This article, courtesy of ThinkProgress.org, regards a current issue in Iowan politics. A bill is currently in the works that would allow the people of Iowa to freely carry around firearms - in plain sight - without the need of a "licence, permission from a sheriff, background check, or any training". And what kind of a human with no regard for the safety of their neighbors would propose such a bill? Oh, a Republican! (Tom Sands, in case anyone cares) The author, Alex Seitz-Wald, has adopted the stance that promotes a stricter gun law and exposes really ignorant politicans, and so have I.
However, the icing on the cake from this article comes from the fact that a fellow Republican, House Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Kaugmann, thought his microphone was off while he was on the House floor and exclaimed to another representative that the bill is "The crazy, give-a-handgun-to-a-schizophrenic bill". Once an aide of Kaugmann's realized the problem, they immediately cut his microphone off. Oops!
Even the political allies of Sands believe the bill thrown on the House floor is totally bonkers. It shocks me that any state could ever consider something like this, so it goes without saying that I truly am disappointed in the 4 states that currently have similar laws in effect: Alaska, Arizona, Vermont, and Wyoming. Wait a minute... Arizona has a law that doesn't require a permit to handle firearms? Do you mean to tell me that the Tucson shootings that happened this year could've been prevented simply by enforcing stricter gun laws? I'm no politician, but it seems like this problem isn't THAT hard to fix!
