{"id":101421,"date":"2024-04-17T19:18:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=101421"},"modified":"2024-04-17T19:18:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:18:18","slug":"101421","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=101421","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Two gun bills head to governor\u2019s desk: one to prevent tracking of suspicious purchases, one to protect armed school staff from liability<\/a><\/p>\n

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have passed two bills dealing with guns this week. On Tuesday, the Iowa Senate gave final approval to a bill to prevent credit card companies from taking steps that would make it easier for law enforcement agencies to identify purchases of firearms and ammunition. A day earlier, the House voted 62-36 in favor of a bill creating legal immunity for teachers or other school staff designated to carry guns on school property and requiring the state\u2019s 11 largest school districts to employ armed security in their high schools.<\/p>\n

Both bills passed the House and Senate on a series of largely party-line votes. Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to sign both into law.<\/p>\n

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HF 2464<\/a>\u00a0prohibits credit card companies from using transaction codes that distinguish firearms retailers from other stores. Credit card companies routinely assign unique codes to different categories of businesses in order to track purchase patterns. In 2022, the International Standards Organization, which set rules for financial services companies, approved\u00a0the creation of a code<\/a> for transactions by firearms dealers to help address the problem of illicit gun sales.<\/p>\n

Seven other Republican-led states have already passed bans on credit card transaction codes that identify gun retailers. These bans are being promoted by the NRA and other gun lobbyist groups in response to\u00a0a new California law<\/a> requiring credit card companies to create a unique code for purchases at standalone gun stores. That law doesn\u2019t go into effect until May 2025.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the California law say assigning a unique merchant code to stores that primarily sell guns and ammunition will help law enforcement agencies identify possible gun trafficking and straw purchases of weapons. Proponents also point to mass shootings like the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, and at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016. In both cases, the shooter used credit cards to buy weapons and stockpile large amounts of ammunition shortly before their crimes. Under the new California law, credit card companies are encouraged to contact law enforcement agencies if they detected any unusual purchase patterns at gun stores. The companies are already required by federal law to alert authorities in cases when purchases suggest a connection to terrorism or identity theft.<\/p>\n

During the House debate on HF 2484 in February, Rep. Phi Thompson, a Republican from Boone and chair of the House Public Safety Committee, claimed there were darker, unspoken reasons for the California law \u2014 \u201cthis is just a back[door] way to keep a list\u201d of gun owners, he said. \u2014\u00a0and that\u2019s why Iowa needed a state ban preventing the possibility that law enforcement agencies could easily access such\u00a0 information about gun and ammunition purchases in the state.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t the first time this legislative session that Thompson evoked the possibility of the government creating secret lists of gun owners. A week earlier, he helped kill a bill that would have required guns built from kits or created by 3D printers to have serial numbers, as guns produced in factories do. Proponents of the bill said it would help police investigate crimes committed with so-called \u201cghost guns.\u201d<\/p>\n