The Iowa Senate is advancing two bills that would allow Iowans to have loaded firearms on work and school property.
One measure would force businesses to allow employees to keep guns locked in their car at work. The other would allow people dropping off kids to have a gun on them while in a school parking lot or driveway.
Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says current policies make it hard for Iowans to keep their guns with them.
“I think these are a very good common sense recognition that Iowans and Americans in general have a right to keep and bear arms,” Schultz says, “and keep and bear arms during their daily routine throughout the day.”
Brad Hartkopf is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which opposes the measure about keeping guns at work in the car. Hartkopf says, “This legislation infringes upon an employer’s private property rights by saying that they can’t have a policy prohibiting weapons in their parking lots or on their property.”
Representatives from school and religious groups also say these bills infringe on private property rights and pose safety risks. Both proposals have support from some members of both political parties.
(By Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)