Vote yes for “strict scrutiny”

The Nov. 8 Iowa ballot includes "Public Measure 1," on whether to amend the Iowa Constitution to assert, "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," affirming that it is a "fundamental individual right," and that any and all restrictions shall be subject to strict scrutiny.

"Not so fast!" exclaim the "reasonable gun laws" advocates. "There are too many guns out there and we need common-sense legal restrictions." Strict scrutiny, they fear, can too easily nullify their efforts. I appreciate their concern but in truth, no objective standard exists for testing the highly subjective, "reasonable." In today's fiercely divided society, one group's reasonable projects as a fever-dream phantasm to another.

Absence of a "strict scrutiny" provision in the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment arguably explains the nightmarish crazy quilt of jurisdictional restrictions fanned across the nation, with each one a clear violation of "shall not be infringed." Faithful protection of this right is overtly vulnerable to changing political climate, even here.

America doesn't have a gun problem. America has an increasingly severe behavioral problem, from those who insolently discard the truth that with freedom comes responsibility. Criminals don't worry about laws. Instead it is increasingly the honest, responsible citizen wanting to defend self, family, and home who must navigate mazes of hurdles and roadblocks erected by overzealous gun controllers. They punish the innocent for the sins of the guilty.

Please vote "Yes" on Public Measure 1.

Dale Fitzgibbons

Cedar Rapids