Meeting Public Comments

Nicholas Buggia [National Rifle Association ]

Dear Representative Gustoff,On behalf of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and our members in Iowa, I would like to express our strong support for House File 518. This legislation provides a muchneeded enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with Iowas existing firearm preemption law.Iowa's existing state firearm preemption law prohibits political subdivisions from enacting any ordinance, motion, resolution, policy, or amendment regulating the ownership, possession, and use of a firearm that is inconsistent with state law. Firearm preemption laws exist to protect citizens' Second Amendment rights and to ensure that there is clarity and consistency throughout the state. House File 518 provides an enforcement mechanism to the existing preemption law to ensure this critical protection is adhered to by political subdivisions. This enforcement mechanism provides monetary damages that the court is to assess, with graduated penalties depending on the severity of the violation, knowingly vs. negligent This is a reasonable step that will help preserve the spirit of the law and the rights of lawabiding gun owners throughout the state. For these reasons, I would encourage you to support HF 518.