IPGV’s agenda contains five specific legislative proposals:

1. Regulate secondary gun markets (non dealer sales) by extending Brady background checks to all firearms sales by unlicensed sellers. (Currently, only licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks.)

2. As an incremental step to proposal 1, require that all firearms sales at gun shows held on state property, including the Iowa State Fairgrounds, include a criminal background check of the buyer. (2005 priority)

3. Enact a state ban on military-style, semiautomatic assault weapons to replace the federal ban that Congress allowed to expire in September 2004.

4. Codify federal law that prohibits possession of firearms by anyone who is subject to a court restraining order for domestic violence or who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence into state law. This bill is being introduced by the Iowa Attorney General. (2005 priority)

5. Create an office of suicide prevention in the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Said John Johnson, executive director of IPGV, “For far too long, federal and state lawmakers have neglected their duty to protect Americans from gun violence. Numerous public opinion surveys show that the vast majority of Americans support stronger gun laws. However, lawmakers have failed to enact sensible legislation that would reduce gun death and injury to the citizens of Iowa and all Americans.”

IPGV’s legislative agenda notes what reduced gun violence would mean to Iowans.

• Fewer gun deaths and nonfatal injuries from firearms
• Lower direct medical costs to treat the victims of gun violence
• Fewer crimes committed with firearms
• Reduced costs for law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system
• Fewer individuals sent to prison for gun crimes and a lower prison population

“These are potential outcomes that all elected officials cans support and run on,” added Johnson.

JAccording to IPGV’s communications director, Leah Woodward, IPGV’s focus on the State Fairgrounds legislation is based not on the volume of gun sales at gun shows at the fairgrounds, but rather that state government should be a role model in the way that it conducts business operations where guns are sold.

SSaid Woodward, “We consider that state government has a civic responsibility to take reasonable precautions to ensure that gun shows held on state property, including the Iowa State Fairgrounds, are not used as venues where felons, domestic abusers, minors, and other prohibited purchasers can evade a criminal background check and illegally buy guns. Failure to take reasonable precautions is a blatant disregard for public safety.”

IPGV notes that the proposed legislation would not disrupt gun shows held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Honest, law-abiding citizens would still be able to buy guns at gun shows at the fairgrounds. The only difference would be that all firearms sales would be subject to a criminal background check. For persons with no previous criminal history, background checks by licensed firearms dealers through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) are completed immediately – take less than 30 seconds.

According to Woodward, “The only population that would be adversely affected by the proposed legislation is the population of prohibited purchasers who cannot pass a background check, and thus, would not be able to buy guns at gun shows at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.”