Just received email update from IFC.

Wow. Just wow.

Thank you Kurt for "manning up" and putting it out there for us. We can handle it. Thank you to our lobbyists for doing the hard work day after day to get us this far, albeit seemingly in vain.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to double down and get back to work. We NEED to make this happen.

Awaiting word from Paul P. Yes, I agree a public apology is warranted.

I just saw that.

It is - disheartening, to say the least.  I'm very upset by this.

For those that haven't seen the email, here it is (IDK why the formatting is fucked up, sorry):

Does this mean it's like it never happened, so it has to be reintroduced, and everything all over again? So at least another year out from getting it on the ballot?

Just sent PP a message basically asking for his resignation if he can't fix it.

What can we do to get him thrown out of office?

that may be correct. On the other hand, that interpretation would allow future secretaries of state to literally kill any constitutional amendment that they didn't like, by "forgetting" to publish them. That action would definitely end up in the state supreme court. Maybe this will also, and maybe it will be be ruled that the SoS publishing is a significantly minor detail, a remnant of the days before modern communication, as to be irrelevant.  Only time will tell.

He had a simple fucking job to do, and he failed.

With the likes of Pate, Mitt "Mittens" Romney, Jeff Flake and the rest of the political turds of this country we will be screwed.

Almost 4 years.
The way I understand it, it would have to start from scratch and pass as a new 2A amendment in 2019, then wait till 2021 for the new session to vote on it again, then wait till 2022 for it to go on the ballot.
What are the odds we will keep a pro-gun majority in the both the Iowa house and senate that long?

I sure the f*ck hope we pass a boatload of other MAJOR pro-gun laws in 2019 in Iowa while we can because when the anti-gun progressives get control it will be sh*t city for law abiding gun owners...

Given how seldom we amend the constitution in this state (I honestly can't remember the last time we did it) I'm not surprised something got overlooked.  I'm not ready to go medieval on anyone just yet.  Yes, it's disappointing.  But IFC has accomplished a lot and I'm confident will continue to do so.  This was the first I had heard of the publication requirement and I don't think I'm the only one.  Whether the courts can address this I have no idea.

I'll hold my fire until we hear from Pate as to just exactly what happened.  My initial thought is to write this off as incompetence and not conspiracy.

When did Pate know he screwed up?

Iowa gun rights amendment is back to square one after 'bureaucratic oversight'

"Due to a bureaucratic oversight, my office failed to publish the required notifications in Iowa newspapers of two continuing resolutions passed by the Iowa Legislature last year. I accept full responsibility for this oversight and offer my sincerest apology to the legislators and supporters who worked so hard on these bills," Pate said in a statement.

That says it all...

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/14/iowa-legislature-state-constitution-gun-rights-amendment-2nd-amendment-firearms-coalition-paul-pate/2567619002/

Wonder how much that paid him??

He referenced two resolutions that didn't get published.  What was the other one?

Article says:
"Pate, a Republican, said he supports both the pro-gun amendment and an amendment clarifying gubernatorial succession. Both measures were impacted by the error. Pate said he would institute a system that prevents future mistakes."

Never heard of the second one.  Screwed up not once but twice.  Something systemic here.

Do we have any good bills coming up to brighten things otherwise? I haven't even had time to check.

A tremendous disappointment.

If he resigns, how will that position be filled?  Serious question.

To my understanding, he is pro gun.  But his failing is fucking unconscionable.

If it were a Democrat that did this, we would be calling for blood.

Seriously, do you think Deidre DeGear or Chet Culver would be better as SoS?
Pate is a career politician but based on personal experience, I don’t see likely malice here.

The Constitutional Amendment is a once in a lifetime activity in the Secretary of State’s office. It is purposely difficult and very rarely attempted. Evidently there was a procedural issue missed. I suspect it may have been discovered in a manner similar to the issues with Gov. Reynolds court appointment. There is also a group of Democrats that are pro bono scrutinizing everything in Iowa’s government, which is probably good.

History of Iowa Amendments...
http://publications.iowa.gov/135/1/history/7-8.html

More than I expected but the last one in 1998.  Entirely possible no one in that office had ever handled one.

Guys-

I know many of you but not everyone here so let me start by saying I'm Kurt Liske, IFC President.

I found out about this Friday night. It's been a whirlwind since then and has been very taxing. The session demands a ton of attention and every year once it wraps up it seems like our guys are almost complete strung out. This nonsense with the Secretary of State's office has me feeling how I usually feel a few months into the session. But it's only day one

I'm wiped out and there's no way I can address everything right now but I wanted to take a little bit of time to touch base with you guys here on ARFCOM. I haven't been real active here recently because, well, I've been busy with work, family responsibilities and also, you know, running a statewide advocacy org. But this board is what drew me into 2A advocacy years ago so I feel more compelled to provide input here than most other places.

That said, this isn't about me. Here's a few key points for you all right now:

It's OK to be angry and frustrated, but we can't lose focus.
We were going to have to get this voted on again during this current General Assembly. That fact doesn't change. The timeline for potential enactment changes, but the votes still need to be taken. Make no mistake, this whole scenario sucks. But that doesn't mean we don't have work to do. In effect, we just got punched in the mouth. We can now do one of two things. 1) Fight back, or 2) Sit around talking about how bad it sucks to get punched in the face. You're free to conduct yourselves as you wish. But I'm wired for action and take action is what I intend to do.

I don't believe this to be intentional
I've seen some chatter here and there that this must be some apparent form of sabotage. Setting aside the fact that we just years of work undone, this obviously a case of job failure and not sabotage. Constitutional Amendments are not a regular thing in Iowa. The legislature passes lots of bills every year, but constitutional amendments are rare items. Not only are they rare, but their requirements are pretty arcane. Let's be clear though this does not excuse the Sec. of State. He still failed to do his job and the ramifications of that failure are significant and very real (just ask us). Ultimately this was a mistake on a very large scale, but there is zero evidence I've seen that leads me to believe it was malicious or intentional. Besides we're not the only ones who got the shaft. The Governor's office had an amendment of their own related to succession planning that also got torpedoed. It's one thing to piss off gun owners, it's another to piss off the governor who's also very closely aligned with the SOS.

What else are we pushing for??
We've kept our agenda pretty close to our chest this year. Expect that to change soon. But I'm willing to give you guys the scoop on a few specifics. My hope is that you'll help disseminate this information and help us build up a groundswell of support. Beyond the RKBA Amendment expect to see a Constitutional/Permitless Carry Bill. No big surprise there, but it needs to be said. This got submarined last session by the tragedy in Parkland, FL when support for the matter quickly eroded within the legislature. That's the nature of what we do and it's pretty unique to our cause. What other special interest groups can have their support completely undercut by the actions of a single lunatic hundreds or thousands of miles away? It's frustrating, but that's the hand we've been dealt. Either way, expect that this session.

Also, expect to see school pick-up and drop-off bill and parking lot carry bill. Expect to see a lot of push back and weeping and gnashing of teeth over this from our opposition. Parking lot carry has been something that's percolating for some time now. Your vehicle is your property and an extension of your home, you should be free to exercise your God-given rights within your property regardless of what your employer says. The courts bear this out for other freedoms, e.g. search and seizure, it's time it applies to your Right to Keep and Bear Arms as well. The other item, school pick-up and drop-off will garner a bunch of attention. If you can, I need you guys to start reaching out to legislators now about this. A low-level outreach campaign would really do this particular issue a lot of good. Getting guys like you out in front of the anti's could make an outsized impact. Don't for a second assume that just because there are GOP majorities these things are done deals. There's 285,000 Permit to Carry holders in Iowa. How many of them do you think are parents? How many of them knowing or unknowingly risk becoming a felon because they crossed some imaginary line outside their kids school? These parents have done nothing wrong, all they've done is chose to carry protection for themselves and their most valuable assets, their kids. There's no reason these lawful citizens should risk punishment for that. This needs to change.

I had a full day of work at my real job. Cub scouts with my kid tonight and several hours on the phone trying to manage what's going on in the capitol. I'm sure I've got plenty of spelling and grammatical errors in this post. I know there's more that needs to be said and questions that need to be answered. But for now, off the top of my head, these are some of the biggest points you all need to be aware of and acting on. I'll try to clean this post up and update you all within the next day or two. Right now my brain is fried.

Good night everyone. Thank you for your support.
Kurt

Keep up the good work Kurt.

I think the last one was actually 2004.

Kurt, thanks for the update.

Seeing how we have to start over with the 2A bill, what are the odds that we add specific protection for magazines, ammo, etc into the new 2A bill?  Now would be a good time to include them with the anti-gunners going for broke in other states.

Well I guess there is no reason we can't make this an airtight as possible amendment now. It needs to anticipate the moves of the anti's. This is an opportunity to make it as good as possible. It needs thought out like, maybe better than, the founders thought out the bill of rights.

Thanks Kurt.

Just had one of our other, non-RKBA Amendment bills drop and it's a big one...

SSB1017 School pick up and drop-off bill

I expect there will be a lot of very vocal opposition to this. It's critical the pro-freedom crowd provide some balance to offset the members of the nannystate.

Expect an official IFC update in your inbox soon.

So you can’t leave your firearm in the car and attend a school function? You can only drop off or pick up your kid. Define what a delivery is? Does this only apply to school activities  during normal school hours ? What about after hours like when a outside team rents the gym and you drop off your kid for practice?

You also understand if you pick up your child in the middle of the day at a elementary school  that you have to get out of the car and sign them out.

I’m hoping there will be more to this bill because it’s very limited and sounds like it applies to a limited narrow time frame.

Joe

He will not make the same mistake again. If he resigns the Dem's will spend $25 Million to win the seat in a special election. I can guarantee you if a leftist wins the seat, that person will "screw it up" again on purpose.

Kurt, thank you for the update.

If you have time, could you let me know (or better yet write a post) about what we can do?  Lots of us don't have a lot of time available but we'd like to do more than send emails to our elected officials and try to talk to coworkers and friends etc.  In my case - Polk county -  its communists, so I feel that my communication has zero impact.  I'd love to be able to devote as much time as you, but I don't believe that is in the cards for the time being.