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Date: 11-15-2024
Case Style:
In the Interest of N.S.N.S.
Case Number:
Judge: Margaret Reyes
Court: District Court, Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Pottawattamie County, Iowa District Attorney's Office
Description:
Council Bluffs, Iowa civil rights lawyer represented the Plaintiff seeking the right to own and/or possess a firearm.
Article I, Section 1A of the Iowa Constitution provides:
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.
The petitioner, N.S., was involuntarily committed at age sixteen in 2006. The committal disqualified him from possessing firearms under federal law. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) (2006). In August 2022, he filed a petition under Iowa Code section 724.31 (2022) for restoration of his firearm rights. The State and the county attorney opposed his petition. In April 2023, the district court conducted an evidentiary hearing and denied his petition after finding that N.S. failed to prove he "will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to the public safety." The district court rejected N.S.'s state constitutional challenge,[1] ruling that "Amendment 1A does not apply retrospectively to [his] disqualification which occurred in 2006" and that section 724.31 survives strict scrutiny. We retained N.S.'s appeal.
On our de novo review, we agree with the district court's factual findings and determination that N.S. failed to meet his burden to satisfy the statutory criteria for restoration of his right to possess firearms. We hold that
Amendment 1A applies prospectively to N.S.'s restoration proceeding in 2023. We further hold that section 724.31 survives strict scrutiny under Amendment 1A. The State has a compelling interest in preventing gun violence and suicide. Section 724.31 is narrowly tailored to serve that interest by keeping firearms from dangerous persons while allowing restoration of firearm rights upon a petitioner's showing they are no longer a threat to public safety.
In re N.S., 23-0970 (Iowa Nov 15, 2024)
Outcome: The Court declined to shift the burden of proof under section 724.31 from the petitioner to the State.
Affirmed
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: