Oversight Kills Pro-Gun Amendment In Iowa

By Tom Knighton

Pro-gun laws are important. Not just for gun rights activists, but society in general. More guns tend to lead to less crime, providing even non-gun owners with a kind of herd immunity against crime.

Despite that, we always have a tough fight on our hands whenever a new pro-gun law is proposed. It’s more of an issue when we’re talking an amendment to a state’s constitution.

So imagine how bad it sucks when a bureaucratic snafu derails a pro-gun amendment.

Actually, we don’t have to imagine. It’s happened.

Iowa’s top elections official acknowledged Monday that his office mistakenly derailed a long-sought plan to grant residents more expansive gun rights by forgetting to notify the public of the proposed constitutional amendment, as required. Secretary of State Paul Pate cited a “bureaucratic oversight” for his office’s failure to publish notice of the proposed amendment in newspapers before the November election, as required by the Iowa Constitution.

The mistake means supporters likely will have to restart the lengthy process for amending the state constitution and that the earliest the measure could be voted on in a statewide referendum would 2022, instead of 2020. The plan likely would be blocked if Democrats gain control of either …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms