The renewed Republican hold on the Iowa governor's office and the Iowa House carries a radical agenda, possibly moving Iowa further right and obviously seeking to repeal all vestiges of any progressive agenda.

Gun rights enthusiasts are hoping to move the radical agenda their way. This includes the National Rifle Association (NRA), which sends a lobbyist to the Iowa Legislature when the association feels the opportunity for change its way has come along. An NRA lobbyist is at the Statehouse this session. Similar state groups are joining in this effort.

The hopes and dreams of the pro-gun lobby at the Iowa Statehouse are currently embodied in six pieces of legislation waiting for action in the Public Safety Committee of the Iowa House chaired by state Rep. Clel Baudler (R-Greenfield), a long-time gun rights activist.

The bills to watch, so far, are House File 7, House Study Bill 16, House Study Bill 17, House Study Bill 18, House Study Bill 19, and House Study Bill 20. The scope of what these bills would do is astounding. There would be increased gun proliferation (blanketing the state with guns is more like it), and enacting these bills would disallow most gun regulation by any level of Iowa government.

Which bill could be said to be the most egregious?

Perhaps it is HSB 17, which is a resolution calling for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would remove the necessity of requiring any permit to carry a weapon, concealed or otherwise, in the state.

If this happened, we could be encountering firearms being carried by anyone, anywhere, anytime (the Wild West or Old Frontier approach), just as in Arizona where the sheriff of Pima County said Arizona has become “the Tombstone of the nation.” Iowa could join Arizona, Alaska and Vermont in this small grouping.

Then there is HF 7, which already has 28 Republican co-sponsors. This bill calls for allowing the “justifiable use of force,” even in the public domain and not just in the protection of your own home, as is now the case. This legislation is referred to by national gun control groups often as “the Justifiable Homicide Bill” or ” the Shoot First Bill” or the “Vigilante Bill.”

If a person carrying a gun sees a situation he or she considers a real threat, he or she can shoot to kill. And the bill calls for immunity for the shooter, so there could be no criminal charges filed for doing so even if it turned out the shooting was reasonably unwarranted. This would be the provision that gun enthusiasts tout as the one that would offer protection for the general public because there would be so many guns being carried by persons willing to use them.

Then there is HSB 19, which is concerned with the subject of the Register's Jan. 24 news article, “Bans on Guns Weighed for City, County Buildings.”

Counties and municipalities are seeing the necessity of disallowing guns in Iowa courthouses and other public buildings. Gun rights people don't like this, and HSB 19 would pre-empt any regulation of firearms by any local government, with that right being solely the responsibility of the state. This makes it easier for the NRA and other gun lobby groups to deal with their priorities in just one place – the state Legislature – where their influence, especially in the form of PAC money for election campaigns, is most effective.

The remaining bills contain various provisions that would loosen gun regulations and restrictions on the government to limit the availability and use of firearms.

What is conspicuous by its absence in this proposed legislation is any kind of response to the Tucson assassination attempt on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the killing of six persons and wounding of a dozen more. The shooter there used a weapon classified as an assault weapon with a 33-bullet magazine. Could this happen in Iowa? We've had our cases of multiple and high-profile killings with guns (i.e., the 1991 University of Iowa student who killed four faculty members and a student, and seriously injured another student). Someone in Iowa should propose a state ban on assault weapons or, at the very least, a limitation on ammunition magazines that can be sold.

The pro-gun advantage in the Iowa Legislature is bi-partisan. While Republicans seem to have a higher tendency to support pro-gun positions, there are a significant number of Democrats with similar leanings.

It is clear from polls that the general public wants regulation and control of firearms and ammunition. (see “Public Attitudes Towards the Regulation of Firearms,” Tom W. Smith NORC/University of Chicago, March 2007.)

However, the zeal for action in this matter lies with the NRA and other groups that fear losing their guns and having the ability to use them and carry them at will. It actually has been frightening for some politicians and citizen activists to stand up and be counted on matters that can be seen by these gun enthusiasts as gun control simply for the sake of control.

When a bill is being actively considered on the floor of either chamber at the Statehouse, the zealots for “gun rights above all else” flood the legislative switchboards and swamp the e-mail servers with their demands. The communication from the other side can be measured in dribbles.