Iowa State Student Sues Ames Over Gun Ban on Campus Buses

A longtime Second Amendment advocate is taking her fight to Iowa's courts, suing the city of Ames over a firearm ban on the campus bus system she argues violates state preemption law.

Key points

• Who: Natalie Gibson, an Iowa State University student and permit holder who's been a grassroots gun rights activist since childhood, filed the lawsuit in state court, Bearing Arms reports.
• The dispute: Gibson wants to carry her firearm on Cy-Ride buses, but Ames bans guns onboard because the routes cross ISU property, where campus policy restricts weapons.
• The legal argument: Gibson's petition says Iowa code has no provision barring firearms on roadways near or through campuses, and that her state carry permit should be valid unless state or federal law says otherwise.
• Constitutional backdrop: Iowa voters amended the state constitution in 2022 to make gun rights a "fundamental individual right" subject to strict scrutiny, meaning the city bears the burden of justifying the restriction.
• Bigger picture: Bearing Arms notes a win for Gibson could also undercut ISU's broader campus carry restrictions, even though the university isn't the named defendant.

Quick take

This is a narrow but potentially useful test case. Gibson isn't suing to overturn campus carry policy outright, she's targeting a bus route, but the preemption argument could end up doing double duty if the court agrees Iowa law doesn't carve out an exception for transit crossing university land.

Read the full story: bearingarms.com