Bill would make it illegal to carry gun in business with sign banning weapons

A Iowa lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make it a crime for people carrying a gun to enter a building that has a sign posted banning dangerous weapons.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said he is sponsoring Senate File 2025 at the request of business owners in Johnson County, intending to protect Iowans who operate bars, restaurants and grocery stores. The measure has drawn opposition from Second Amendment advocates.

"This puts the rights of those business owners on par with the rights of people who carry concealed weapons in Iowa," Bolkcom said. "I just think it is important that the property rights of people are respected. This bill ... would basically level the playing field."

Richard Rogers, legislative liaison for the Iowa Firearms Coalition, said his organization is against the measure, which would grant no-gun signs the force of law.

"We don’t see that a problem exists," Rogers said. He described Bolkcom's bill as an effort to impose "a burden upon people who are legally carrying firearms who aren’t causing any problems."

Under current Iowa law, Bolkcom said a person could be charged with trespassing for bringing a firearm into a business where a no-guns sign is posted. But the proposed legislation would not leave any doubt about what is allowed and not allowed, he believes.

"This would basically make it more clear, I think, to firearms owners as well as business owners that business owners have equal rights to make sure their property is without guns if they want to be that way," the senator added.

The legislation would apply to persons carrying a dangerous weapon, whether concealed or not, without express permission, if a sign were posted at the main entrance or the forbidden part of the property. The penalty would be a simple misdemeanor, similar to the existing trespass law.

Bolkcom said he's not sure whether his proposal would apply to Iowa's county courthouses, schools or city halls. But the intent is to address private property issues, he said.

Rogers said he "absolutely" agrees that a private property owner can put up a no-weapons sign on a building's entrance. But the way the law now operates, a gun owner can simply be asked to leave by a shop owner who doesn't want guns in an establishment. If the gun owner doesn't leave, the shop owner can call the police — a process that seems to work very well, Rogers said.

The proposed legislation would exempt police officers, correctional officers and military service members who are carrying out their duties, as well as persons armed with a dangerous weapon on their own property, or someone who has been authorized to be armed on the property.

Bolkcom's bill has been assigned to a three-member Senate subcommittee, but a meeting to consider the measure has not been scheduled. Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he hadn't had time yet to study the bill so he declined to offer an opinion on its chances of winning approval.

Other organizations against Bolkcom's bill include the Iowa Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and ABATE of Iowa. Supporters of the measure include the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund, Episcopal Diocese of Iowa and League of Women Voters of Iowa. Groups listed as undecided included the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and Iowa Automobile Dealers Association.