CCRKBA Blasts Iowa Dems for running out on Pro-Gun Bills

As reported by the Des Moines Register, “Iowa Democrats…left the Capitol in protest of two gun bills the Republican majority had planned to debate today…” House Joint Resolution 2009 proposes an amendment to the state constitution that includes a specific right to keep and bear arms. House Bill 2215 is a “stand-your-ground” measure that would expand the use of reasonable force to include lethal force, to resist grave bodily harm or death. “Once again,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “Democrats have painted themselves as the party of gun control by disappearing rather than debating measures to strengthen the firearm civil rights of Iowa citizens.” Gottlieb is co-author of These Dogs Don't Hunt: The Democrats’ War on Guns with Dave Workman. He noted that Democrats claim they were ‘double-crossed’ because the bills were scheduled for debate today, allegedly not giving them adequate time to prepare amendments. Yet, he said, it was reported that they had already offered at least one amendment to one of the bills.

“We are disappointed,” he said, “that once again Democrats choose to be disingenuous about ducking out on gun owners. It is a sad example of legislative cowardice, since both bills will likely pass the Republican-controlled House. Iowa’s Democrat caucus can't run away from that and live in denial. “It is telling that Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky referred to both of these measures as ‘dangerous bills’ when she spoke with the Des Moines Register,” Gottlieb noted. “There is nothing dangerous about protecting a civil right already delineated in several state constitutions and the Bill of Rights, nor is there anything dangerous about expanding the self-defense rights of Hawkeye State citizens. Democrats are living in denial if they think they can delay these measures into obscurity. “I will remind them of the words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King,” he concluded. “A right delayed is a right denied.”