Iowa gun owners have a lot to cheer about today as Governor Terry Branstad signed House File 517, an omnibus firearms reform bill that passed in this year's session of the Iowa legislature. This important piece of information would not have been possible without Meredith and Natalie Gibson, two young ladies who are competitive 3 gun shooters who found out that they were not legally allowed to shoot handguns in their home state.
The Gibson Family at the 2016 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits
Once they found out about the law, Meredith and Natalie worked to change it. The only problem was there was a state senator named Steve Sodders who would not let firearm reforms out of his committee. That's when these two young ladies made it their mission to defeat him in the 2016 election. On election night, he became former State Senator Steve Sodders.
Meredith Door Knocking Photo from BearingArms.com
Thanks to their hard work, Governor Terry Branstad signed the bill today that now allows Iowa youth to shoot handguns under adult supervision as well as:
...pre-empt local ordinances restricting gun rights; create a uniform permit to carry weapons; provide for five-year permits to acquire handguns rather than single-year permits and immediately create confidentiality for those with permits; legalize short-barreled rifles and shotguns; and allow those with permits to carry handguns in the Iowa Capitol and other public buildings.
VSSA congratulates our sister organization and especially Meredith and Natalie on their hard work. This is what successful activism looks like.
After the 2016 NRA Annual Meetings, this blog shared the story of two young Iowa competitive shooters, Meredith and Natalie Gibson, who are prohibited by law from handling handguns in their home state. After learning of the prohibition, they worked to get legislation passed to change the law. They pushed for The Youth Safety & Parental Rights Act. It would allow youth under the age of 14 to use handguns under the supervision of a parent or guardian. It passed the full House as well as committees in the Senate, but State Senator Steve Sodders, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, would not allow the bill to be brought to a vote. So, Meredith and Natalie Gibson knocked on doors, raised funds, walked in parades and talked to thousands of people. Their goal was to bring about a Republican majority in the Iowa Senate and to unseat Senator Sodders. He’s on his way out now thanks to this year's election and the efforts of these two young ladies. Meredith and Natalie expect to be able to shoot a handgun under the supervision of their dad, Nathan, now that the chief impediment to the Youth Safety and Parental Rights Act will now be gone. Yesterday, they spoke with NRANews Cam and Company host Cam Edwards about this great victory.
One of the things I noticed at the NRA Annual Meetings this year were the number of young shooters running around in their competitive team shooting shirts. Two that caught my eye regularly were young ladies with the Iowa Firearms Coalition. When I would stop by the Press Office to check email or transfer videos from my phone to my laptop, I would sometimes see Meredith and Natalie Gibson, and their father, along with other members of the Iowa Firearms Coalition. I didn't know it at the time but Meredith and Natalie have an interesting story. They shoot 3-Gun and have been shooting in the backyard and at the range with their father for years. Then they learned it was against Iowa law for youth under the age of 14 to use handguns, even under the supervision of a parent or guardian. That means they can't practice the pistol part of the 3-Gun sport in their home state. So, Meredith and Natalie have turned activist and are trying to pass House File 2281 - The Youth Safety and Parental Rights Act.
During the NRAAM, they had the opportunity to talk more about their plight with NRANews' Cam Edwards. Due to their testimony and lobbying, the bill passed a House subcommittee, the full committee and the full House. PJMedia reports though that the Senate has a two vote Democrat majority and while the bill passed a subcommittee and a full committee, 4 anti-gun senators will not allow the bill to be brought up for a vote. Meredith and Natalie have begun an email campaign, and will spend the summer knocking on doors to ask voters not to re-elect Senator Steve Sodders, the key legislator blocking the bill from a vote.
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