DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law Friday a contentious measure eliminating a requirement that Iowans obtain a permit to acquire or carry handguns and loosening other state restrictions.
House File 756 “protects the Second Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals,” the governor said in a statement.
The new law also takes “greater steps to inform law enforcement about an individual’s mental illness helping ensure firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands,” she said.
“We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe,” the Osceola Republican said in the statement.
The bill enacts a longtime wish of gun rights activists, with Iowa now joining 18 states that have similar “constitutional carry” provisions that advocates say will enhance individual rights while removing what sponsor Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, called a requirement they first get a “permission slip from the government.”
Signing the bill into law ends a system that allowed Iowans to exercise their gun rights but required “you must prove yourself not guilty in advance,” according to supporter Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig.
Reaction, predictably, fell along party lines.
“Gov. Reynolds has caved in to the most radical elements of her party,” Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, posted on social media.
read more here: https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-constitutional-carry-gun-permits-gov-kim-reynolds-20210402
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