As a tween, Natalie Gibson helped change Iowa state law so children could learn to shoot handguns under adult supervision. Now the Iowa State University student is suing the city of Ames, Iowa, where the university is located, over a public bus policy that prevents her from carrying a lawful firearm despite holding a valid Iowa carry permit.
The restriction reaches beyond her bus ride. Complying can mean leaving her firearm at home for the entire trip, including the walk to the stop and the journey after she steps off the bus.
A Familiar Advocate, a New Fight
Gibson and her sister, Meredith, were young competitive shooters when they helped advocate for the youth handgun provisions included in Iowa’s 2017 House File 517. Contemporaneous reporting documented their work to change restrictions that prevented younger children from shooting handguns even with parental supervision.
That background gives this case a particularly concrete connection to the shooting sports community. Gibson’s involvement in firearm policy and grassroots advocacy began with supervised participation and continued into adulthood, when the issue became her ability to travel while lawfully armed.
In an Oct. 26, 2026, statement, the Iowa Firearms Coalition identified Story County District Court as the venue and described the relief sought: a declaration that the policy violates state law, an injunction against enforcement, statutory damages and attorney fees.
The coalition also supplied an important detail about the city’s notice. According to its account of the lawsuit, Ames was warned on or about Oct. 24, 2025, that CyRide’s prohibition violates Iowa law. The city allegedly acknowledged the preemption statute but defended the restriction because buses travel through Iowa State’s campus.
The petition also alleges that at least one CyRide route doesn’t cross campus. That raises a straightforward question about the scope of the city’s justification: Why should a campus-based rationale govern a trip that never enters university property?
State Law Sets the Limits
Iowa Code Section 724.28 prohibits cities, counties and townships from adopting restrictions on firearm possession, carrying and transportation when those activities are otherwise lawful under state law. It also gives adversely affected people a mechanism to challenge prohibited local restrictions.
That is the central legal issue here. Gibson’s challenge asks whether the City of Ames can maintain a municipal transit prohibition despite the limits the legislature placed on local firearm regulation.
The statute includes a specific exception for buildings or physical structures under local government control when the government screens entrants for dangerous weapons and provides armed security inside. That language makes the conditions attached to local restrictions significant; the law does not simply give municipalities unrestricted discretion to ban lawful carry.
The financial consequences can also be substantial. For a knowing violation, the statute provides damages of $1,000 to $2,500 per day after written notice, capped at $25,000, with additional provisions addressing attorney fees, court costs and excess damages for good cause.
Those remedies are conditional. Gibson must establish her claims; the existence of a lawsuit does not itself establish that Ames violated the law.
Her attorney told the Iowa State Daily that Gibson has complied with the policy while riding CyRide. He argues that the university’s campus policy does not authorize a prohibition on lawful carry inside a vehicle passing through campus. Ames declined comment for that reporting, citing pending litigation.
Self-Defense Includes the Trip Home
The consequences deserve particular attention for women who choose to carry for personal protection. A transit restriction can affect an entire outing, including travel through neighborhoods and to businesses beyond university property.
For someone who relies on public transportation, taking a different vehicle may be impractical. A bus prohibition therefore places a tangible condition on exercising otherwise lawful carry: Find another way to travel or leave the firearm behind.
NSSF recently examined women’s decisions to become firearm owners and seek training. Gibson’s case brings a related policy question into focus: What happens when a woman who has made the choice to exercise her constitutional right to bear arms encounters a local restriction while going about ordinary daily activities?
Gibson has followed CyRide’s policy while asking a court to determine whether Ames has followed Iowa law. The city should have to establish its legal authority to impose that restriction.
A woman’s choice to use public transportation should not cost her the ability to exercise otherwise lawful armed self-defense.
Jenn Jacques is Public Affairs Manager at the National Shooting Sports Foundation.