I sent him an email, this was his reply.
Thanks for your letter.
*
The news article that was printed was not a true representation of how I feel.* There was very little said about gun control in the interview.* There are so many things that go into the Connecticut incident.
*
Mental Health being a huge part of, School Policies, Society and Guns.* The interview was about what could be done to prevent further shootings.* It was never about gun control, it was about protecting children in school.
*
I was asked, IF you could* stop this from happening would you be willing to take away guns?* My answer was, We are talking about 5 and 6 year olds here, IF you could stop all violence by doing that sure, BUT that will never happen, so we
need to focus on mental health, school policies, etc.* Only part of my statement was used!* The article was very slanted and does not represent my feelings
*
Sincerely,
Dan Muhlbauer
State Representative
Statehouse
Des Moines, IA 50319
What? A politician back-tracking when his words appear in print and he realizes what an idiot he hasspacecoast said:This letter certainly doesn't agree with the "quotes" attributed to him in the original story. Could he be backing way off in response to public feedback?
The article was very slanted and does not represent my feelings
Muhlbauer, a cattleman and farmer, owns three guns — a .410 shotgun, a .22 rifle and a .22 pistol.
He does some pheasant hunting and skeet shooting with the guns.
Muhlbauer said flatly that he’s not frightened politically by the National Rifle Association or the Iowa Gun Owners.
“As you know, the last couple of years I’ve been fighting against them,” Muhlbauer said. “I have told them time and time again, ‘You guys are wanting the gun laws so loose that that pendulum is going to swing back and it’s going to bite you.’ And that’s just what we don’t to see happen now. We want to put in stricter rules with common sense. I don’t want to have the gun laws slung back so far that we start taking guns away and start limiting them to where people cannot enjoy guns, those that want to have it. And that’s what I’m afraid, if we keep having these incidents happen, is what’s going to happen.”
Muhlbauer said promoting tough gun laws and protecting children in schools are important enough to lose an election advocating.
“We’re talking people’s lives,” Muhlbauer said. “You want to start losing children’s lives and adult lives over a gun issue because the NRA thinks we’re stepping on somebody’s toes?”
Muhlbauer said a constituent approached him and suggested that the government place a chip in every gun that would ignite sensors should those guns cross into secure areas like school zones.
“I think that’s carrying it too far,” Muhlbauer said.
But he said the response to the school shootings has to amount to more than legislative tinkering.
“With all these shootings going on we have to start making radical changes and radical choices from what we’ve done in the past,” Muhlbauer said.
King said in that debate with Democrat Christie Vilsack that his household is armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic gun that is effective in dealing with coyotes.
“I think he’s getting a little ridiculous,” Muhlbauer said. “We don’t need these big of guns out there to take care of coyotes. You don’t need that big of a gun to shoot a coyote with. Actually, we have a lot of people that go after them, and they trap ‘em.”
Hmmmm.... pheasant hunting and skeet shooting with a .410? That takes a fair bit of skill.