Local preemption keeps gun rights secure

As Iowa transitions to a “Shall Issue” system of issuing the Iowa Permit to Carry Weapons, one area of concern is local preemption. In other states that have strong Shall Issue laws, localities will attempt to circumvent the state firearms laws by enacting laws at the local level that are more strict than the state laws. To combat this, many of these states – including Iowa – have a “preemption” law that forbids localities from enacting firearms laws that are more strict than state laws. In Iowa, the section of code that deals with this is 724.28, and it reads as follows:

A political subdivision of the state shall not enact an ordinance regulating the ownership, possession, legal transfer, lawful transportation, registration, or licensing of firearms when the ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation is otherwise lawful under the laws of this state. An ordinance regulating firearms in violation of this section existing on or after April 5, 1990, is void.

As reported in a previous article, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller believes that the current law would not hold up to judicial scrutiny. Acting upon AG Miller's opinion, the city of West Burlington, Iowa continues to have a law in place that prohibits a citizen with a valid Iowa PCW from carrying a firearm in publicly owned buildings:

30.01 PURPOSE. Firearm or Weapon Free Zones. Municipal buildings owned, leased or occupied by the City of West Burlington, Iowa are declared to be firearm/weapon free zones. It shall be unlawful for any person, except a peace officer, member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard, a person in the service of the United States, or Correctional Officer serving in an institution under authority of the Iowa Department of Corrections to carry, possess or display any weapon if firearm within any municipal building.

AG Miller argues that buildings owned by the municipality would certainly fall under a very narrow definition that gives property owners the right to define who may and may not carry a weapon on their properties. The glaring error with that logic is – who really owns a municipal property? The people who are the citizens of the municipality are the true owners of any municipal property. In this case, the citizens of West Burlington are the owners of the property that “belongs” to the City of West Burlington. Therefore, the citizens who “own” the property are the very ones being denied the right to carry firearms in the buildings and on the property that they technically own.

Preemption also keeps citizens safe from finding themselves legal with their firearms in one jurisdiction, but illegal in the same circumstance in another. Some, like the Allamakee County Sheriff, believe that every locality should be allowed to set their own rules for where a permit is valid. This is unacceptable, because it would lead to confusion and potentially entrapment, with citizens not knowing from place to place where it is OK to carry and where it is not. The argument that jurisdictions set their own fee schedules, as an example, does not appropriately make the comparison because different fees from County to County will not put a citizen in jail for exercising a right.

Citizens in all states that enjoy local preemption need to guard that law carefully and closely, for it is a law that gets attacked on a regular basis by leaders who believe that they know what is best for public safety.