Second Amendment March questions and answers

1.When and where is the national march?

The National March will be held April 19th 2010 on the grounds of the Washington monument.

2. Where can people find out more information about it?

www.secondamendmentmarch.com

3. Is there some significance to the date of the march, April 19th?

1775: Minutemen Capt John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon. A shot is fired and the American revolution begins at the Lexington Common. That was the "shot heard round the world"

4. When and where is the Iowa march?

The Iowa State March will be held on the 19th of April on the west side of the Capital.

5. Will there be any speakers?

Yes there will be. So far I have Dave Funk, candidate for the 3rd Iowa district now held by Leonard Boswell. Sean McClanahan, President of Iowa Carry.

6. Where can people go to keep up-to-date on the Iowa march?

The Second Amendment March has pages dedicated to each state. Go to the Iowa page, I post updates as I get more information.

7. Besides Des Moines, are there any confirmed rallies elsewhere in Iowa?

I have been trying to get rallies in other cities but so far I have not received any replies.

8. How did you come to be involved in the march?

The founder of the Second Amendment March, Skip Coryell Was a member of Iowa Carry and the guest speaker at a Iowa Carry pheasant hunt and dinner three years ago. I had the pleasure of sitting across from him and his wife and next to his children. We had a great time and became friends. We are both from Michigan and were both Marines. We have kept in touch and when he started the 2A March, he asked me to be the Iowa state coordinator. I readily accepted his offer. Along with my work with Iowa Carry, it's one of the best jobs I don't get paid to do. 

9. What do you hope that the march will accomplish?

We are trying to bring attention to the people about the way the government is slowly taking our rights away. There are over 20,000 gun laws on the books that try to restrict our rights. We now have 38 states that have "shall issue" laws and Arizona is lookong like it's going to be the 3rd state that will allow carry with out a permit. Joining Alaska and Vermont. Iowa Carry has been working on getting shall issue in Iowa making it easier for the citizens to be "allowed" to protect them selves. As you know, Iowa is may issue and permits are at the discretion of the sheriff. This means that in some counties, like Polk, All you have to do is take the training and pass the background check and you get your permit. Other counties will not issue a permit for any reason. The sheriffs of these counties have decided that they know best and honest law abiding citizens have no business carrying a gun. Even though the criminals carry regardless of the law. This is also one of the issues the 2A March is about.

10. Is there anything else we should know?

Everyone should know that the 2nd Amendment is the right that protects all the other rights. These right are not given by the government. They are natural God given rights and the government has been infringing on all of our rights for years. We are trying to educate the general population on what our rights are and what the wording of the Constitution really means. In the 2nd Amendment there are a few words that should tell people exactly what the founders meant. "The right of the people". There is a reason the  this phrase shows up in several of the amendments. It is because the people have the right to assemble and speak and to be secure in their homes and possessions and to own and bear arms. "Shall not be infringed"  There isn't a politician in the world that understands these 4 words. If there was, we wouldn't have to beg some government official for "permission" to exercise our 2nd Amendment right. Vermont has no permiit system. The also have one of the lowest crime rates in the country. They allow their citizens to carry open or concealed without having to beg. And contrary to what the Brady Bunch says, there isn't blood in the streets. This proves that the law abiding citizens can carry a gun and not have shootouts over fender benders and parking spots.


A little about me,

 I was born in Flint Michigan and raised on a farm in the small town of Byron. I learned at a early age how to drive a tractor. When my town friends were playing around I was in the field plowing. Eventually I took over the farm at 14 years old. I invested in some feeder cattle and planted corn and hay. We finally got out of farming in 71 but I kept working on farms all through high school. I graduated from high school in June of 73 and in July of that year I joined the Marines. After 3 years and 8 months, I was discharged with a medical after a truck accident that tore up my spine.
I spent my fist couple of years after discharge in south east Missouri. My parents had retired while I was in the Marines so we went there to check it out. After a couple years of low paying jobs and 4 months in trade school, we moved to North Texas. We were there for 19 years. I started working in the oil fields and moved around to construction, mechanic and truck driver. I learned a lot about running heavy machinery on some of the construction jobs. In 97 we moved to Iowa for a job a friend found at the Ford dealer in Knoxville. 2 years there and another 2 years at Noble Ford in Indianola, I quit and went back to truck driving. In 04, right after a big snow in January, I was digging out and stepped on a patch of ice and fell hard. That ended my career. The company I worked for canceled my insurance and I emptied out all of our savings on doctors and specialists.  I'm now retired on disability. I do hold 2 FFL's, as a dealer in small arms and as a ammunition manufacturer. 

 In the seventies, while in the Marines, I started reading shooting sports magazines. I became interested in the gun control debate. As I grew my private collection of old military rifles and a few handguns, I also grew more interested in the fight against gun control. I read a lot of the writing of people like Neal Knox and Jeff Cooper. Col. Cooper was the driving force behind a lot of the handgun competitions we have today. Neal Knox was a driving force in the NRA. I started reading up on some of the groups that were working to restrict our rights and who was behind them. They claim they only want "reasonable" regulation, but their mission statements say other wise. In Feb. of 75, I was hitch-hiking back to the base when I was beaten and robbed by some civilian punks that used a tire tool and boots. I didn't have any money for them to take so they took it out in blood and bone. I had a concussion and several cracked ribs, one eye was swollen compleatly shut and the other one wasn't much better. And I was still 20 miles from base. A officer from the base saw me and my plight and took me to the base hospital. They checked me out and released me. The next day I bought my first handgun and carried it everywhere when I was off duty. I swore that would never happen again. In the 35 years since, I have never drawn a gun on anyone. I hope it remains that way.

 After I had to retire, I had plenty of time to get involved in issues that I felt strongly about. I discover Iowa Carry about a month after the started up. In the 5 years we have been active, we have gone from a few friends on the internet to a corporation that is a force at the state house. I became a  forum moderator shortly after joining and then a registered lobbyist. We have sworn to change the gun laws in Iowa so that "all" law abiding citizens can legally carry arms if they so desire.

 I hope that all of the people that believe in the Constitution will join us on the 19th of April at the capital. It's time we showed our representatives that they work for us. They are not there to lord over us like we were a bunch of subjects. As they say, With guns, you are citizens, without them, you are subjects.