Gronstal’s behavior.  This is nothing compared to what Senate Republicans have had to go through.  Kudos to Upmeyer for waiting until the Democrats decided to come back and act like adults.  She had a quorum so she didn’t need to wait, but said to Simon Conway on WHO Radio this evening that she wanted their districts to have representation.

Both Governor Terry Branstad and Iowa GOP Chair A.J. Spiker criticized the Democrats’ actions.  Branstad said it wasn’t a wise move, ““I don’t think it’s a wise thing to do.  I’ve been in the minority and I’ve been in the majority in the legislature and I’ve always felt that the best thing to do is to not be afraid to state your position.”

Spiker in a statement sent out tonight said, “Iowans send their elected representatives to Des Moines to serve them responsibly and to conduct the business of the state. It is unfortunate that Iowa House Democrats walked out on their constituents today. This isn’t Wisconsin or Indiana, and it is a shame that Iowa Democrats copied these antics. Iowans expect their elected representatives to debate issues and vote.”

Via tweet Iowa Democratic Chair Sue Dvorsky chided the Iowa Republicans for “lousy tactics” (debating a bill on the calendar?) and encouraged the House Democrats to stay strong.  She later made a statement, ““The House Republicans have shown time and again that they are unwilling to govern in a manner that gets results and moves Iowa forward,” she said in the statement. “Their abuse of power this morning shows that they are more concerned about breaking the rules in order to push through dangerous bills than work with Democrats to create jobs, grow our economy, and support education in this state.”

So the 2nd Amendment is dangerous?  Well according to Mrs. Maturity and Professionalism it is.  I guess it’s better to just let the criminals have weapons.

Related articles

• Democrats Flee State Capitol Over 2nd Amendment (theiowarepublican.com)
• Iowa House Democrats walk out rather than debate gun bills (bleedingheartland.com)
• Iowa House Democrats return to Capitol after gun debate protest (qctimes.com)
• Republicans React to Dems Fleeing Iowa State House: UPDATED: Paulsen Reax (theiowarepublican.com)

Tags: 2nd Amendment, A.J. Spiker, gun rights, HF 2215, HJR 2009, Iowa House Democrats, Iowa House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, Linda Upmeyer, Sue Dvorsky, Terry Branstad

Category: Iowa Democrats, Iowa Legislature, Iowa Republicans