Des Moines, Iowa — Anyone who can legally own a gun would be able to carry it, loaded with ammunition, while driving on a public highway under legislation that’s cleared a House subcommittee.
Current law says guns are to be unloaded while a vehicle is moving. The bill also says anyone who can legally own a gun can leave it in their locked vehicle at work, at a school, or at a community college or public university so long as it’s out of sight. A lobbyist for an Iowa business group says that would violate a business owner’s property rights to decide whether to allow firearms, even in the parking lot of the business. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says in this case property rights should not outweigh the Second Amendment.
State Representative Skylar Wheeler from Sioux County is joining with Democrat State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines in co-sponsoring another bill that relates to firearms that has passed a House subcommittee. The bill, HF 73, would direct K-12 schools to provide lessons on gun safety. In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, gun injuries were the number one cause of death among children in the U.S. and Abdul-Samad of Des Moines says teaching students how to react when they see a gun is part of reversing that trend.
Although HF 73 does not impose any responsibility on children, a volunteer with the Moms Demand Action group says gun safety should be the responsibility of gun owners, not children.
