Iowa HF716 bill

Kevin D

New Member
Has anyone seen any new info on this bill? It was signed and approved by the Governor on June 18, 2020. There doesn't appear to be any changes in the hunting regs reflected by this change.
 
It's about tweaking the existing regulations for hunting deer with a pistol. Now if they'd ease up the regulations on non-resident hunting tags it would be something to speak of.
 
Actually, it's about allowing necked case ammunition. That is "supposed" to be what "or other" means but there is no real clarification on it. The whole push on this bill is to allow necked ammunition to be used in rifles. Subsection 5 specifically removes the verbiage stating straight walled only ammunition. It replaces it with the following: any pistol or revolver with a barrel of at least four inches and firing a straight walled or other centerfire ammunition propelling an expanding bullet (etc., etc., etc,.........). In subsection 6-b it specifically removes "straight walled" altogether and replaces it with "cartridge rifle". I can see the Iowa courts filling up with hunters being ticketed for violations due to this vague verbiage of this new law. Many will get off, the state will be hit with court costs, and lawyers are going to make a fortune. We went through this same thing here in AL over hunting deer over bait. The laws in the beginning were vague and left to interpretation of the individual game wardens and hunters to fight over. We always had our local warden come survey our feeders before they finally simplified the law to what it is now. The first year we hunted with feeders, they had to be a minimum of 100 yards from a stand and out of line of sight by either terrain or vegetation. The game warden came in and checked all of our feeders and said we were in compliance. The next year we had a new game warden. He came and surveyed the same feeders in the same locations. He said over two thirds of them were out of compliance and needed to be moved or removed. Same feeders, same locations, same law, different game warden. Now the law has been simplified. You can hunt over bait with no distance limit or line of sight. You are just required to have a special $15 permit for each feeder or bait location. Simple, no margin of error and the state makes money.
 
Actually, it's about allowing necked case ammunition. That is "supposed" to be what "or other" means but there is no real clarification on it. The whole push on this bill is to allow necked ammunition to be used in rifles. Subsection 5 specifically removes the verbiage stating straight walled only ammunition. It replaces it with the following: any pistol or revolver with a barrel of at least four inches and firing a straight walled or other centerfire ammunition propelling an expanding bullet (etc., etc., etc,.........). In subsection 6-b it specifically removes "straight walled" altogether and replaces it with "cartridge rifle". I can see the Iowa courts filling up with hunters being ticketed for violations due to this vague verbiage of this new law. Many will get off, the state will be hit with court costs, and lawyers are going to make a fortune. We went through this same thing here in AL over hunting deer over bait. The laws in the beginning were vague and left to interpretation of the individual game wardens and hunters to fight over. We always had our local warden come survey our feeders before they finally simplified the law to what it is now. The first year we hunted with feeders, they had to be a minimum of 100 yards from a stand and out of line of sight by either terrain or vegetation. The game warden came in and checked all of our feeders and said we were in compliance. The next year we had a new game warden. He came and surveyed the same feeders in the same locations. He said over two thirds of them were out of compliance and needed to be moved or removed. Same feeders, same locations, same law, different game warden. Now the law has been simplified. You can hunt over bait with no distance limit or line of sight. You are just required to have a special $15 permit for each feeder or bait location. Simple, no margin of error and the state makes money.
I can see what you mean by a somewhat ambiguous interpretation, because "any pistol or revolver" seems to exclude any firearm with a stock. However, the term "cartridge rifle" usually refers to long guns. I'm guessing a lawmakers secretary who lives in the city and never owned or used a firearm and was unfamiliar the terminology was assigned to write it up.
 
I can see what you mean by a somewhat ambiguous interpretation, because "any pistol or revolver" seems to exclude any firearm with a stock. However, the term "cartridge rifle" usually refers to long guns. I'm guessing a lawmakers secretary who lives in the city and never owned or used a firearm and was unfamiliar the terminology was assigned to write it up.

I hunt a lot in Iowa and the Midwest in general. Rifles were allowed with the original 2017 bill. Strict verbiage for straight-walled ammunition was included along with a list of acceptable calibers. In 2019 they removed the regulation requiring rimmed cartridges only and allowed straight-walled non-rimmed ammunition with a diagram of each to clarify. The original 2017 bill also prohibited the use of pistols with shoulder stocks or barrel modifications. The new 2020 bill removes this restriction also. To err on the safe (legal) side, I'll likely use my muzzle loader again this year until more clarification is included in the hunting regulations. I have written the representative that introduced the bill and the representative of the county I hunt in to see if they can shed some light on this matter. I've also had my friends who live there that I hunt with contact them to see if they can get a response. Not being of the Iowa voting public I don't expect to be on their priority list for responding to emails or calls.
 
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