Vote no on gun amendment

Kudos to Tom Barton for his fair and detailed article “Gun rights amendment: What a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote could change” (The Gazette, Aug. 21). This amendment could not come at a worse time. I urge all Iowans to vote no on the Gun Amendment.

We are in the midst of an epidemic of gun violence. Why are we asking for looser gun laws? Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Fox News that we should be worried about an IRS strike force showing up with “AK-15s” ready to shoot small business people. In reality, parents should be more worried about someone with an assault rifle showing up at their public schools and shooting their children.

This amendment would hamstring our judicial system and add to the load for police officers facing more gun-related challenges than ever before. For some reason our state legislators want us to be like the only other states that have such a law: Alabama, Louisiana, and Missouri. With a 2nd Amendment right in our federal Bill of Rights, we don’t need an infringement upon it by the state of Iowa.

Don’t be fooled. This is clearly a power grab by Iowa legislators who want to peddle more guns and more fear about imaginary enemies. You can help restore sanity to the state of Iowa by voting no on the gun amendment to the state constitution.

Charles Crawley

Cedar Rapids