Iowa House lawmakers advanced a bill out of subcommittee Tuesday to allow either a driver or passenger on school property to carry a concealed firearm if it remains in the vehicle. 

If passed, House File 621, would amend Iowa Code section 708.8, which prohibits any person from carrying or transporting a firearm on school property, a class D felony.

Richard Rogers, lobbyist from Iowa Firearms Coalition, said the organization was in support of the bill and said the existing law creates “phony no gun zones” at schools and doesn’t actually prevent people from bringing firearms on school property. 

“They provide only the illusion of security,” he said. “These rules serve only to disarm honest citizens, those whose compliance often forces them to forego having their normal personal defensive tools available from the time they leave home until they return.” 

Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, said she was opposed to the bill and does not support the idea of allowing people to carry firearms on school property.

“I do find the expression ‘phony no gun zones’ to be somewhat offensive, especially for those of us who believe strongly in gun free zones to protect people,” she said.

Rogers responded that the bill was not intended to broadly expand firearms on school property, but to resolve what he described as a conflict in the present law.

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Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, said he was in support of the bill and pushed back on the idea that the existing law enhances school safety. 

“This is a victimless crime where you’re turning law abiding citizens into felons and creating kind of an unworkable arrangement that if someone is wishing to exercise their constitutional Second Amendment rights,” he said. 

Shipley questioned how many people have been prosecuted for having a gun under the present statute, and said the law would turn otherwise law-abiding parents into felons. 

He said many Iowans could be unknowingly committing serious crimes by having a locked and concealed firearm in their vehicle while picking up or dropping off a student, even if no one is harmed.

“I challenge the underlying theory of criminality behind the statute, and therefore I will be moving the bill forward to try to correct that,” Shipley said.