Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill permitting staff to carry guns in school

DES MOINES — Trained school staff will be allowed to carry firearms on school grounds under legislation signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds, a Republican, signed a batch of more than 40 bills into law Friday.

House File 2586 creates a new permitting process for Iowa K-12 public and private schools, community colleges, and public and private colleges and universities to arm trained staff. The measure also provides qualified immunity to school districts and school employees from criminal or civil liability for all “damages incurred pursuant to the application of reasonable force.”

School districts would not be required to arm staff. Rather, the bill provides requirements for those districts that choose to do so.

Approved staff would be allowed to carry concealed weapons during school hours. It would be up to districts to decide what firearms staff could carry and whether the district would provide those or allow use of personal firearms.

The legislation comes in the wake of January’s fatal shooting at Perry High School. Eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger were killed and six others were injured. The 17-year-old shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Supporters of the bill said the fastest way to respond to a school shooting is to have armed personnel on site, trained and available to respond at a moment's notice.

Opponents contend arming teachers puts the lives of students, teachers and law enforcement in danger, and warned of the potential for firearms at school to be stolen or misused.

There have been more than 100 publicly reported incidents in the last five years of students and teachers finding unsecured firearms in bathrooms, locker rooms and even sporting events, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Instead, Democrats urged Republican lawmakers to prioritize violence prevention, intervention and gun safety laws, such as universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders, and increase mental health supports for students.

A coalition of gun violence prevention advocacy groups decried the move.

“Today is a major setback for the safety of Iowa students. Putting deadly weapons into the hands of our teachers will only put more lives at risk,” Chloe Gayer, a gun violence survivor and volunteer leader with Drake University Students Demand Action chapter, said in a statement. “The response to school shootings simply can’t be to force more guns into our classrooms."

Jamie Oberhue, a second grade teacher and a volunteer with the Iowa chapter of Moms Demand Action, said arming teachers is a “dangerous and flawed policy.”

Parents, law enforcement and school superintendents from rural communities, as well as gun rights activists, have said while school resource officers play an important role in Iowa schools, it is unrealistic to expect a single police officer is always going to be at the right place at just the right time.

They argued that it could be particularly helpful in rural counties with limited law enforcement resources.

What training is required to carry guns at school?

Iowa Code currently allows approved school staff to carry a gun on campus, should they choose. Two districts in northwest Iowa put policies in place but rescinded them last year to avoid being dropped by their insurance carrier for liability coverage.

The law looks to address insurers’ concerns by putting in place a new permitting process that allows employees at Iowa’s public and private schools and colleges to carry a firearm on school grounds during school hours.

In order to receive a professional permit to carry weapons, school employees would have to complete a firearms safety course, in addition to one-time legal training on issues like qualified immunity, as well as annual communication and emergency medical trainings, plus quarterly live firearms training.

That process would be approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Identities of school staff issued a weapons permit would be confidential and not subject to disclosure under Iowa’s open records law.

What else does the law do?

The state's 11 largest school districts — those with 8,000 or more students — would be required to employ a school resource officer or private school security in each high school unless the district's school board votes to opt out.

School districts with fewer than 8,000 students would be encouraged to employ armed school resource officers.

Another school security bill heads to governors’ desk

Iowa lawmakers on Friday sent a separate school security bill to Reynolds that includes new requirements for building safety standards and allows schools to use professional development funds to pay for training for armed staff members.

Democrats objected to diverting money for professional development to pay for training for armed staff members.

The final bill says schools can use their professional development dollars "for any trainings required as a condition for a school employee to carry a weapon at the school during school hours."

School districts would also be required to conduct school safety reviews and share the results with law enforcement. The bill would also create a task force to review school infrastructure safety and security standards and require schools to have emergency radios capable of communicating with law enforcement.

Schools would be required to meet the building safety standards before they could issue bonds for new or renovated of athletic facilities.

The bill allows schools to use SAVE sales tax dollars on school infrastructure, including firearm detection software designed to integrate with the district's security cameras and to alert officials if there is a visible unholstered gun on school property.

The bill also allows school buildings to have mobile panic alert systems capable of contacting law enforcement.

What else did the governor sign?

Looting

HF 2598: Creates a new crime of “looting,” defined as two or more people entering a home, place of business or vehicle and stealing or damaging property, punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the combined value of stolen property is more than $10,000, the person has previously been convicted of looting, or the looting is done with a dangerous weapon. Somebody whose business or property is directly or indirectly damaged by an act of looting can also bring a civil action against a person who engaged in the looting.

‘Deepfake’ porn

HF 2240: Criminalizes pornographic images and videos that have been digitally altered to look like a specific person, known as “deepfakes.” A person who distributes a digitally altered image or video that portrays a person fully or partially nude or engaging in a sex act is guilty of harassment. The bill builds on a law passed in 2017 that criminalized “revenge porn,” the distribution of porn images or videos of a person without their consent. Anyone 18 years or older convicted of the new crime will be required to register as a sex offender.

‘Grooming behavior’ by teachers

HF 2487: Requires school districts to report to state officials if a licensed employee is disciplined for grooming or abusing a student. Grooming behavior is defined in the bill as “any behavior, which in light of all relevant circumstances,” is meant to “entice or entrap a student or students with the intent to … engage in a sex act.”

Drunken driving restrictions

SF 2261: Requires those convicted of drunken driving to complete the designated time period without violations before an ignition interlock device can be removed and their driver’s license reinstated.

A person would be able to wait out their 180-day license suspension for conviction of OWI first offense and would not be required to get an ignition interlock if they do not drive during that period.

The bill also allows individuals to waive the requirement to install an interlock device for a “verifiable medical condition” that makes the person incapable of properly operating the device.

The DOT would be required to revoke the driver’s license of a person required to maintain an ignition interlock device who does not get one installed or removes it without authorization.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com