(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Faced with children’s deaths, Iowa Republicans are doing all they can to protect guns, not kids [1]
['Zach Spindler-Krage', 'More From Author', 'February']
Date: 2024-02-13
A crisis is threatening children in Iowa.
But it is not transgender athletes in women’s sports. Nor is it “pornographic” books in school libraries. Nor drag queens, LGBTQ+ education, pronouns, gender-affirming care or any of the other contrived threats the Republican state legislature is focused on this session.
The real crisis is guns.
The Republican Party, both within Iowa and nationally, has been so focused on tearing down gun restrictions that it can no longer see when laws are clearly needed for the safety of all people. In United States v. Rahimi, for example, the Supreme Court may decide laws banning the use of firearms for domestic abusers are unconstitutional because they did not exist at the time the Second Amendment was ratified.
These decisions are costing lives.
In Iowa, the rate of gun deaths increased 59% from 2012 to 2021, compared to a 39% increase nationwide. The annual cost of gun violence in Iowa amounts to $1,334 per resident in police investigations and criminal justice proceedings.
GOP lawmakers have deemed guns more sacred than life itself, contributing to guns being the second-leading cause of death among children and teens in Iowa.
These deaths are preventable.
The school shooting at Perry High School on Jan. 4, killed sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and principal Dan Marburger, reveals the underlying problem with the GOP: When confronted with children’s deaths, Republican lawmakers simply double down on perilous policy, claiming there is simply nothing they can do to prevent the deaths.
Gov. Kim Reynolds, responding to a question after the Perry shooting about whether Iowa gun laws should be reconsidered, discounted the role of gun laws in contributing to gun violence.
“No additional gun laws would have prevented what happened,” Reynolds said. “There’s just evil out there.”
It is a response that is as disingenuous and incorrect as it is disrespectful to victims of gun violence.
At the same time, Iowa has failed to follow through on the few precautionary measures promised.
After the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Gov. Reynolds said the state would award up to $50,000 each to 1,500 schools to fix vulnerabilities and “harden” schools against possible violence. Two school shootings later, the vast majority of the $75 million remains unspent.
Nationwide, 57% of teens say they are worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school. Nearly 70% of parents are worried it will happen at their children’s school.
Following the Perry shooting, hundreds of youth walked out of class to gather at the Capitol, urging lawmakers to stop dismissing the “all-too-common” and “preventable” gun violence.
“Without meaningful gun safety legislation, you have failed to protect the citizens of Iowa from the inevitable gun violence yet to come,” March for Our Lives Iowa wrote in a letter delivered to Gov. Reynolds.
With no preventative action coming out of the Legislature, some schools are taking matters into their own hands by arming staff with guns — a decision experts say will only increase danger to children.
In the face of increasing gun deaths, Iowa is only making it easier to acquire firearms. In 2021, the legislature enacted a “permitless carry” law that made permit application to acquire a firearm optional, despite two-thirds of Iowans stating they did not support the law. In 2022, Iowa amended its constitution to enshrine the right to bear arms and establish that any state laws regarding guns shall be subject to strict scrutiny.
Iowans can buy a rifle or shotgun at 18 and a handgun at 21. Those previously convicted of assault or other violent misdemeanors can still buy and use guns. The state’s “stand your ground” law allows people to fire their weapon even if they don’t feel threatened.
These policies have consequences, yet the Iowa GOP continues to claim that weak gun laws are not to blame for gun violence.
All of the evidence suggests adopting gun control policies makes people safer. Iowa should consider implementing Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), more expansive and enforceable storage laws and an assault weapons ban. These foundational policies have repeatedly proven effective at preventing mass shootings and gun suicides. Over the past two decades, states with the strongest gun safety laws have seen a decreasing rate in gun suicide, while states with the weakest laws, including Iowa, saw a 39% increase.
In addition to ignoring their effectiveness, the Republican Legislature is also quick to dismiss gun control measures as unpopular. This is far from the truth.
Polling in 2019, for example, indicated that 86% of Iowans — including 83% of Republicans — support a background check requirement for all gun buyers. Grinnell College National Poll data from October 2023 revealed that a presidential candidate’s support for an assault rifle ban increased the likelihood of the respondents voting for them.
It is easy to feel that the race to eliminate gun restrictions in Iowa is inevitable given the current path. However, support for better gun laws is strong. In fact, for many gun restriction policies, the majority of Iowans are in favor of their passage.
The reduction of violence and the prevention of lost lives is a universal goal regardless of affiliation, and we must begin to treat it as such.
The protection of gun rights and the protection of lives need not be mutually exclusive. But the current prioritization of guns over lives is inexcusable.
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[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/02/13/faced-with-childrens-deaths-iowa-republicans-are-doing-all-they-can-to-protect-guns-not-kids/
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