Thursday, April 29, 2010

Gov. Chester signs carry bill

In what would be classified an improvement, as in being poked in one eye instead of two is an improvement, Governor Chester signed SF2379 on Thursday. The great gun compromise is now law. NRA-backed gun permits bill is now law in Iowa. A few quotes:
“Even though Chet’s a Democrat and I’m a Republican, I’m as proud to decide to stand next to him for this as I was the day I hung the sheriff’s badge on my uniform,” said Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington. “This is a huge victory for Iowans’ rights.”
Sorry, but a huge victory for Iowan's rights would have been eliminating the whole permit process.
“That was the last of the Jim Crow laws in Iowa,” said Glen McCannon, an Aurelia resident who belongs to the grassroots gun group Iowa Carry.

Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, said “people put a lot on the line” to get the bill passed.

“I think it’s a great day for the second amendment and it’s a great day for public safety,” Kreiman said.
Raises the permit age, there's still a sheriff's discretion and you have to get re-trained when renewing. Yep, it's a great day for the Second Amendment.

The only thing improved is that there is now a better appeals process for denials. A sheriff can still deny the permit but has to state a purpose instead of arbitrarily refusing and keeping mum on it.

The Great Gun Compromise of 2010.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Not the best outcome, but perhaps it would be better to look at these steps the same way the other side does. As soon as they get a restriction passed, they regroup and start working on the next set of restrictions. You've gotten some freedom. Perhaps now is the time to start working on the next step towards freedom?

SeanM said...

Agree completely BD.

Overlooking the fact that this is the first time the law has been substantially changed in close to 100 years, it brings Iowa in step with the vast majority of the rest of the country, it makes Iowa a "good neighbor" by recognizing all permits from all other states, it vastly broadens the type of training required so the Sheriffs can no longer dictate that... yeah, I suppose this was a crappy compromise, huh?

Those that advocate the "go for all the glory in one shot" approach need to keep reaching for that pie in the sky. We will get there, sooner rather than later. Groups like Iowa Carry decided it was better to help as many as possible first, and get as much out of the process as possible.

There is an old adage about getting more flies with honey rather than vinegar. Pissing off legislators with tactics that do nothing but poke them in the eye will not get you a seat at the table when discussing policy and law changes. Unfortunately, some haven't learned that.

Those are the same folks who will also overlook (or ignore) all discussion of what's being planned for 2011, building on the momentum that started yesterday. They'd rather complain about what they *didn't* get, as opposed to celebrate what Iowans *did* get.

And for those who want to continually bemoan this as the "great compromise" and bash it with a stick... those folks are totally free to exercise their right by not participating in the permit process at all. Why participate in a program that doesn't meet your standards?

This was a huge change for Iowans, and the process is not done yet. 2011 will see more improvements made, and 2012 (being another election year) will hopefully be the next "huge step forward" kind of year.

Sean

strandediniowa said...

BoonDoggie, you are right that sometimes you can make incremental steps towards an end goal. That's Harkin's plan for state-run healthcare, one bill at a time. That plan is effective by both sides.

Sean, the definition of compromise is that you give up something in order to gain something and this bill is a compromise law. We gave up some things in order to gain some things. Me bringing up the flaws is somehow bashing it, what's your point? That makes me the bad guy? I can't criticize the laws of the state?

If you're trying to make this into a IowaCarry vs IGO fight, then take that BS to the message boards and you can fight over your keyboard there. I don't care.

This is an issue for all gun owners here in Iowa not just one group over another. If I was partisan towards a group, I would have deleted the IowaCarry and RobertsGunshop links, wouldn't I? Look around.

I don't trust politicians, so pissing them off? Good. We should be tossing those guys out.

And I don't trust anything Gronstal is connected to.

straightarrow said...

but, but, but you are missing the important thing in all this. My God! How selfish can you be? You would actually prefer taking a chance at restoring a right than letting the NRA avoid a possibly embarrassing loss of face? Do three Hail Mary's and twenty Ave LaPiearre's

How could you have lost sight of what was so important? Who would support liberty for an entire state if there were any chance LaPierre and the NRA got dropped from dinners with "people who count"?

strandediniowa said...

I learned from a very good economics professor years ago - there is always an opportunity cost.

Let's hope the personality conflicts can be overcome so that we can actually gain the freedom back in this state. We should use Arizona as an example for what can be accomplished for gun laws.

Any politician that stands in our way should be booted out.