House File 2464 - Enrolled
House File 2464
AN ACT
RELATING TO MERCHANT CATEGORY CODES FOR TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING
FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION, FIREARM REGISTRIES AND RECORDS, AND
PROVIDING CIVIL PENALTIES.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 554H.1 Definitions.
2 1. “Ammunition” means the same as defined in 18 U.S.C. §921.
3 2. “Covered entity” means an entity, or agent of an entity,
4 that establishes a relationship with a retailer for the purpose
5 of processing credit, debit, or prepaid transactions.
6 3. “Firearm” means the same as defined in 18 U.S.C. §921,
7 and includes a shotgun, rifle, and antique firearm, as those
8 terms are defined in 18 U.S.C. §921.
9 4. “Firearms retailer” means an individual or entity that
10 is all of the following:
11 a. Physically located in the state.
12 b. Engaged in the lawful business of selling or trading
13 firearms or ammunition.
14 5. “Merchant category code” means the code, approved by the
15 international organization for standardization specifically for
16 firearms retailers, that is assigned to a retailer based on the
17 types of goods and services offered to a retailer’s customers.
18 6. a. “Payment card network” means an entity that, directly
19 or through a member, processor, or agent, provides proprietary
20 services, infrastructure, software, or hardware that is used
21 to authorize, clear, and settle credit, debit, or prepaid
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22 transactions.
23 b. “Payment card network” does not include an issuing
24 financial institution that settles a credit, debit, or prepaid
25 transaction with a retailer on behalf of a consumer.
26 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 554H.2 Merchant category codes.
27 1. A payment card network shall not require, incentivize,
28 or permit the use of a merchant category code in a manner that
29 distinguishes a firearms retailer from other retailers.
30 2. A covered entity, or a covered entity’s agent, shall
31 not assign a firearms retailer a merchant category code that
32 distinguishes the firearms retailer from other retailers.
33 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 554H.3 Firearm registry or record.
34 1. Except for records kept during the regular course of a
35 criminal investigation or criminal prosecution, or as otherwise
1 required by law, a person, unit of government, or governmental
2 organization shall not knowingly and willfully keep or cause to
3 be kept a record or registry of privately owned firearms or of
4 the owners of privately owned firearms.
5 2. This section shall not be construed to prohibit an
6 owner or an owner’s representative from maintaining a list of
7 the owner’s privately owned firearms, or to prohibit a law
8 enforcement agency from maintaining a list, registry, or record
9 of firearms that have been stolen or reported stolen.
10 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 554H.4 Enforcement —— penalties.
11 1. The attorney general shall investigate reasonable
12 alleged violations of this chapter. As part of the
13 investigation, and in accordance with the Iowa rules of civil
14 procedure, the attorney general may issue a subpoena for the
15 production of records. If a person, unit of government, or
16 governmental organization refuses to comply, the attorney
17 general may seek enforcement by the district court.
18 2. Any of the following may petition the attorney general to
19 investigate an alleged violation of this chapter:
20 a. A firearms retailer, or a customer who made a transaction
21 at a firearms retailer whose business is the subject of any
22 alleged violation of section 554H.2.
23 b. An individual whose firearms ownership is the subject of
24 any alleged violation of section 554H.3.
25 3. Upon finding that a person is in violation of this
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26 chapter, the attorney general shall provide written notice
27 to the person, or to the registered agent of the person,
28 determined to have committed the violation.
29 4. Upon receipt of notice under subsection 2, the person
30 shall have sixty calendar days to cease the violation.
31 5. If the violation persists after the expiration of the
32 sixty-day period under subsection 3, the attorney general
33 shall bring civil action in district court to enjoin further
34 violations by a person found to be in violation of this
35 chapter.
1 6. If a person knowingly or willfully fails to comply with
2 an injunction issued under subsection 4, after sixty calendar
3 days of the date the person is served with the injunction, the
4 attorney general shall petition the district court to impose
5 civil penalties in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars
6 per violation of the injunction, taking into consideration the
7 financial resources of the violator and the harm or risk of
8 harm to the violator’s rights under the second amendment to the
9 Constitution of the United States and Article I, section 1A, of
10 the Constitution of the State of Iowa.
11 7. It shall be a defense to a proceeding initiated pursuant
12 to this section that the person made a good-faith determination
13 that the person’s action was required by law.
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 2464, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor