Many folks might not be aware, but there’s a push going on to try to take Iowa into the “shall issue” camp. I don’t follow Iowa politics terribly closely, so I can’t pretend to be an expert, but based on what understanding I do have, a great challenging in moving Iowa is similar to that of Delaware, in that though it may technically be may-issue, as a practical matter it’s not hard to get a license for most people who want them.
But my understanding in Delaware is that all three counties will generally issue, though I’ve heard New Castle County is a bit tougher. In Iowa, there are a number of counties that simply will not issue a permits to carry concealed, or are very restrictive. In addition the state is lacking in any reciprocity, because the current law doesn’t allow for it. In that sense, Iowa’s situation is considerably worse off than that of my southern neighbors.
To me, the goal should be to move Iowa into the shall issue column. The Firearms Coalition is pushing for an Alaska style carry bill, and has numerous criticisms of the NRA bill, to support their position on the bill, they say:
The Alaska bill had 25 cosponsors among the 100 members of the Iowa House and failed to pass by just one vote ending in a 49 – 49 tie in the final minutes of the legislative session.(Note: This was not a straight up or down vote, but a procedural vote on whether to suspend the rules to allow the Alaska-style bill language to be amended onto a must-pass bill. It still demonstrates a surprising level of support.)
I wouldn’t be so quick to make the assumption that a close procedural votes reflects the amount of support the bill has overall, since there’s a lot that goes into passing a bill. Being able to clear a procedural hurdle is certainly a good thing, but that’s only the beginning, and Alaska carry didn’t make it. How long are we going to make Iowans wait for a perfect bill? The Des Moines register is reporting that late last week, before the holiday, NRA got some improvements on this bill. Firearms Coalition helped create some noise, which gave cover to improve the bill, and for that I applaud them. But I am hoping when push comes to shove, they aren’t going to make Iowans wait any longer for a plausible, shall-issue bill, in the same way Rocky Mountain Gun Owners for years created problems moving Colorado into the shall-issue camp. We’ve shown in other states that making that move is the biggest hurdle, and that further improvements can be successfully pushed once legislators realize the sky hasn’t fallen. We can use that model for Iowa too.