Iowa firearms legislation update

This week marks the end of the first month of legislative action in Iowa for 2012, and today starts a two-week countdown to the first funnel, scheduled for February 24.  Any bill that has not been passed out of committee by the 24th is essentially dead for the remainder of the session.  With that in mind, here is a list of the various firearms related bills and the current status of each:

• HF 208 - This bill would modify the disposal requirements of firearms and ammunition seized by or forfeited to Iowa law enforcement agencies, including DPS.  It essentially gives the agency that seized the firearms or ammunition greater control over how it is disposed of, including sale to the public.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Kressig, and Tjepkes.)

• HF 209 - This bill would provide self-defense training pursuant to 724.9A to domestic abuse & assault vicitms, and a fund to pay for the training.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Kressig, and Tjepkes.)

• HF 320 - This bill would protect firearms and ammunition from confiscation during a state of emergency, similar to what happened in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Windschitl, Brandenburg, and R. Olson.)

• HF 2113 – This bill would restore “Constitutional Carry” rights to Iowans.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Tjepkes, and R. Olson.)

• HF 2114 – This bill would put and end to the patchwork of anti-carry ordinances, rules, and regulations that localities have adopted since Iowa went to a “Shall Issue” system of permit issuance on 1/1/11. (Currently waiting for a vote in the full House Public Safety Committee.)

• HF 2115 – This is a “clean-up” bill that will fix some of the problems that currently exist in Chapter 724. (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Windschitl, and Wolfe.)

• HF 2116 – This bill would make the Iowa Permit to Acquire optional instead of mandatory.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Tjepkes, and R. Olson.)

• HF 2147 – This bill would allow licensed private investigators and private security officers to carry firearms on school property. This bill was previously known as HF 122 and HF 520.  (Currently waiting for a vote on the House floor.)

• HF 2160 – This bill would reverse the State Fair Board's rule against the possession of firearms on fairground property.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Kressig, and Tjepkes.)

• HF 2198 - This bill would remove the restriction on owning "offensive weapons" by citizens of Iowa.  (Currently assigned to the House Public Safety Committe, but not assigned to a subcommittee.)

• HF 2215 - This bill would strengthen Iowa's "Stand Your Ground" and "Castle Doctrine" laws.  Amendment H-8004 has been filed for this bill.  (Currently waiting for a vote on the House floor.)

• HJR 2001 - This bill removes the ban on lead ammunition imposed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on hunters during Iowa's dove hunting season.  (Passed in the House, waiting for action in the Senate.)

• HJR 2005 - This bill adds the right to keep and bear arms to the Iowa Constitution.  (Assigned to a subcommittee of Windschitl, Brandenburg, and Berry.)

Looking over this list, some things are starting to be apparent.

1. HJR 2005 still has a chance at passing out of subcommittee. In my conversations with Representatives Windschitl and Hagenow, both expressed hope that this will still get out of committee and up to the House for a full vote. Barring any reluctance by Rep. Baudler to make that happen, it's still completely possible to see that result.

2. HF 2114 is encountering resistance from within the Public Safety Committee (PSC). An e-mail being circulated by Rep. Wolfe states that she doesn't see any need to change Iowa's current laws on preemption, and that 724.7 and 724.28 should be sufficient to enforce preemption. Evidently, AG Miller and many localities disagree. I asked Rep. Wolfe for some time to discuss this with her, but as of the posting of this article, I have yet to get a reply to my request. I've also requested some time with Rep. Shaw to discuss the bill with him, but as yet, have not been able to do so. HF 2114 came up for debate in the PSC on February 9, but it was unable to move forward. The democrat members of the PSC reportedly offered compromise wording that they would support. Their compromise was to completely strike the wording in HF 2114 and simply add the word “carrying” to 724.28. This does not address the situation, since “carrying” is already covered by “possession” in the current law, and localities are still ignoring it. Furthermore, it is important to clarify who has standing under the law. HF 2114 expands standing to anyone who might have business with the locality – in essence, anyone in the country, as opposed to anyone who is actually inconvenienced by any of these ordinances. This is important. The exercising of someone's rights should not have to be infringed by getting arrested or convicted of a crime before a jurisdiction can be sued to remedy a rights violation. It will be interesting to see where HF 2114 ends up, and to see just how much of a backbone the PSC – let alone the full House – has for standing up to localities that have clearly overstepped their bounds and injected themselves into matters reserved for the State.

3. Based on the subcommittee assignments, the following bills are likely going to die with no debate ever being taken on them: HF 208, HF 209, HF 2113, HF 2116, and HF 2160. With no subcommittee assigned to HF 2198, it's chances also seem to be doubtful right now.

If any of these bills are important to you (and if you care about restoring the protection of our firearms rights that have been removed little by little over the years, they should be), it is not too late to start contacting the members of the House PSC and stress to them that it is their duty to debate the legislation and pass it up to the full House for a vote.  Letting a bill die in subcommittee is simply avoiding the problem and not having the courage to call for a debate and vote.