Iowa Gun Owners is opposed to this bill.

While seemingly a pro-gun bill, it is a step backwards in certain areas and concedes ground in others. For the following reason we are opposed to this bill:

1. 724.7…”All permits so issued shall be for a period of one year.”

The bill leaves the terms of the permit at one year. While that may be state law now, the majority of states issue permits that are good for more than one year. In fact, even the anti-gun Brady Bill allows for 5 year permits. Having a one year permit means you have to deal with constant hassles associated with renewals and gives the sheriff a chance to deny you your right every single year.

While the anti-gunners may not give us this - Iowa Gun Owners does not agree with conceding ground.

2. 724.8.1 “The person is eighteen years of age or older for a professional permit or twenty-one years or older for a nonprofessional permit.”

Current Iowa law allows for eighteen year olds to apply for a permit to carry. While they can not carry alone, and need to be in the accompaniment of a legal guardian, eighteen year old can legally carry in Iowa even though they can’t purchase their own handgun.

We disagree with the idea of raising the age limit on those who can apply. We believe that if an eighteen year old can go to war for our country and can be trusted with weapons far above the capabilities of a handgun, that he/she should be allowed the option to defend himself when he/she comes home. In fact, the state of New Hampshire recently lowered the age that an applicant must be to apply for a permit to sixteen!

This provision actually gives up ground to the anti-gunners! As a pro-gun group Iowa Gun Owners could never support this provision of the bill.

3. 724.8. 5 “The issuing officer reasonably determines that the applicant does not constitute a danger to any person.”

This is the language of the current Iowa law when it addresses the qualification for who does and does not qualify to receive a permit. This bill leaves this provision intact. If this phrase is left in place then the sheriff still can deny you a permit even the law is ‘shall issue!’ This is a way for the sheriff to get around the “shall issue” requirements and effectively leaves the bill a “may issue” bill as there is no mention of what standard needs to be used when determining whether or not someone is a threat.

Iowa Gun Owners does not agree with this concept and nor do we agree with conceding ground. For that reason, we can not support this provision.

4. 724.8.6 “The person has never been convicted of any crime defined in Chapter 708.”

Current Iowa law says this, “The person has never been convicted of any crime defined in chapter 708, except “assault” as defined in section 708.1 and “harassment” as defined in section 708.7.” What this means is that if a young person gets into a fight in a moment of immaturity and punches a person in the jaw, and gets convicted of simple assault, he will not lose his right of self-defense for the rest of his life. Similarly, if someone sends somebody else an annoying email for some reason, and gets convicted of that, that that person will not lose their right of self-defense for the rest of their life.

However, this bill eliminates the exceptions! Under their bill if you get into a fight when you are, say, twenty years old, and get convicted of a simple misdemeanor, you will never again be able to carry a gun for self-defense. While Iowa Gun Owners does not excuse fist fights or harassing emails we do not think that such petty crime should prohibit you from ever having the right of self-defense against a violent criminal attack. This is clearly a step backwards for gun owners as not even current Iowa prohibits this!

As this provision clearly gives ground to anti-gunners Iowa Gun Owners is most adamantly opposed to this provision.

5. 724.9 (Firearms Training Program)

This section of the bill contains over a page of requirements that a concealed carry permit applicant will have to comply with in order to get their permit. Applicants will have to undergo training on firearms safety in the classroom, on the range, in the home and on the street. The applicant will have to demonstrate safe handling of their firearm and prove that they know how to load and unload their firearm. They also will have to demonstrate a knowledge of the laws pertaining to firearms as well as the laws pertaining to justifiable force.

All of this is before the applicant even fires his first round on the range during the live fire portion of the program. The bill then goes on to lay out how many rounds from how many yards in how many seconds the successful applicant must fire. The bill then spells out how many of those rounds must land in the eight, nine, or ten ‘ring’ for the applicant to pass the shooting test.

Iowa Gun Owners is all for its members obtaining the highest caliber training that he/she can afford to enable them to safely and effectively carry a firearm for self-defense. We take firearms training seriously!

But we do not agree that the government has the right to tell her citizens how many rounds they must fire at the five, seven and ten yard line to be able to defend themselves from a violent criminal attack! How many Iowans are going to be scared away from seeking a permit because of language like this? How many women will become victims in their lifetime due to the implications of this bill?

Further more, many states have no training requirement for applicants. South Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, Washington, and Pennsylvania are some of the states that don’t require this. These states are not known for having any higher rates of accidents or mishaps by people who carry for self-defense.

At its root, this is a matter of principle. If the government is given the right to enact ‘reasonable’ training requirements, than they will be able to enact unreasonable requirements whenever they choose. Again, Iowa Gun Owners is not will to concede any ground to the anti-gun crowd. This provision would do this.

For all these reasons Iowa Gun Owners is opposed to House File 559. To see a real no compromise pro-gun bill take a look at our bill, House File 596.