One problem I have with gun-free zones in general is that they mean I'm disarmed at least from the parking lot to the door. Even if my safety is guaranteed inside--it's really not, but roll with me here--they can't do anything outside.
But college students are often more screwed than that, since even the parking lot is gun-free.
Luckily, a bill in Iowa seeks to at least change that by allowing students to leave guns in the car.
An Iowa Senate subcommittee has recommended passage of Senate File 2263, a bill that would expand protections for lawful firearm possession in vehicles across several locations in the state.
Introduced by Sen. Jason Schultz, R, SF 2263 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 10, 2026. On February 17, a subcommittee recommended the bill for passage. A committee hearing is scheduled, according to the Iowa Legislature.
The committee recommended passage of the bill, for the record, and student parking lots on college campuses are one of a handful of places that are set to be protected under this bill. Also included are vehicles used to transport foster kids, which is big for foster parents, parking lots for public parks, and even lower school parking lots, to some degree.
While campus carry would be better for college students, this is still an important step for student safety, if for no other reason than it allows them to protect themselves to and from campus each day.
As it stands now, in far too many states, a college student who is eligible to carry a firearm under his or her state's laws often has to leave it at home when going to school because it's completely banned on campus. That means they're potentially at risk for something like a carjacking or some other violent crime while going to and from class.
Plus, if they have to run any errands on the way home, they're just as screwed.
It's bad enough that they'll still be vulnerable from the classroom to the car, but at least they won't be vulnerable after they sit behind the driver's seat.
"But that just means they can get a gun from their car and kill a bunch of people," some anti-gun walnut will bellow, I'm sure.
To that, I simply say that when I was in high school, hunting was so popular that many of my classmates hit the woods before school started for the day. They'd come to school in their hunting clothes and had a gun in the gun rack of their trucks. We saw guns all the time, and literally no one went out to the car to get their deer rifle to settle a dispute.
It. Never. Happened.
What I mean by this isn't that it won't happen, only that regular folks aren't going to do anything like that, no matter how ready the gun access is. Those who might are also those who aren't inclined to worry all that much about the rules when it comes to leaving a gun in their car in the first place.
So, Iowa is looking to pass this.
Is this the best we should settle for there? Hell no.
But we didn't lose our gun rights overnight. There's nothing wrong with taking them back step by step. It's how anti-gunners have been successful, and it's a lesson we need to learn and take to heart. If we don't, we're going to keep swinging big and missing big.
I'd rather have a series of base hits that move runners around the basis then bank everything on a bunch of home runs and it not quite happen.
Iowa is putting a runner on the base. It's just that simple.
