Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law lowering Iowa age to own a handgun to 18

Iowans will be allowed to own and carry handguns as soon as they turn 18 under a law Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed that lowers the minimum age.

House File 924 changes the age requirement to possess pistols and revolvers from 21 years old to 18 years old. The law, which goes into effect July 1, was one of a dozen bills the governor signed into law April 18.

The Iowa Senate voted 33-14 on April 7 to pass and send the bill to Reynolds’ desk. Every Republican except Sens. Charlie McClintock, R-Alburnett, and Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella, voted for the bill. All Democrats but Sens. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, and Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, opposed the bill.

“I joined the Marines when I was 18, I graduated from boot camp when I was 18. I was carrying firearms in the military, ready to defend my country when I was 18, along with hundreds of thousands of other young men and women,” Holt said. “So the idea that an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old, doesn’t have a right to own a firearm in protection of their families — which is really what the Second Amendment is about, right?”

Iowans who are 18 years old or older can already purchase long guns, such as a shotgun or rifle, under Iowa law.

Democratic lawmakers said they are concerned that lowering the minimum age to possess a handgun could lead to higher rates of firearm injuries, which are the leading cause of death among children and teenagers.

“Lowering the age to purchase handguns won’t save any lives,” Sen. Art Staed, D-Cedar Rapids, said. “It will cost lives. Let’s keep this common sense safeguard in Iowa in place. Let’s keep the age at 21.”

The bill follows several recent court decisions across the country, including in New Orleans, Virginia and Minnesota, that ruled against the federal law requiring Americans to be 21 to buy handguns. The rulings have served as a test of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision that expanded the Second Amendment.

While Iowans aged 18 to 20 are allowed to own and carry handguns under the law, it doesn’t allow those under 21 years old to be issued a permit to acquire handguns or use a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons to buy a gun from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

It became optional for Iowans 21 years old and older to acquire or carry a handgun openly or concealed without buying a permit under a law Reynolds signed in 2021.

The bill also changes the penalties in Iowa law for someone making a handgun available to someone under 18 years old:

• It is a serious misdemeanor if someone 18 years or older sells, loans, gives or makes a pistol, revolver or ammunition available to someone younger than 18 years old.
• A parent or guardian who is 18 or older could allow a child under 18 to possess a handgun under direct supervision or while they are receiving lessons from an instructor.
• The bill says a parent, guardian or spouse is liable for damages that result from giving their child 14 years old or younger a pistol, revolver or ammunition.