Senate OKs revised gun bill

DES MOINES - Iowa landowners would be allowed to carry a loaded firearm while driving a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle - something now barred even on private property - under a bill amended Tuesday by the Iowa Senate. The measure has been returned to the state House.

The Senate version, passed 43-4, would let permitted landowners carry loaded and uncased long guns only while operating off-road vehicles. Also, Iowans with a permit to carry a handgun would be allowed to possess a pistol if it were secured in a retention holster, said Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, the proposal's floor manager.

Nonlandowners would be allowed to carry a rifle or shotgun while operating an ATV or snowmobile if the long gun were unloaded and placed in a case. All riders would be required to get off their vehicle to shoot a firearm unless they are nonambulatory.

Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, a Marshall County deputy sheriff, said the bill that came from the House was 'pretty wide open,” but senators worked in a bipartisan way to produce 'a good bill.”

'The farmers and hunters who have asked for this will appreciate it,” Sodders told his Senate colleagues.

Rural legislators sought the change after they said constituents have complained that they are not allowed use a rifle to protect their livestock from predators, such as coyotes, while on an ATV.

'For farmers, it gives them another tool to deal with the problems that they face,” said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa. 'It's not perfect, but it's a big improvement.”

Richard Rogers, a lobbyist for the Iowa Firearms Coalition, called the Senate-passed measure 'an advancement” over current law.

'While we think there are still some unnecessary complications and dilution of what the House language was, we're really glad that it got a hearing over here and that it's made it through,” he said. 'It will go back to the House. We'll see whether the House accepts all of the changes or not.”