Iowans-

We’re getting word from pro-Second Amendment sheriffs that media outlets around the state are mounting a last-ditch effort to harvest the personal information of Permit holders in Iowa. They’re scrambling because the second Governor Terry Branstad is done signing his name on House File 517 it will be illegal for anyone other than law enforcement to collect the personal information of Iowa’s Permit to Carry and Permit to Acquire holders.

Right now it is critical that YOU reach out to your local sheriff’s office and explain the situation. Under House File 517, Division 6 permit issuing officers “shall keep confidential personally identifiable information of holders of professional and non-professional permits to carry weapons and permits to acquire pistols or revolvers.”

Permit Privacy is something the Iowa Firearms Coalition has been working on for years. We’ve seen Iowa media outlets like the Des Moines City View newspaper publish the names of thousands of Permit to Carry holders. We’ve also seen the dangerous repercussions of this incredibly irresponsible behavior. Iowa Firearms Coalition members in Polk County have had their homes broken into and had their firearms and nothing else stolen after their personal information was published in print and online. After being outed in the local paper an IFC member in Dubuque County was singled out and eventually fired by his anti-gun employer for having a Permit to Carry.

Iowa’s media have lobbied and worked extremely hard to block our Permit Privacy bills, but with HF517 we’ve beaten them. Now they’re spitefully working on a last ditch effort to harvest YOUR information for their benefit. Sadly if they succeed, law-abiding Iowans will be victimized.

Protect your personal information. Contact your local sheriff’s office and kindly explain to them that under HF517, the Omnibus Gun Bill about to be signed by the governor, Permit to Carry and Permit to Acquire holders information shall be kept confidential. This includes Freedom of Information Act requests from the media. This provision of HF517 is effective immediately. So if a sheriff releases any information after the bill is signed they will be violating state law.

We expect the governor to sign HF517 into law before the end of the week. We’ll of course be providing an update as soon as the bill is signed. In the meantime, please contact your sheriff’s office and urge them to decline all requests for permit holder’s personal information.