DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As expected, a ban on guns at the Iowa State Fair will remain in place this year. The news comes after a heated legislative committee hearing in which people argued both for and against allowing fair-goes to carry guns.
Several people spoke Friday at a meeting of the Iowa Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee against allowing guns at the fair. Opponents described scenarios in which drunken and irresponsible guests toting handguns could create dangerous situations, the Des Moines Register reports.
But Richard Rogers, an Iowa Firearms Coalition board member, said he questions the Fair Board’s authority to ban guns when the state has authorized some to carry them. He said the ban leaves people defenseless if someone else brings a gun to the fair and begins shooting.
