Iowa Gun Owners was established by Aaron Dorr in 2009, in response to the state’s abusive ‘May Issue’ concealed carry laws, which allowed county sheriffs to deny law abiding citizens their right to carry a firearm for self-defense without any reason.
Hundreds of thousands of gun owners were being denied their right to keep and bear arms at that time, in a state that was controlled by Democrats in the House, Senate and Governor’s mansion.
Working with Representative Kent Sorenson and Senator David Hartsuch, Aaron drafted the state’s first ‘Constitutional Carry’ legislation (HF 596/SF 473,) which would make carry permits optional for anyone legally eligible to own a firearm.
This legislation was voted down in the House, in a dramatic 49-49 tie vote, betraying the fact that House Democrats understood their electoral vulnerability regarding the Second Amendment.
Rep. Kent Sorenson, forcing a vote on IGO’s Constitutional Carry legislation, H.F. 596, at 1:00am on April 25, 2009.
Prior to the 2010 session, House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen received notification from the NRA that after having been mostly missing in action for the previous twenty years, they wanted to work on a ‘shall issue’ bill in 2010. Paulsen wanted to know if Iowa Gun Owners would assist.
Aaron explained that IGO’s goal was Constitutional Carry, and that by fighting for that legislation, it would have the dual benefit of building political pressure behind ‘Shall Issue’ legislation, a win/win situation for gun owners.
In 2010, Aaron worked with Senator David Hartsuch and Representative Sorenson to introduce the bill in both chambers (H.F. 2241/SF 473.) While the bills were voted down again, Iowa Gun Owners was successful in getting lawmakers in both chambers on the record for, or against, the bill via amendments.
Realizing their vulnerability during the upcoming elections after voting down Constitutional Carry in 2009 and 2010, House and Senate Democrats unveiled a weak ‘Shall Issue’ bill in the final days of the 2010 legislative session, desperate to have a gun bill to campaign on.
This original bill draft was so weak that anyone who had ever been subject to any police investigation of any sort — even one that resulted in no criminal charges being filed — could still be denied a permit to carry a handgun.
Iowa Gun Owners used grassroots pressure through their email and direct mail program to force improvements to this legislation but were unable to stop all of the compromises that the NRA, Governor Culver, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, and Speaker of the House Pat Murphy snuck into the bill.
As a result, the age limit on when Iowans could carry a firearm jumped up from 18 to 21.
Training requirements were added to the bill that made millions for NRA certified instructors in the years that followed.
IGO’s Aaron Dorr at the Iowa Capitol with Rep. Kent Sorenson and other lawmakers along with IGO members, moments after the vote on Constitutional Carry legislation in March of 2010.
And, worst of all, the federal Lautenberg-amendment was added into state code, as part of the deal that was cut in Des Moines. This legislation has resulted in countless Iowans being denied their gun rights, for situations where no violence occurred.
Consequently, even though Iowa Gun Owners’ efforts were the sole reason that ‘Shall Issue’ legislation ever came to the floor for a vote — as desperate House and Senate Democrats, as well as Governor Culver were looking for political cover for opposing Constitutional Carry — the organization was formally opposed to the final product.
And by not taking the easy road and endorsing this final, weakened bill, Iowa Gun Owners was free to do something that no gun rights organization in Iowa had done in decades, if ever: go on the attack during the 2010 elections to ensure long-term gains for gun owners.
To learn more about the 2010 election program that the Dorr brothers ran for Iowa Gun Owners, go here.
To read about the ‘Stand Your Ground legislation that passed in 2017 because of Iowa Gun Owners and the Dorr Brothers’ efforts, go here.
To read about the explosive 2016 election program that Iowa Gun Owners ran, which led to the flip of the Iowa Senate and the defeat of Mike Gronstal’s 34-year reign of hostility against gun owners, go here.
To read about the work that Iowa Gun Owners and the Dorr Brothers did in stopping town gun bans throughout Iowa, go here.