NRA-ILA | Iowa: Pro-Second Amendment Bills Eligible for Votes on the Senate Floor

The Iowa legislature is entering the final weeks of the 2024 legislative session and pro-gun bills remain eligible for votes on the Senate floor. Contact your state senator today and urge them to support House File 2586, House File 2556, and House File 2464. These bills would implement important school security measures as part of the ongoing effort to protect our schools, provide a much-needed enforcement mechanism to Iowa’s existing firearm preemption law, and prohibit the use of merchant category codes to identify firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition purchases. Please contact your senator and urge them to SUPPORT HF 2586, HF 2556, and HF 2464, by using the Take Action button below!

HF 2586 would require school districts with over 8000 students, to hire at least one private security officer to protect campuses with students actively enrolled in grades 9-12. School resource officers or private security officers would receive specialized training to ensure they can effectively protect the campuses to which they are assigned. The department of education would be responsible for developing and implementing a school security grant program to assist in funding these new positions and services.

Additionally, HF 2586 would provide school staff with the ability to carry on campus if they acquire a professional permit and receive additional training. This opportunity would be available to employees in participating school districts. Staff who obtain a permit to carry on campus and complete the necessary training requirements would be entitled to important legal protections. This would support school employees in cases where self-defense is used, and if the incident occurred on campus and during active school hours.

HF 2556 provides an enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with the existing firearm preemption law in Iowa. This is done by assigning a monetary value to the damages that occur when political subdivisions are in violation.

HF 2464 provides critical privacy protections on financial data for those purchasing firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition by prohibiting the use of firearm/ammunition specific merchant category codes throughout the state. Additionally, HF 2464 provides remedies in cases where a financial institution violates provisions of the bill.

In the Fall of 2022, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved a Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearm retailers. MCCs are used by payment processors (like Visa and Mastercard) and other financial services companies to categorize transactions. MCCs enable payment processors and banks to identify, monitor, and collect data on certain types of transactions. Before the ISO decision, firearm retailers fell under the MCC for sporting goods stores or miscellaneous retail. To read more about the threat gun owners are facing surrounding their financial data and the use of merchant category codes, click here.

Stay tuned to your inbox and www.nraila.org for updates on your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage in Iowa.