House File 517, a bill that changes many requirements for obtaining and handling firearms in the state, recently passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Iowa legislature, but one local senator has issues with some of the aspects of the bill. Senator Rich Taylor (D) sat on the judiciary committee and did vote to advance it to the floor, but he says the only reason he did so was to get discussion going about aspects of it that he feels need changed. Taylor says he pointed out several things he found were wrong with the bill, including changes that would affect his license.

He explains, “I have a concealed carry permit, right now it’s valid in 35 states. And if this bill goes through, it will most likely invalidate my license in at least 23 of those other states, because we will no longer have the requirement for proficiency. On your first license, how we had it was you had to show proficiency on actually using the weapon. You didn’t have to be good, but you had to know which end the bullet came out of. That’s what other states require, and if we don’t require that, then our reciprocity agreement wouldn’t have to be considered by these other states.” To hear more about the gun bill and other legislative topics, listen to the two-part In Touch with Southeast Iowa interview with Taylor at KCIIRadio.com.