In 2022, Iowa voters approved of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa guaranteeing a right to keep and bear arms to the Iowa State Constitution. The language of the amendment says “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.”¹

Rather than simply enshrining a right to keep and bear arms, the constitutional amendment contains an extreme provision that forces judges to apply a legal standard called “strict scrutiny” to “any and all restrictions” of the right to keep and bear arms—including background check laws, laws prohibiting gun possession by violent offenders, and restrictions on guns in schools. Only three states (Alabama, Missouri, and Louisiana) have ever adopted such an extreme provision and they have done so recently; there is no historical support for a “strict scrutiny” provision in a state constitution.