Constitutional Provision for Right to Arms Likely for Iowa

By Dean Weingarten

By Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-Iowa is one of only six states that does not have some sort of protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state Constitution. The other five states are California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Minnesota. One of the reasons for this lack is the difficult process that a state constitutional amendment has to undergo to be passed in Iowa. First, the amendment must be passed by the General Assembly. Then an election must occur. Then the amendment must be passed a second time. Finally, the amendment is to be presented to the people, who can vote it up or down in the next election.

The process is nearly identical to the one used in Wisconsin. Wisconsin residents and legislators went through the process in the 1990’s resulting in the passage of Wisconsin’s strong State Constitutional protection in 1998 with 74% of the vote.

Iowa’s senate is starting the process with JR2. Here is the wording of the proposed amendment.

Right to acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms.

SEC. 1A. The right of an individual to acquire, keep, possess, …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand