Brianne Pfannenstiel

bpfannenst@dmreg.com

A trio of firearms bills have been filed in the Iowa Legislature, igniting what Republicans hope will be wide-ranging debate over expanding Second Amendment rights in the state.

Among those is a proposed amendment to the state constitution protecting Iowans' right to "acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer and use" firearms to "defend life and liberty and for all other legitimate purposes." It also would prohibit mandatory licensing, registration or special taxation of those actions.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, said the bill — co-sponsored by each of the Senate's 29 Republicans — is intended to be a statement about the caucus' priorities.

"I’m getting a lot of emails from a lot of people that say, 'Hey, you Republicans are in control, and we expect big things from you,'" he said.

Because the resolution would amend the state constitution, it would have to be approved by the current General Assembly and again after new members are voted into office in 2018. Then the language would be put on the next general election ballot for voter approval in 2020.

Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton and ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, said she has concerns with the bill — among them, that the language may be so broad as to limit the state's ability to regulate or restrict firearms use at all. But she said she also sees the value of adding into the state constitution the same language that protects Americans' right to bear arms at the federal level.

"Our Iowa Supreme Court has sometimes interpreted the Iowa constitutional provisions that are identical to the federal ones in a broader way and a more protective way," she said. "So I think it’s possible that if we did put the federal Second Amendment language into the Iowa Constitution, it would result in even more Second Amendment protections."

Either way, she said, a "yes" vote on this joint resolution would simply send the issue to the voters.

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"Perhaps we should let the voters decide," she said.

Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, said he plans to introduce similar legislation in the Iowa House.

Also filed in the Senate is a bill that would make confidential the personal information of gun permit holders and another that would enact so-called "stand your ground" rules in Iowa. The latter would allow Iowans greater latitude to defend themselves or others with reasonable, deadly force before requiring them to retreat.

Zaun said he plans to take both proposals and eventually combine them into a single, broad bill that encompasses a much wider range of gun issues.

His counterpart in the House, Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he already has begun having conversations with Zaun and others about what issues might be included in that bill.

He said many that have been passed out of the House in recent years, including a bill that would allow those under the age of 14 to use a handgun under adult supervision, are likely to resurface.

"The devil's in the details," he said. "So that’s the process I’m going through, is looking at language, trying to come up with different scenarios that may be addressed by that language and making sure that stuff actually works the way we intend it to and doesn’t create consequences that we don’t like."

Baltimore said combining all of the related gun issues into one bill helps to streamline the legislative process, allowing lawmakers and others to discuss them "in one fell swoop."

Wolfe, though, said she would prefer to see each issue introduced and vetted individually, giving people a greater chance to weigh in on important issues. It also makes it harder for Democrats to support the final bill, she said.

"I’m sure I and my colleagues would support some of those provisions, but whether or not we’d support all of them is questionable," she said. "So it does put some of us who do support Second Amendment rights in a bad position."