The Iowa Firearms Coalition and Second Amendment advocate Natalie Gibson have convinced the city of Ames, Iowa to scrap its policy banning lawful concealed carry on public transit, delivering a big win for gun owners looking to get rid of as many "gun-free zones" as possible.
Gibson, who's a student at Iowa State University, sued the city a couple of weeks ago over its carry ban on the CyRide bus system. As the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports, the Ames Transit Board unanimously approved a motion to replace the ban with language warning riders that carrying a firearm on the Iowa State University campus "could be" a violation of university policy and state law.
Gibson, who stated in the petition she has never brought a firearm onto a CyRide bus, claimed she was “adversely affected” by the policy since it didn’t allow her to be “lawfully armed” while riding. The petition also stated that the Iowa Firearms Coalition brought up the policy concern with the city in October 2025, but the policy didn’t change.
Alan Ostergren, Gibson’s attorney, said in an email that they are both “pleased that the City acknowledged its policy needed to change.”
“More work remains on the lawsuit, but this is an important step forward,” Ostergren said in his email. “The Iowa Firearms Coalition notified the City over a year ago that its policy was illegal. Unfortunately, the City only paid attention after a lawsuit was filed.”
Just because the policy has changed doesn't mean the lawsuit is over, and the city might end up on the hook for attorneys' fees and damages. As Ostergren says, it's a shame the city didn't take this step until after Gibson filed a civil suit in state court, especially since it appears there was no stomach on the Transit Board for engaging in a lengthy and costly legal fight.
There's one lingering issue for Gibson and other gun owners who are students at Iowa State and other public colleges and universities in the state: their inability to lawfully carry on campus.
The city originally defended its prohibition on firearms aboard public buses by arguing that CyRide travels through Iowa State University's campus, where firearms are prohibited.
Gibson's lawsuit challenged that rationale, arguing that Iowa State's campus policy couldn't justify prohibiting lawful carry aboard city buses merely because those buses travel through university property.
That's true enough, but the fact that ISU's regents can still have a policy that prohibits lawful carry unless specifically authorized means that students like Gibson are unable to protect themselves not only when they're on campus, but on their way to and from class.
Republicans will still control both chambers of the legislature next year, but with a Democrat occupying the governor's office it may prove difficult to change that, even if there's an appetite to do so from lawmakers. It would have been nice if Republicans had taken that step when they had a governing trifecta, but previous efforts have fallen short, including a 2021 proposal addressing university grounds and a measure introduced earlier this year protecting firearms stored in vehicles in campus parking lots.
For now, though, Gibson and the Iowa Firearms Coalition deserve credit for forcing Ames to recognize that its authority to regulate lawful gun owners has limits. It's a victory that shouldn't have required a lawsuit in the first place, and one that should serve as a warning to other local governments that think they can ignore state law whenever they feel like it.
The fight over campus carry is another battle for another day, but Gibson has already demonstrated that she's willing to stand up for her rights, even when the government would prefer that she just sit down, shut up, and ride the bus disarmed.