Giffords Launches Digital Campaign to Urge Iowans to Take Action and Tell Legislators to Reject Efforts to Weaken Gun Safety Laws by Changing State’s Constitution

March 13, 2018 – The Iowa Legislature is considering a misguided, irresponsible proposal to amend Iowa’s Constitution and weaken the state’s current gun laws — and the proposed amendment could be taken up this week. In response, Giffords, the gun violence prevention group founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, launched a digital campaign this morning urging Iowans to take action by letting their lawmakers know they don’t want to see these dangerous proposals pass.

Watch the ad here.

“In the wake of the horrific shooting in Parkland, Americans have expressed outrage at the state of our gun laws, and are blaming the politicians that refuse to take action to keep our kids safe,” said Peter Ambler, Giffords Executive Director. “While states across the country are considering legislation to address a gun violence crisis that steals the lives of tens of thousands of Americans every year, here in Iowa it’s a different story. Iowa’s legislators are actively taking steps to weaken the state’s gun laws, and make it harder to pass any new laws in the future. The reason for rolling back these laws? It’s simple: legislators are only trying to appease the corporate gun lobby which puts profits over public safety. We are making sure Iowans tell lawmakers that they strongly oppose changing Iowa’s Constitution in a way that would put Iowa families and communities at risk.”

An amendment to the Constitution must be approved by two consecutive general assemblies before going to Iowa voters to consider.

DANGERS OF PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES

• The amendment could invalidate Iowa’s handgun licensing laws. The constitutional amendment would prohibit “mandatory licensing, registration, or special taxation as a condition of the exercise of” individuals’ rights to “keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms” for self-defense and other “legitimate purposes.” It could invalidate Iowa’s existing laws requiring people to get a license from local law enforcement before seeking to acquire ownership of a handgun. The existing licensing law is critically important for public safety because it ensures that people buying handguns are able to pass a background check.
• The amendment could invalidate Iowa’s CCW permitting laws. Iowa’s existing criteria for law enforcement to issue a concealed carry permit could be deemed to be another licensing law, this time one that restricts individuals’ right to “transport” or “carry” firearms for self-defense. This means the criteria for issuing a CCW permit could be invalidated should this constitutional amendment pass. Someone who was denied a permit on this basis (or any other basis) could challenge the denial as invalid under the constitutional amendment prohibiting mandatory licensing as a condition of exercising the right to carry or transport firearms.
• The amendment would make it difficult or impossible to pass important gun safety regulations in the future. The amendment broadly prohibits “licensing, registration, or special taxation” on the exercise of firearm rights — and those rights are very broadly defined, to include the right to “keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms” for self-defense and all other “legitimate purposes.” This could threaten the future viability of a variety of gun safety measures in Iowa, including dealer regulations (which could be interpreted as a licensing or registration law conditioning the right to “transfer” firearms), or state taxes or fees that cover the cost of administering any of Iowa’s existing gun laws.
• The amendment would make it much easier to challenge Iowa’s gun laws in court. The amendment requires courts to apply “strict scrutiny” to all permissible restrictions on individuals’ right to possess and carry firearms. This is a dangerous and radical policy that would constrain the discretion of Iowa’s legislature to regulate guns and force state judges to apply a technical and confusing legal standard, “strict scrutiny,” under which laws evaluated are more frequently struck down than when any other standard is applied. As a result, the amendment would also encourage more litigation over Iowa’s laws, even laws that are clearly constitutional, like laws banning firearm possession by criminals, violent domestic abusers, or the dangerously mentally ill.

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