Capitol Notebook: Proposal to require registration of ‘ghost guns’ in Iowa nixed

DES MOINES — An Iowa House committee leader nixed a proposal from Democrats to require registration of so-called ghost guns that are manufactured by individuals from parts and assembly kits.

The bill would require that guns manufactured by an individual be given a unique serial number by the Department of Public Safety. Any unfinished gun frame or lower receiver would also need to be given a serial number before being sold or transferred.

It would also make it a crime to remove the serial number from a firearm.

Republican Rep. Phil Thompson of Boone, the chair of the House Public Safety Committee, declined to advance House File 488 out of a House subcommittee on Tuesday, saying it would not prevent crime and would over-regulate gun owners. Rep. Jerome Amos Jr., a Democrat from Waterloo, said he supported moving the bill on to the full committee.

Gun rights advocates at the meeting said the bill would do nothing to prevent criminals and bad actors from manufacturing guns without registering with the state, and would only burden law-abiding gun owners.

They expressed concern about the state having a database of individuals who had created homemade guns. Richard Rogers, a member of the Iowa Firearms Coalition board of directors, said the bill would not prevent crimes and may be unconstitutional.

“The real goal is registration of all firearms,” he said. “Governments throughout history have found it much easier to control an unarmed populace than an armed one.”

Members of Moms Demand Action and March for Our Lives spoke in favor of the bill at the subcommittee.

Trey Jackson, a senior at Roosevelt High School and member of March for Our Lives, said the bill targets the underground gun market and would prevent underage people from getting guns.

“The fact that we have people here that are in opposition to this really just stuns me because I think it just goes to show where their hearts are at,” he said. “It’s not necessarily with saving the most amount of lives.”

A 23-year-old Nebraska resident used a homemade gun to shoot and kill a couple and their 6-year-old daughter at Maquoketa Caves State Park in Iowa in 2022.

Combination traffic safety bill passes

Legislation that combines a ban on automated traffic enforcement cameras with a requirement for only hands-free use of mobile devices while driving narrowly advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

With a 10-8 vote, Senate Study Bill 3016 becomes eligible for debate by the full Senate.

The bill was proposed by Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, who for years has been proposing legislation that would ban traffic cameras, believing them to be unconstitutional. This year, in an attempt to secure enough votes to pass the bill, Zaun combined his traffic camera ban with legislation requiring drivers to only use hands-free technology when operating a mobile device, a provision that is highly sought by law enforcement officials.

That combination has upset some, including advocates for the hands-free requirement, who want to see it passed into law and fear that being tagged to the traffic camera ban will doom both.

Lawsuits against pipeline projects

Iowa landowners could bring lawsuits in Polk County against pipeline projects seeking to use eminent domain, and could bring an additional lawsuit in another county if the first remains unresolved under legislation advanced by the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee was nearly unanimous in passing a stripped-down version of House Study Bill 608. Rep. Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant, was the lone dissenting vote, expressing his opposition to allowing individuals to have two bites at the legal apple against pipeline projects.

Legislators supporting the bill said it is needed because some legal entanglements can take multiple years.

With its passage out of committee, the bill is eligible for debate by the full House.

No ordering churches closed

The governor could not order the closure of churches during a pandemic — or any other time — under legislation approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Like most other states, Iowa’s churches were ordered closed in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Churches were among the first things Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds reopened in those early months.

House File 2097 would prevent any Iowa governor from ever again taking such action. Proponents of the bill say it will protect Iowans’ freedom of religion as guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, said public leaders like the governor should have the ability to make decisions that attempt to balance public health with other rights.

With its passage out of committee, the bill is eligible for debate by the full House.

Age verification for porn sites

Logging onto a pornography website would require verification that the visitor is at least 18 years old under legislation advanced by the House Judiciary Committee.

House File 2114 is a retooled version of a bill that originally attempted to require phone manufacturers to create a mechanism whereby a content filter would automatically turn on whenever a minor activated a phone or created an account on a phone.

The bill was essentially rewritten, and the new House File 2114 has age verification for porn sites and would require schools to teach students about the dangers of social media and provide information to parents about how to turn on content filters on mobile devices.

The bill passed on a 13-7 vote, and is eligible for consideration by the full House.

Parental consent for social media accounts

Iowa children under 18 would be required to get parental consent before creating a social media account under legislation that advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee.

There was bipartisan support for — and opposition to — House File 2255, which nonetheless advanced on a 15-5 vote and is eligible for debate by the full House.

Lawmakers advance bills on open meetings, records

A pair of bills dealing with open access to government records and meetings of government bodies advanced out of the Iowa House State Government Committee.

One bill, House File 2299, would state that government bodies can provide records to people who request them “in any reasonable format” rather than the specific format that was requested. It also states that a governmental body is not required to provide copies of records that are publicly available online, but would have to inform the requester about where the information can be found.

The bill was largely opposed by Democrats on the committee. Rep. Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, said the bill would allow government bodies to provide paper records totaling hundreds or thousands of pages, making it impossible for journalists or members of the public to easily search the documents.

Rep. Michael Bergan, a Republican, said he is interested in making amendments to the bill to respond to some concerns.

Another bill, House File 2062, would increase the fine for governmental bodies that violate the state’s open meetings laws from a maximum of $2,500 to a maximum of $25,000. It would also require that members of public bodies must complete an educational course on the state’s open meetings laws.

The bill passed by a near-unanimous vote on the committee, with Rep. Michael Sexton, R-Rockwell City, as the only lawmaker opposed.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau