116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
How to sell or destroy guns legally in Iowa
Question comes up often as Iowans deal with their parents’ estates
When a loved one dies or can no longer use their firearms, family members often have to figure out what to do with those handguns, rifles or shotguns.
How do you get rid of guns legally in Iowa? And what provisions are in place to reduce the odds Grandpa’s pistol doesn’t fall into the wrong hands and isn’t used in a crime down the road?
In Iowa, nearly 44 percent of adults have guns in their homes, CBS News reported in April 2022. Iowa also has the 17th highest share of people age 65 and older, which means a lot of gun owners may be starting to think about what to do with their firearms.
“We do see quite a bit of that,” Tiffanie Mrozek, general manager of Midwest Shooting in Hiawatha said about older Iowans getting rid of firearms. “More often is on the end of someone who passed away and their family members are wondering. ‘What do I do with these?’”
Selling a gun to a licensed dealer
There are two ways to legally sell a gun in Iowa.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “recommends selling a firearm to a licensed firearms dealer,” said John Ham, a spokesman for the bureau. “Using a licensed dealer ensures that a record of exists of the sale, and when the firearms are eventually sold by the gun dealer, federal regulation will ensure that background checks are conducted on the buyers.”
Iowa has more than 1,500 licensed dealers, which include most gun shops and some other dealers. You can download a list of licensed firearm dealers in each state from atf.gov/firearms/listing-federal-firearms-licensees.
If you bring a used gun to Midwest Shooting, a licensed dealer, Mrozek or her staff will first give you a quote on how much they would pay for the gun. If you want to go forward, they will check to make sure the seller has a government-issued ID with photo, date of birth and address.
“You get a bill of sale with the firearm information, including the serial number, so you have proof of the day you sold the firearm,” she said.
This is important because if that gun were to be involved in a future crime, you want to be able to show it was not in your possession at the time.
Background checks
Licensed firearms dealers are required to do a background check on anyone who wants to buy a gun. At Midwest Shooting, staff enter a customer’s name and other information into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The FBI, which runs the system, makes sure the potential buyer doesn’t have a criminal record or isn’t otherwise prohibited from buying or owning a firearm. Since 1998, the FBI has done more than 300 million checks through the system, leading to 1.5 million denials — or .5 percent of the checks, the FBI reported.
“Whether they are approved, denied or delayed, is not our decision,” Mrozek said. “We will usually get an answer within five minutes. The delayed status can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 days. I tell people after five minutes ‘That’s probably your answer for the day’.”
Selling a gun without a dealer
Iowa law permits gun owners to sell or give a gun to another person without a licensed dealer.
“The law does allow for this, but the person that is selling the gun should have knowledge or know that the person they are selling or transferring to is not someone who is a prohibited person,” said Capt. Chad Colston of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
“A normal person does not have access to run criminal background checks, but if they are transferring it to a family member they should at least know if they have had issues with the law in the past.”
Direct gun sales do not require background checks or record keeping, but Colston, Ham and Mrozek all recommended people who sell guns this way complete a bill of sale documenting the gun has changed hands.
Selling a gun directly to another buyer may net the seller more money, Mrozek said, but a licensed dealer may reach a broader pool of customers. “In most cases, we find our customers are pretty pleased with the value we give and find it’s very much worth it to find out that background check will be done,” she said.
Destroying firearms in Iowa
If you’d rather destroy a gun than sell it, there are ways to do that safely. The ATF allows a gun to be smelted, shredded or crushed. If you’ve got access to a welding torch and know how to use it, the ATF shows which cuts need to be made to render the gun inoperable.
You may also turn the gun over to a local law enforcement agency. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office, for instance, sends those weapons to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to be destroyed, Since Jan. 1, 2021, the DCI has destroyed more than 3,000 seized and forfeited firearms, including:
- 991 handguns
- 864 long guns
- 1,171 uncategorized firearms
The National Center for Unwanted Firearms, a Montana nonprofit, also accepts donated firearms. The group offers donors three options: to have the gun destroyed, donated to law enforcement (if appropriate) or preserved (if historically significant).
Law enforcement agencies sometimes host gun buyback events, in which they offer gift cards or other small incentives to people who turn in a firearm for destruction.
The Moline Police Department in Illinois collected 305 firearms during a buyback event last summer, according to KWQC-TV. Most of these guns were melted down. The agency turned over a World War II military handgun donated at the event to the Henry County Historical Society.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters