Bill Text: IA HF147 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act creating the second amendment preservation Act, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 15-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-02-22 - Subcommittee recommends passage. Vote Total: 2-1. [HF147 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF147-Introduced.html

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House File 147 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 147
BY SHIPLEY , HAYES , BRADLEY ,
JENEARY , M. THOMPSON ,
SHERMAN , DIEKEN , HENDERSON ,
MEGGERS , GERHOLD ,
OSMUNDSON , CISNEROS ,
STOLTENBERG , WHEELER , and
BODEN
A BILL FOR
An Act creating the second amendment preservation Act,
providing penalties, and including effective date
provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. NEW SECTION . 724A.1 Short title.
This chapter may be cited and referred to as the “Second
Amendment Preservation Act” .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 724A.2 Definition.
As used in this chapter, “law-abiding citizen” means a person
who is not otherwise precluded under state law from possessing
a firearm and shall not be construed to include anyone who is
not legally present in the United States or the state of Iowa.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 724A.3 Legislative findings.
The general assembly finds and declares the following:
1. The general assembly is firmly resolved to support and
defend the Constitution of the United States against every
aggression, whether foreign or domestic, and is duty-bound to
oppose every infraction of those principles that constitute the
basis of the United States because only a faithful observance
of those principles can secure the nation’s existence and the
public happiness.
2. Acting through the Constitution of the United States, the
people of the several states created the federal government to
be their agent in the exercise of a few defined powers, while
reserving for the state governments the power to legislate on
matters concerning the lives, liberties, and properties of
citizens in the ordinary course of affairs.
3. The limitation of the federal government’s power is
affirmed under the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which defines the total scope of federal power
as being that which has been delegated by the people of the
several states to the federal government, and all power not
delegated to the federal government in the Constitution of the
United States is reserved to the states respectively or to the
people themselves.
4. If the federal government assumes powers that the people
did not grant it in the Constitution of the United States, its
acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.
5. The several states of the United States respect
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H.F. 147
the proper role of the federal government but reject the
proposition that such respect requires unlimited submission.
If the government, created by a compact among the states,
was the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers
granted to it by the states through the Constitution of the
United States, the federal government’s discretion, and not
the Constitution of the United States, would necessarily
become the measure of those powers. To the contrary, as in
all other cases of compacts among powers having no common
judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself as to
whether infractions of the compact have occurred, as well as
to determine the mode and measure of redress. Although the
several states have granted supremacy to laws and treaties made
under the powers granted in the Constitution of the United
States, such supremacy does not extend to various federal
statutes, executive orders, administrative orders, court
orders, rules, regulations, or other actions that collect data
or restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership, and use
of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition exclusively
within the borders of Iowa. Such statutes, executive orders,
administrative orders, court orders, rules, regulations,
and other actions exceed the powers granted to the federal
government except to the extent they are necessary and proper
for governing and regulating the United States armed forces
or for organizing, arming, and disciplining militia forces
actively employed in the service of the United States armed
forces.
6. The people of the several states have given the United
States Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several states”, but “regulating
commerce” does not include the power to limit citizens’ right
to keep and bear arms in defense of their families, neighbors,
persons, or property, or to dictate what sort of arms and
accessories law-abiding Iowans may buy, sell, exchange, or
otherwise possess within the borders of this state.
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7. The people of the several states have also granted the
United States Congress the power “to lay and collect taxes,
duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for
the common defense and general welfare of the United States”
and “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution” the powers vested by the Constitution
of the United States “in the government of the United States,
or in any department or officer thereof”. These constitutional
provisions merely identify the means by which the federal
government may execute its limited powers and shall not be
construed to grant unlimited power because to do so would be
to destroy the carefully constructed equilibrium between the
federal and state governments. Consequently, the general
assembly rejects any claim that the taxing and spending powers
of the United States Congress may be used to diminish in any
way the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
8. The general assembly finds that the federal excise tax
rate on arms and ammunition in effect prior to January 1,
2022, which funds programs under the Act of Congress described
in section 456A.27, does not have a chilling effect on the
purchase or ownership of such arms and ammunition.
9. The people of Iowa have vested the general assembly
with the authority to regulate the manufacture, possession,
exchange, and use of firearms firearm accessories, or
ammunition within the borders of this state, subject only to
the limits imposed by the second amendment to the Constitution
of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Iowa.
10. The general assembly of the state of Iowa strongly
promotes responsible firearm ownership, including parental
supervision of minors in the proper use, storage, and ownership
of all firearms; the prompt reporting of stolen firearms; and
the proper enforcement of all state firearm laws. The general
assembly of the state of Iowa hereby condemns any unlawful
transfer of firearms and the use of any firearm in any criminal
or unlawful activity.
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Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 724A.4 Federal infringements on the
right to keep and bear arms.
Federal infringements on the people’s right to keep and
bear arms, as guaranteed by the second amendment to the
Constitution of the United States and Article 1, section 1A of
the Constitution of the State of Iowa, within the borders of
this state include but shall not be limited to the following
federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders,
court orders, rules, and regulations:
1. Any tax, levy, fee, or stamp imposed on firearms, firearm
accessories, or ammunition not common to all other goods and
services and that might reasonably be expected to create a
chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of firearms,
firearm accessories, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens.
2. Any registering or tracking of firearms, firearm
accessories, or ammunition that might reasonably be expected
to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of
firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition by law-abiding
citizens.
3. Any registering or tracking of the owners of firearms,
firearm accessories, or ammunition that might reasonably
be expected to create a chilling effect on the purchase or
ownership of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition by
law-abiding citizens.
4. Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, use, or
transfer of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition by
law-abiding citizens.
5. Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm
accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 724A.5 Federal infringement void.
All federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative
orders, court orders, rules, and regulations, regardless if
enacted before or after the provisions this chapter, that
infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as
guaranteed by the second amendment to the Constitution of the
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United States shall be invalid in this state, shall not be
recognized by this state, shall be specifically rejected by
this state, and shall not be enforced by this state.
Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 724A.6 Protection of right to keep and
bear arms.
It shall be the duty of the courts and law enforcement
agencies of this state to protect the rights of law-abiding
citizens to keep and bear arms within the borders of this state
and to protect these rights from the infringements described
in section 724A.4.
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 724A.7 Enforcement of infringement of
right to keep and bear arms prohibited.
No person, including any public officer or employee of this
state or any political subdivision of this state, shall have
the authority to enforce or attempt to enforce any federal
acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court
orders, rules, regulations, statutes, or ordinances infringing
on the right to keep and bear arms as described in section
724A.4. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit
Iowa officials from accepting aid from federal officials in an
effort to enforce Iowa laws.
Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 724A.8 Liability for violation ——
actions for violations —— attorney fees.
1. a. Any political subdivision or law enforcement agency
that employs a law enforcement officer who acts knowingly to
violate the provisions of this chapter while acting under color
of any state or federal law shall be liable to the injured
party in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper
proceeding for redress, and subject to a civil penalty of fifty
thousand dollars per violation.
b. Any person injured under this subsection shall have
standing to pursue an action for injunctive relief in the
district court of the county in which the action allegedly
occurred or in the district court of Polk county. The court
shall hold a hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining
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H.F. 147
order or a preliminary injunction within thirty days of service
of the petition.
2. Any political subdivision or law enforcement agency that
knowingly employs an individual acting or who previously acted
as an official, agent, employee, or deputy of the government
of the United States, or otherwise acted under the color of
federal law within the borders of this state, who has knowingly
enforced or attempted to enforce any of the infringements
identified in section 724A.4, or has knowingly given material
aid and support to the efforts of another who enforces or
attempts to enforce any of the infringements identified in
section 724A.4, shall be subject to a civil penalty of fifty
thousand dollars per such employee hired by the political
subdivision or law enforcement agency. Any person residing
or conducting business in a jurisdiction who believes that an
individual has taken action in that jurisdiction that would
violate the provisions of this subsection shall have standing
to pursue an action for injunctive relief in the district court
of the county in which the action allegedly occurred or in
the district court of Polk county. The court shall hold a
hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order or a
preliminary injunction within thirty days of service of the
petition.
3. In actions under this section, the court may award
the prevailing party, other than the state or any political
subdivision of the state, reasonable attorney fees and costs.
4. Sovereign immunity shall not be an affirmative defense in
any action pursued under this section.
Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 724A.9 When action is not a violation.
1. A person does not violate the provisions of this chapter
when the person provides material aid to federal officers
who are in pursuit of a suspect when there is a demonstrable
criminal nexus with another state or country and such suspect
is either not a citizen of this state or is not present in this
state.
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H.F. 147
2. A person does not violate the provisions of this chapter
when the person provides material aid to federal prosecutors
for felony violations involving controlled substances or
violations against another person when such prosecution
includes weapons violations substantially similar to the laws
of this state so long as such weapons violations are merely
ancillary to such prosecution.
Sec. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of
immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill creates the second amendment preservation Act.
The bill defines “law-abiding citizen” to include a person
who is not otherwise precluded under state law from possessing
a firearm and does not include anyone who is not legally
present in the United States or the state of Iowa. The bill
affirms the state of Iowa’s authority to regulate firearms
within its borders. The bill prohibits the enforcement of any
federal infringement on the people’s right to keep and bear
arms. The bill provides examples of federal actions that are
considered infringements on the right to keep and bear arms,
including those actions that might reasonably be expected
to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of
firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition by law-abiding
citizens or any act ordering the confiscation of firearms,
firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.
The bill declares void in the state a federal action that is
considered an infringement on the right to keep and bear arms.
The bill places a duty on courts and law enforcement agencies
of this state to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens
to keep and bear arms within the borders of this state and to
protect these rights from the infringements defined in the
bill. The bill holds liable a political subdivision or law
enforcement agency that employs a law enforcement officer who
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H.F. 147
acts knowingly to violate the provisions of the bill while
acting under color of any state or federal law. The bill also
provides that if a political subdivision or law enforcement
agency knowingly employs an individual acting or who previously
acted as an official, agent, employee, or deputy of the federal
government or otherwise acted under the color of federal law
within the borders of this state who knowingly enforced or
attempted to enforce, or gave material aid and support to
the efforts of another to enforce or attempt to enforce, an
infringement identified in the bill, the political subdivision
or law enforcement agency is subject to a civil penalty of
$50,000 for each such person employed. In an action for
injunctive relief, a political subdivision or law enforcement
agency that is found to have violated the bill is responsible
for paying reasonable attorney fees and costs and is subject to
a civil penalty of $50,000 for each violation.
The bill takes effect upon enactment.
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