IFC/NRA Hold Second Amendment Rally

With an estimated crowd of over 1300 people, even the impending rain couldn't keep people away

Searsboro, Iowa – Hot and Muggy weather couldn’t keep the crowds away. Those interested in their 2nd Amendment Rights and helping to preserve them descended upon the  Big Springs Range Complex owned by Brownells Inc.

Iowa Firearms Coalition and the NRA held their  2nd Annual Second Amendment Rally on July 23rd. While there, visitors could find and speak with Weapons Manufacturers, watch Cowboy Action Shooting, and could experience firing a weapon in fully automatic mode with Weapon Rentals.

Hawkeye Firearms Owner and Instructor Steve Hensyel is the original founder of Iowa Carry / IFC (Iowa Firearms Coalition). Hensyel stated he started these because, ” I started the organization on my inability to get a permit here in Mahaska County. Under the old “May Issue” law the Sheriff had 100% discretion and was arbitrarily denying permits or restricting them to the point of being useless. When I audited the permits he had issued though, I found only a handful were not restricted. I could have gotten a permit from the next county without a problem though. Not liking different rules for different people, I formed a lobbying and awareness group (Iowa Carry.org) and started working on getting Iowa “Shall Issue”; like in 40 other states.”

Hensyel held a class on site yesterday for about 60 persons. His class covering the Iowa Permit to Carry law was free to those joining the IFC, the organization that Hensyel is currently sitting on the Executive Committee of and is a former President and member of the Board of Directors.

Tim Pawlenty attended the IFC/NRA 2nd Amendment Rally held in Searsboro, Iowa on Saturday July 23

Presidential Candidate, and former Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty was on hand to talk with those in attendance. Pawlenty said, “I believe strongly in the Second Amendment and I believe strongly in the Constitution. It was George Washington who said that a free people ought to be armed. I fully agree with that statement, and it’s not only the wisdom of Washington, it’s guaranteed to us as citizens in the Constitution.”

The Fast and Furious scandal has been rocking Washington with the blame game. It’s alleged that the ATF allowed guns into Mexico in the hopes of tracking where they went and to catch some of the major players in the Mexican drug cartels. The 1700 or so weapons are alleged to have ended up in some 200 incidents of crime in Mexic0. Senator Grassley has been questioning not only the ATF but also the Justice Department on these charges, and the investigation, along with the scandal, continues to grow. Read past articles HERE and HERE about this scandal.

I posed the question to Pawlenty about what we should do about the Fast and Furious scandal that has started. “We need to investigate that aggressively and promptly. It looks like there’s been some really bad judgement and decisions made by our federal government and we need to get to the bottom of it. And they need to be held responsible for what appears to have been some really bad decisions, and some really bad actions. First and foremost we need to make sure we have all the facts and investigate it fully.”