In a shooting at Iowa City’s Pedestrian Mall on April 19, five people, including three University of Iowa students, were injured after a large fight escalated into gunfire. It has sparked discussions about how Iowa’s relatively permissive gun laws, such as permitless carry, intersect with public safety in college towns.  

As a permitless carry state, according to Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa allows many adults to carry firearms without a license, a policy supporters say protects individual rights but critics argue can complicate enforcement in crowded nightlife areas like downtown Iowa City. 

The last shooting on the Ped Mall was nearly a decade ago, which led to the death of 22-year-old Kaleek Asham Douglas Jones.

While overall violent crime rates in Iowa remain lower than national averages, incidents like this highlight how localized spikes in gun violence can challenge both law enforcement response and community perceptions of safety.

According to FBI-based county crime data compiled through Crime Explorer, Johnson County’s violent crime rate is about 51.2 per 100,000 residents, which is over 50 percent below the national average. 

RELATED: IC community looks to recover after Ped Mall shooting

Mark Berg, UI professor and director of the Center for Social Science Innovation, said the relationship between firearm access, perceived safety, and actual reductions in crime is difficult to measure, especially in states like Iowa where permitless carry expands who can legally carry a firearm in public spaces.

“People carry a gun to protect themselves, but people are afraid to arm themselves,” Berg said. “It’s really hard to determine how often people use them defensively, how much crime that deters, and how much crime it actually indirectly leads to gun violence.” 

The 1968 Gun Control Act established the federal framework for regulating firearms sales and possession, including licensing requirements for gun dealers, restrictions on interstate firearm transfers, and prohibitions on firearm ownership for certain categories of individuals such as convicted felons, individuals with restraining orders for domestic violence, and those deemed mentally unfit.

While the Gun Control Act sets baseline federal standards for who can legally own or purchase firearms nationwide, individual states retain significant authority to determine how those rights are implemented at the local level.

Taking effect in 2011, Iowa Code 724.7 established Iowa as a shall-issue state, meaning permits must be issued if legal requirements are met.

In practice, this removes discretion from local issuing authorities once an applicant satisfies the statutory criteria, such as passing a background check, completing required firearms safety training, and not being legally prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law.

According to Giffords Law Center, 43 out of 50 states are shall-issue states, reflecting the broad national shift toward standardized permitting systems that require issuance once applicants meet objective legal criteria. 

According to a study from the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans prioritize protecting the right to own guns over stricter gun control, regardless of political orientation.

Berg said this broad baseline support for gun ownership helps explain why gun policy debates often center less on whether people should have access to firearms and more on what kinds of regulations are considered reasonable or effective.

“There’s far more agreement than what people might believe around what sensible gun control policy looks like,” he said.

Despite isolated incidents, Iowa City sees sustained decline in gun violence

Over the last five years, Iowa City has seen a steep decline in firearm shootings and rounds fired.

According to the Iowa City 2024 Police Department Annual Report, shootings dropped from 57 in 2020 to eight in 2025, and rounds fired decreased from 304 to 36.

ICPD Public Information Officer Lee Hermiston attributed the decline to efforts by Iowa City officers to hold individuals who commit gun violence accountable.

“With many of those perpetrators off the street, we have seen a decrease in gun violence. Getting guns off the street through seizures has also been effective in decreasing gun violence in the community,” Hermiston wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.

Hermiston said 2026 shooting numbers are on track with the last two to three years.

Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said Johnson County has followed Iowa City’s trend, with shootings decreasing over the last five years. Zimmermann Smith tied the decline to increased law enforcement staffing and intervention programs such as Community Violence Intervention.

Iowa City Chief of Police Dustin Liston said the Ped Mall shooting has drawn significant public attention, highlighting a pattern in which certain incidents prompt widespread reaction while others receive far less notice.

“All of those incidents deserve the scrutiny and the media attention that this one is getting — and rightfully so — but I’ve seen it online: some people are grumbling, saying ‘no one really cared when someone else got hit,’” he said.

Zimmermann Smith said law enforcement has been paying attention to the case since it occurred. 

Her comments reflect a broader tension between measured statistical trends in gun violence and how individual incidents can resonate more strongly in the public consciousness, particularly in high-profile or densely populated areas like downtown Iowa City.

Berg said the long-term decline in shootings reflects broader national patterns as well as local enforcement and prevention strategies, but he cautioned that isolated incidents can still shape public perception in ways that don’t always match overall trends.

“It’s really hard to determine how often people use them defensively, how much crime that deters, and how much crime it actually indirectly leads to gun violence,” he said.