# Iowa must be jealous of Kansas **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 20, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554 "2021-05-20T13:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/1 "2021-05-20T13:55:34Z")
That’s my guess as to the cause of all this nonsense: > **[Iowa lawmakers end session noted for conservative new laws](https://apnews.com/article/iowa-gun-politics-election-2020-laws-business-95e7a7b65a76230dfa9fcf9ec4fc854f)** > > DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature ended the 2021 session nearly three weeks later than expected after Republican lawmakers completed negotiations over a complex tax plan that they approved to add to a host of other conservative priorities... Among the reforms are laws regarding taxes, guns, voting, police and schools and most seem, uh, poorly considered IMO. > [@](#): > > GUNS > > Republicans continued their longstanding push to make it easier to buy and carry guns with a [law](https://apnews.com/article/des-moines-kim-reynolds-gun-politics-iowa-bills-1c22696b0ac134337b63e905df693a2f) that allows people to buy firearms and carry a concealed handgun without first obtaining a state permit. The law eliminates current state permit requirements and the accompanying background checks that ensure the person obtaining or carrying a gun isn’t disqualified from ownership due to past felonies or abuses. The bill also eliminates firearms training now required to obtain a gun permit. It was signed by Reynolds in April and becomes effective on July 1. > [@](#): > > POLICE > > Republicans passed a bill that offers extensive new rights to law enforcement officers in Iowa. The measure goes to Reynolds, who proposed much of it in her “Back the Blue” proposal announced earlier this year. While Reynolds and lawmakers promised Iowans last summer that they would work on substantial criminal justice reform measures this year, Republicans instead drafted a bill that protects officers by giving them immunity from prosecution and makes rioting a felony. Republicans refused to support Reynolds’ proposed ban on racial profiling by law enforcement. Democrats claim the bill is an attack on those who protested against racial injustice for months last summer. Democrats also opposed a portion of the bill that requires motorists to pull over for plain-clothed police officers in unmarked police cars or face enhanced criminal eluding charges. The Des Moine Register reports: > **[Iowa Senate votes to raise penalties for protest-related crimes, strengthen...](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/17/back-blue-bill-passes-iowa-senate-penalties-protest-crimes-kim-reynolds-police-black-iowans/5127077001/)** > > The bill increases legal protections for police and penalties for protest-related offenses. It makes it a crime to not stop for an unmarked police car. > [@](#): > > Iowa’s bill, [Senate File 342](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342), includes: > > - The addition of “qualified immunity” in Iowa code. Qualified immunity is the legal doctrine that protects government officials from civil lawsuits unless they have violated “clearly established” laws. The definition in the bill is [more expansive than the standard the Iowa Supreme Court established in 2018](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2021/04/07/iowa-legislators-change-qualified-immunity-standard-police-bill-citizens/4838482001/). > > - [Stiffer penalties for rioting and unlawful assembly](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/25/iowa-protest-bill-protesting-related-crimes-back-blue-police-officers-black-iowans-riot-gop-racial/7286533002/)and expanded definitions of the charges for criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, assault and harassment. > > - A new aggravated misdemeanor charge for “interference with public disorder control,” which the Senate added to the bill Monday to penalize protesters who disrupt law enforcement from “legally deploying a device to control public disorder.” > > - [Civil immunity for drivers of vehicles who injure someone](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/29/iowa-policing-bill-would-give-civil-immunity-some-drivers-who-hit-and-injure-protesters-aclu/7358969002/) who is blocking traffic while engaging in disorderly conduct or participating in a protest without a permit. The driver must be exercising “due care” at the time and not engaging in “reckless or willful misconduct.” > > - An expanded definition of eluding that includes failing to stop for an officer in an unmarked law enforcement vehicle. As a non-Iowan, this looks like a huge leap, or at least a giant stride, into undesirable territory. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/2 "2021-05-20T16:24:58Z")
As an Iowan I kinda wish we could move away like so many have the last couple of decades. Maybe after my in-laws pass and if I could convince my kids to move we’d be outta here. Being Blue in a sea of Red sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/3 "2021-05-21T00:49:23Z")
Kansas has been a constitutional carry state since 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/4 "2021-05-21T00:54:29Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > constitutional carry It strikes me that any law which must expressly be labeled “constitutional” is likely not. Seriously, what is “constitutional” supposed to mean here? Aren’t all laws supposed to be constitutional? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/5 "2021-05-21T00:59:32Z")
Well now you’re just being pedantic. 😛 The intention of constitutional carry states, is that there is no requirement of a permit, or a license, etc. to concealed carry, it’s is considered to be implicitly guaranteed by the 2nd amendment. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/6 "2021-05-22T00:20:05Z")
Read “constitutional carry” as “your individual constitutionally guaranteed right to carry any weapon, including a nuke, on your person”. Of course that formulation depends crucially on a fundamental misreading of the 2A, but that’s for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/7 "2021-05-22T02:25:43Z")
Trust me, no red-blooded, black dirt home-grown Iowan is jealous of anything Kansan. Dorothy of Oz is welcome to it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/8 "2021-05-22T02:30:38Z")
What concerns me is that I think this is a national Republican push, just on a state-by-state basis. It’s all stuff to try and clamp down on what they saw as their biggest weakness: the fact that people were sympathetic to protesters. I do think that some of the changes should be unconstitutional. But who knows with this Court. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/9 "2021-05-23T15:11:25Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The intention of constitutional carry states, is that there is no requirement of a permit, or a license, etc. to concealed carry, it’s is considered to be implicitly guaranteed by the 2nd amendment. This is, of course, not a position with which the Supreme Court has ever agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/10 "2021-05-23T15:17:27Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > This is, of course, not a position with which the Supreme Court has ever agreed If the Supreme Court ever takes it up, and it doesn’t go their way, the new term will be something like “Patriotic Carry” or “Christian Carry”, and the term “Constitutional Carry” will disappear as if it was never there at all. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/11 "2021-05-30T14:01:58Z")
Seriously, folks… check this out: > **[Iowa flap raises fears of politicized local election offices](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-iowa-local-elections-voting-rights-elections-8ae7926dcd07f4dba7ede49d6fc894d9)** > > The drama surrounding a sudden vacancy in the job overseeing elections in one of Iowa’s most populous counties has voting experts concerned about what it could signal about the future of voting in America. The quick version is that the very popular, long-serving top election official in Scott County, Roxanna Moritz (D) announced her resignation. The law allows for an appointed successor or a special election. The Republican head of the Republican-controlled Scott County Board of Supervisors issued this non-sensical statement on why a special election was not called and instead a Republican was simply appointed: > [@](#): > > In Scott County, the GOP-controlled board appointed a Republican who is a former Davenport alderwoman as the new county auditor. The board opted against a special election out of concern for its cost and efficiency, said the chairman, Ken Beck. > > “There was nothing political about this. An appointment is allowed by law,” he said. “I didn’t think it was worth the money to have such a small percent of the electorate turn out. Is that a fair election?” 🤨 What the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/12 "2021-05-31T00:11:03Z")
My sense is that in past decades, states like Iowa tried to avoid going full-police-state in their laws out of a sense that they’d thereby lose businesses that otherwise might choose to re-locate there. Apparently no red state worries about that anymore. If that’s the case, is it because many businesses are indifferent to the issues arising from operating in a state that okays the murder-by-car of peaceful protestors? Or is it that the states have simply given up on attracting business? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/13 "2021-05-31T11:46:06Z")
Businesses big enough for us to see the result directly only move interstate rarely. And of course businesses are concerned about a lot more issues than anti-riot or anti-voter legislation. If the collective net movement of people is towards states going authoritarian, business will follow after a lag. Not necessarily by moving, but simply by more businesses being created in areas of increasing population and shrinking in areas of decreasing population. Or equivalently by more branches of existing national or regional businesses. E.g. more random folks will open Mom & Pop restaurants where headcount is growing and Denny’s will open more outlets there as well. Whether, e.g., GM decides to build a new plant there is a comparative drop in the bucket, albeit a drop that’s a lot easier to see than all those Denny’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-must-be-jealous-of-kansas/942554/14 "2021-05-31T23:02:52Z")
LSLGuy–that all sounds accurate. The only thing that would cause a largish business to decline to move to a state that okays murdering peaceful protestors with your car (for example), would be nationwide public outcry that’s loud and sustained enough to make them fear for their profits. But otherwise, they’ll pay more attention to tax incentives than to the relative authoritarian-ness of the local laws, when making relocation decisions.