Iowa Student Sues Ames Over CyRide Bus Gun Ban, Seeks Up to $25,000

An Iowa State University student with a state carry permit sued the City of Ames in October 2026 over its ban on firearms aboard CyRide, the city bus system, under Iowa’s firearm preemption statute. The petition in Gibson v. City of Ames, filed in Story County District Court, asks for a declaration that the policy is unenforceable, an injunction against enforcement and statutory damages of up to $25,000.

The Iowa Firearms Coalition announced the suit in an Oct. 26 statement. Plaintiff Natalie Gibson lives in Ames, rides CyRide for some of her transportation and holds a nonprofessional permit to carry. She has followed the policy and has not ridden the buses armed, the petition says.

CyRide’s posted list of items not allowed on buses includes firearms, and the petition says the no-firearm policy has existed since at least January 2011. Most routes travel on public roads through the Iowa State campus, but at least one, Route 5 Yellow, does not.

Iowa Code section 724.28 bars a city from adopting any policy regulating the carrying or transportation of firearms that is otherwise lawful under state law, and it lets a person adversely affected sue for declaratory and injunctive relief and damages. For a knowing violation the statute sets damages of $1,000 to $2,500 per day after written notice, capped at $25,000. Its one exception covers a building where the local government screens entrants for weapons and provides armed security inside.

A coalition representative put the city on notice by email on or about Oct. 24, 2025, the petition says. The city’s representative replied that the city “is fully aware” of section 724.28 but that firearms are not allowed on the buses “as the buses travel regularly on ISU property where firearms are prohibited,” and cited a “federal Safe Schools Act.” The petition answers that no such act exists, that the Gun-Free School Zones Act exempts colleges and universities, and that no Iowa statute bars firearms on the roads through or on the university’s grounds. A university policy, it argues, is not a state law that can limit a permit valid statewide under section 724.7.

Gibson’s attorney, Alan Ostergren of Des Moines, told the Iowa State Daily that “we filed this lawsuit to challenge the city’s violation of Iowa’s preemption law” and that she will ask the court to block enforcement and impose a penalty of up to $25,000. The city declined comment to the Des Moines television station KCCI, citing its policy on pending litigation, the paper reported.

Gibson and her sister Meredith, then youth competitive shooters, advocated for the supervised youth handgun provisions in Iowa’s 2017 House File 517, the National Shooting Sports Foundation noted in a Nov. 3 article on the case.

The copy of the petition posted by the coalition carries no case number or filing stamp, and no hearing date or answer deadline has been published as of November 3, 2026. The next step is the city’s answer in Story County District Court.