MORE LIBERTY FOR CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF IOWA

THE FURTHER DISINTEGRATION and COLLAPSE OF GUN CONTROL

Friday, April 30, 2010

This week Iowa Governor Chet Culver (D) signed Senate File 2379 into law,
signifying the first time in nearly a century that a major step has
been taken to enhance the Right-to-Carry freedoms of Iowans.
This NRA-backed legislation will allow law-abiding Iowans the right to carry
without being subject to the subjective discretion of individual sheriffs,
changing Iowa from a “may-issue” state to a “shall-issue” state.

The House of Representatives passed SF 2379 by a vote of 81 to 15.
Senate File 2379 previously passed in the Senate by a vote of 44 to 4.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal (D) sponsored SF 2379, and
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D) sponsored the House version, HF 2528.

NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox said, “This is a major victory
for law-abiding gun owners in Iowa. Concealed carry licenses should not
be granted on a subjective basis using an indiscernible set of criteria.”

This measure will require sheriffs to issue a license to carry firearms
to all applicants unless they are subject to certain specific disqualifiers.
In addition, this legislation will increase the term of a license from one year
to five years; narrow the disqualifying circumstances for a license to
the federal minimum in most cases, while at the same time
further narrowing state-specific disqualifiers; prevent the issuing
officer from placing limits on or restricting the scope of a carry license;
ensure that denials, suspensions and revocations of licenses would be
subject to both administrative and judicial review; grant recognition
to all valid out-of-state licenses; broaden the types of training that
would fulfill the state-mandated training requirement for license applicants;
and remove other over-reaching restrictions on gun owners in the Hawkeye State.

“This bill reinforces the legislature’s intent to respect the God-given right of self-defense
for law-abiding Iowans,” Cox concluded. “We are pleased that Governor Culver signed
this important legislation into law, ensuring folks a fair and clearly-
defined licensing process.”

The NRA would like to thank Iowa Carry for their support, as well as
Rep. Clel Baudler (R) for championing this legislation. In addition to
the provisions previously listed, SF 2379 will also limit the information
that can be required of a license applicant and prevent the application
process from being used as a de-facto firearm registration scheme.
Until the new system goes into effect, gun owners will still be able
to obtain a one-year license under the old system.

From the NRA INSTITUTE for LEGISLATIVE ACTION

[All emfasis has been added by David.]