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Iowa would be the latest state to adopt a stand-your-ground law if a proposal for revisions in gun regulations filed this week comes to pass.

The self-defense measure introduced in the Iowa House is part of a study bill that would bring sweeping changes to gun laws in the state.

Under House Study Bill 133, introduced Monday by Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, other provisions include removing the renewal requirement for permits to carry firearms and allowing minors of any age to handle a handgun in the presence of a parent or guardian.

Its got a lot of concepts in it that are trying to, I think, achieve the right balance, said Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that will hear the bill.

An Iowa law known as the castle doctrine currently protects the use of deadly force when a person acts in self-defense in his or her home, business or car.

The proposed bill allows for the use of deadly force for self-defense anywhere a gun owner can lawfully carry. The bill does not require a person to retreat from a threat or call police before using deadly force. About half the states have some version of a stand-your-ground law.

Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington said he supports the provision, saying retreating is not always an option.

Even if there is a stand-your-ground law, you still have to be able to articulate why someone was going to use deadly force or cause serious injury to you or a loved one, he said.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, however, doesnt think the current law needs changing when it comes to reasonable force.

What Im concerned about with stand-your-ground is that it will make it much easier for someone to take someones life and simply say, I felt threatened, he said.

The issue of stand your ground gained national prominence after the Feb. 26, 2012, fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, at the hands of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, then 28, in Florida.

Zimmermans defense waived an immunity hearing on using the law and instead went to trial arguing self-defense. Although defense attorneys did not argue stand-your-ground at trial, standard jury instructions in homicide cases in the state include provisions of the law. A jury acquitted him of second-degree murder in July 2013.

Jeremy Brigham, executive director of Iowans for Gun Safety, said the Iowa bill would considerably weaken Iowas gun laws, which he evaluates based on their contribution to decreasing gun-related deaths and injuries. He said stand-your-ground opens up a can of worms.

How are you going to know if youre really defending yourself or if youre taking the initiative if you think youre being attacked? Brigham asked.

The proposed bill also would do away with a requirement that those with permits to carry weapons have to renew the permit every five years. Instead, the permit would be good for the life of the holder.

Pulkrabek and Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said the renewal process allows sheriffs offices to review permits to ensure something hasnt changed over the five years since the permit was issued that could potentially disqualify the holder from possessing the permit, such as a change in mental health or a series of drug and alcohol-related offenses.

There are people who were initially entitled to a permit, but during that five-year period, they became ineligible to have that permit, Gardner said.

Under the bill, new applicants also would be allowed to complete online training courses to demonstrate knowledge of firearm safety. Pulkrabek, however, said someone who carries a permit but has never handled a weapon could be a safety threat. Wethington agrees that hands-on training is vital.

I do not support internet online training, Wethington said, who said the permit classes he runs include four hours of class time and four hours of range time. You have time to take people that dont really have the skill set and make sure theyre safe before you put your name on (the permit). Not only is there the issue of public safety, but its just like driving a car you need to be proficient about what you do.

If adopted, the bill would remove age requirements for minors handling handguns under the supervision of a parent or guardian. Currently, Iowa law requires that a minor be at least 14 to handle a handgun.

Aaron Dorr, executive director of Iowa Gun Owners, said thats an arbitrary age limit.

Quite frankly, its absurd, he said. We want those kids to safely be taught to use a firearm. No one can do that better than a parent.

Brigham, however, questions the logic.

Kids dont understand the consequences of their actions, he said. They can handle rifles as it is, but handguns? Really? Thats not a hunting instrument.

Other provisions include removing a penalty for carrying a weapon while under the influence if someone is in his or her own home or business; keeping information on people who possess weapon permits confidential; allowing carrying firearms on snowmobiles and ATVs on property that doesnt belong to the carrier; and legalizing short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

The bill would establish state control over firearm regulations, essentially preventing cities and counties from enacting their own gun laws.

Baltimore said he thinks the bill has the votes to make it through the legislative funnel but concedes it could see some changes before it goes to the House.

Im not going to predict what the bill looks like when it gets to the floor, he said.

(James Q. Lynch contributed to this story.)

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Iowa gun bill seeks 'stand-your-ground' law - Quad City Times

DES MOINES -- Iowa would be the latest state to adopt a stand-your-ground law if a proposal for revisions in gun regulations filed this week comes to pass.

The self-defense measure introduced in the Iowa House is part of a study bill that would bring sweeping changes to gun laws in the state.

Under House Study Bill 133, introduced Monday by Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, other provisions include removing the renewal requirement for permits to carry firearms and allowing minors of any age to handle a handgun in the presence of a parent or guardian.

Its got a lot of concepts in it that are trying to, I think, achieve the right balance, said Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that will hear the bill.

An Iowa law known as the castle doctrine currently protects the use of deadly force when a person acts in self-defense in his or her home, business or car. HSB 133 allows for the use of deadly force for self-defense anywhere a gun owner can lawfully carry. The bill does not require a person to retreat from a threat or call police before using deadly force. About half the states have some version of a stand-your-ground law.

Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington said he supports the provision, saying retreating is not always an option.

Even if there is a stand-your-ground law, you still have to be able to articulate why someone was going to use deadly force or cause serious injury to you or a loved one, he said.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, however, doesnt feel the current law needs changing when it comes to reasonable force.

What Im concerned about with stand your ground is that it will make it much easier for someone to take someones life and simply say, I felt threatened, he said.

The issue of stand your ground gained national prominence after the 2012 fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, at the hands of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, then 28, in Florida.

Zimmermans defense waived an immunity hearing on using the law and instead went to trial arguing self-defense. Although defense attorneys did not argue stand your ground at trial, standard jury instructions in homicide cases in the state include provisions of the law. A jury acquitted him of second-degree murder in July 2013.

Jeremy Brigham, executive director of Iowans for Gun Safety, said HSB 133 would considerably weaken Iowas gun laws based on their contribution to decreasing gun-related deaths and injuries. He said stand your ground opens up a can of worms.

How are you going to know if youre really defending yourself or if youre taking the initiative if you think youre being attacked? Brigham asked.

The proposed bill also would do away with a requirement those with permits to carry weapons have to renew the permission every five years. Instead, the permit would be good for the life of the holder.

Pulkrabek and Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said the renewal process allows sheriffs offices to review permits to ensure something hasnt changed over the five years since the permit was issued that could potentially disqualify the holder from possessing the permit such as a change in mental health or a series of drug and alcohol-related offenses.

Under the bill, new applicants also would be allowed to complete online training courses to demonstrate knowledge of firearm safety. Pulkrabek, however, said someone who carries a permit but has never handled a weapon could be a safety threat. Wethington agrees hands-on training is vital.

I do not support internet online training, Wethington said, who said the permit classes he runs include four hours of class time and four hours of range time. You have time to take people that dont really have the skill set and make sure theyre safe before you put your name on (the permit). Not only is there the issue of public safety, but its just like driving a car you need to be proficient about what you do.

If adopted, the bill would remove age requirements for minors handling handguns under the supervision of a parent or guardian. Currently, Iowa law requires a minor be at least 14 to handle a handgun.

Aaron Dorr, executive director of Iowa Gun Owners, said thats an arbitrary age limit.

Quite frankly, its absurd, he said. We want those kids to safely be taught to use a firearm. No one can do that better than a parent.

Brigham, however, questions the logic.

Kids dont understand the consequences of their actions, he said. They can handle rifles as it is, but handguns? Really? Thats not a hunting instrument.

Other provisions include removing a penalty for carrying a weapon while under the influence if someone is in his or her own home or business; keeping information on people who possess weapon permits confidential; allowing carrying firearms on snowmobiles and ATVs on property that doesnt belong to the carrier; and legalizing short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

The bill would establish state control over firearms, essentially preventing cities and counties from enacting their own regulations.

Baltimore said he believes the bill has the votes to make it through the legislative funnel, but concedes it could see some changes before it goes to the House.

Im not going to predict what the bill looks like when it gets to the floor, he said.

Link:
Gun bill seeks 'stand-your-ground' law - Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

Seattle playwright, actor, and dancer Kamaria Hallums-Harris didn't know what she was going to write for her senior thesis project at Cornish College of the Arts. But when George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, her mission clarified.

As the Zimmerman case unfolded on the news, she began to wonder whether black women were being killed by police as often and for the same reasons that black men were. Her queries led her to the history of lynching.

She found the story of Mary Turner, who in 1918 was hanged by her ankles, set on fire, and riddled with bullets. Seeing that Turner was eight months pregnant at the time, a member of the white mob that strung her up cut the unborn baby from her womb and stomped on it. She also found the story of Laura Nelson, who was raped and hanged from a bridge. The baby she was carrying reportedly survived the murder.

Hallums-Harris weaves such stories into Waning, a coming-of-age drama about a 17-year-old black girl named Luna (Danela Butler). Luna struggles with anxiety. As she begins to reckon with a burgeoning queer identity, she also begins to discover the many horrifying acts of violence against black people in the United States. In the midst of that psychological thunderstorm, she unexpectedly becomes pregnant.

Over the course of the play's brief 50 minutes, Hallums-Harris alternates quiet bedroom scenes with extended transitions that pulse with emotional intensity and very active metaphors. There's a scene where a nameless man (Benjamin Symons, who otherwise plays Luna's boyfriend, Ravi) reads the brutal facts of Mary Turner's lynching while Luna moans in the ecstasy of her first queer experience, as if pleasure can't be experienced without acknowledging the history of pain that precedes it.

In another moment, as Luna meditates on her pregnancy, a remixed version of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" pipes in through the speakers overhead. The striking juxtaposition recalls a biographical detail from Hallums-Harris's own life.

While she was writing Waning, Hallums-Harris, like her main character, found herself unexpectedly pregnant. "It felt like the modern-day equivalent of lynchings to me, that I wanted to keep this child and was not set up to do so," she says. Her due date was her graduation day, and she says she was performing in two shows, working three jobs, and trying to keep her grades up all at the same time. "I did not have the resources. I did not have the funds, so I wrote that into Waning," she says.

Not that it didn't take a toll. Waning, which was co-produced with Earth Pearl Collective, is a heavy show, and the production takes unorthodox steps to prepare people for it: On Tuesday nights, the crew will lead audiences through a self-care breathing ritual involving lavender packets, intended to help them through the play's heavy themes. (Also, white audience members are encouraged to bring a friend of color.)

Hallums-Harris says moments where the past seems to rhyme with the present interest her the mostthat interest is reflected both in the script and in the show's music and movement. Jazz from the Robert Glasper Trio mixes with hiphop from Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. A character named Leuanna (played Hallums-Harris), a sort of dancing fairy godmother whose life is intertwined with Luna's, incorporates into her movement gestures from hiphop, ballet, and modern dance.

While Hallums-Harris draws strength and creative energy from her research and from her particular swirl of contemporary and historical aesthetics, the implications of all of it aren't lost on her. That is, if the present looks a lot like the past, then the future doesn't look too good. This idea concretized for her during the writing process, and she finds it depressing.

"But I couldn't write anything else" she says. "I just needed to figure it out."

Before graduating from Cornish with a degree in original works in 2014, Hallums-Harris attended South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities (the alma mater of actors such as Nicole Beharie and Danielle Brooks). Since she's been in town, she's acted in shows at Annex and Seattle Immersive Theatre, and she just landed the role of Barbara in Intiman's upcoming production of Robert O'Hara's Barbecue.

In the meantime, despite the heavy emotional toll of writing Waning, she'll be working on another time-bending play called Mitochondrial Eve, in which Hallums-Harris imagines the life of humanity's common matrilineal ancestor in different scenarios throughout time, from The Beginning right on up to the present day. Right now, she says, the first scene involves Nat Turner's wife having an affair with Kurt Vonnegut.

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The Long Shadow of Lynching in 2017 - TheStranger.com

Des Moines Public Schools board members sported Black Lives Matter shirts and their Tuesday meeting.(Photo: Molly Longman/The Register)Buy Photo

It was business as usual at the weekly Des Moines Public Schools board meeting at Des Moines Central Campus High Schoolon Tuesday evening.

But one thing was different six ofDes Moines School Board's seven members were sporting black T-shirts that read "Black Lives Matter" in thick, white lettering.

There was no mention of the shirts duringthe formal part of the meetingas board members and Superintendent Thomas Ahart, who did not wear a Black Lives Matter T-shirt,discussedissues such as Des Moines Central Academy upgrades andearly literacy programs.

The shirts spoke for themselves.

Board member Dionna Langford spearheadedDMPS'Black Lives Matter initiative, selling the shirts for $10 and donating 50 percent of the proceeds to two Des Moines organizations that work to improve the welfare of Des Moines' black community:Brother 2Brother, which partners young men of color withmentors, andInvesting in MyFuture,which pushes black students to pursue higher education.

Langford said $655 were raised for the organizations after selling 131 locally printedshirts.

Black Lives Matteris an international movement, foundedby three black women in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin.

At the meeting, Langford explained why the school board felt it was important to stand in solidarity with their black students and community.

"The statement we want to make today as a board is that we care about our black students," Langford said. "We care about their families and we care about our black workforce While weve seen progress throughout the years, our education system is still rife with inequities and our poor, brown, and, yes, black children often pay the price."

According tostatistics from the Iowa Department of Education, in the 2014-2015 school year,the African-American dropout rate in Iowa is over double the rate of white students. Black students were the only group with a graduation rate of under 80 percent, the statistics show.

Des Moines Public Schools states on its website that 18.8 percent of its population is black.

Black Lives Matter T-shirts were waiting for board members on their seats at the Tuesday meeting.(Photo: Molly Longman/The Register)

"We are still vigorously working to close the achievement gap between our poor and our black students of color," Langford said. "As a school district, it is our responsibility to ensure every single child as my grandma would say, whetheryoure black, brown, white, orange or purple graduates with the knowledge they need to be successful at the next stage of their lives."

Both Langford and school board vice chair Cindy Elsbernd said they'd received negative feedback from members of the community after they announced they'd be wearing the Black Lives Matter shirts at Tuesday's meeting.

"I've been asked why I would support the violent Black Lives Matter group," Elsbernd said. "I don't. In fact, I don't support violence at all neither does Black Lives Matter Black students, I see you. I've learned from you. Your successful education is important to me. You matter."

Board chairTeree Caldwell-Johnson assured attendees at the end of the meeting that the school board supports students of all walks of life.

"I hope that the people in our community understand that we support all of our children," Caldwell-Johnson said."Tonight we're focusing on a particular cohort, but we supportand want to educate all of our children and, again, not only do black minds matter and black lives matter, all children matter in this district."

Board member Rob Barron, who was the only board member who didn't don a Black Lives Matter shirt, explained that his clothing choice was "not for any lack of solidarity or belief in the movement, but purely based on an outvoted belief of not wearing a T-shirt at a board meeting and a belief in professionalism."

Barron draped his Black Lives Matter shirt over his desk so attendees could read it during the meeting.

Debbie Griffin, a pastor at Des Moines urban ministryDowntown Disciples, attended the board meeting wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt and a clerical collar.

I wore this shirt to stand in solidarity, not only with the school board that's supporting black students, but in solidarity with black students and my black neighbors," Griffin said. "It's a way for me to express my lovefor my neighbor and my concern for their equality, justice, dignity and honor."

During the meeting, Langford left attendees with a statement about why the movement was important to her.

"As an alum of the Des Moines public school system, I could share my own stories of moments where I was made to feel as an other and how that impacted my thoughts about my ability to succeed in the classroom. And if you talk to many other black students, I would not be surprised if you would hear similar stories," Langford said. "Every single one of our student's lives matter within the Des Moines public school district and that includes black children."

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DM School Board members sport 'Black Lives Matter' shirts - DesMoinesRegister.com

Realities of water politics

While everyones eyes have been focused on the aftermath of the election mine included the devil has been keeping his hands busy with Dianne Feinstein in the Senate.

Feinsteins water bill is a charade. Her bill is a fraud on Michael Eggman and the San Joaquin Valley farmers, to send the Delta water to Los Angeles, to pay back certain very, very wealthy Hollywood television and media moguls for financing her and Jerry Browns election campaigns, and Feinsteins pick to replace Barbara Boxer, Loretta Sanchez.

And to fund Browns pet high-speed rail project connecting Sacramento to Southern California. Hollywood wants greater influence and access to the capitol dome.

It is not about the Delta smelt; that is a red herring. It is about shipping Northern Californias precious water supply to a bunch of very wealthy and thirsty people who choose to live in the desert and water their lawns.

They drank the Colorado River dry, and now Feinstein and Brown want us to pump the Delta water up over the Los Angeles Grapevine to make the desert bloom again. We all need to write a letter to Feinstein and Brown and tell them about the chasm between refreshed angels of heaven and the thirsty devils of hell.

Norman J. Moore

Manteca

Take pulse of press reports

I commend The Record for The Associated Press article about how to recognize fake internet news (Feb. 14).

In addition to their advice, I suggest that people also consider the reliability of the source when reading or viewing legitimate news.

Are they biased in their reporting? Do they make inferences rather than providing proven facts. Do they use words such as some or many? Do they actually provide quotes attributed to verifiable people or do they use a reliable or anonymous source?

Much of what is presented as news is merely gossip. This change in reporting could be more aptly called distorting as formerly trusted media has become highly partisan and biased.

They report news that has not been verified and no evidence supports their conclusion. These news stories are repeated by other print and media outlets as truth, when they are conjecture or worse, deliberate attempts to lie and mislead the public.

WikiLeaks proved that journalists colluded with the Hillary Clinton campaign in providing questions prior to a debate and asking for approval before printing a story about Clinton. The campaign did not deny the veracity of the evidence but, instead, decried how it was obtained.

Prior to that, it was revealed that one of the major media outlets deliberately edited the 911 tape of George Zimmerman to give the false impression that he was a racist. There are other examples of respected journalists falsifying news stories to promote their bias. In other words, they lie.

Most recently, news reports about Russian hacking supposedly to assist the Trump campaign have not been verified but that does not stop them from reporting this gossip. If you repeat a lie often enough it is believed.

We deserve better.

Nancy L. Boone

Stockton

States infrastructure woes

When California has its largest Dam, Orville Dam, in disrepair and 200,000 residents have to leave their homes and run for their lives, its disastrous.

Our Sacramento elected government leaders controlling California need a wakeup call. Aside from the critical need to update and repair Californias levees, dams, roadways, bridges and pot holes, Gov. Jerry Brown should now bite the bullet and forget the bullet train. Were talking about his desire to spend Californias taxpayer dollars on his costly billion dollar bullet train to nowhere when so many other major problems need to be addressed.

Another thought is the idea of California becoming a sanctuary state and how ridiculous this would be. Gov. Brown and his group in Sacramento are asking President Trump and our current administration for federal money to help Californias recent horrific flooding problems. If in fact California was a Sanctuary State and we did not have access to federal funds for repairs what would those elected officials in Sacramento do for the money needed?

Please wake up Gov. Brown and the rest of you in Sacramento leadership positions and see the states priorities.

Betty K. Thomas

Stockton

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Letters (Feb. 21, 2017) - Stockton Record