Iowa’s 1st District: Where Christina Bohannan stands on gun policy

Christina Bohannan, the Democratic nominee in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, says gun owners like herself, law enforcement and gun safety groups need to “come together” to balance gun rights and gun safety.

Bohannan, who is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) for a third time, has held a consistent position on gun policy throughout the past five years through her public comments and her voting record during her time as an Iowa state House member from 2021 to 2023. 

The Democrat has sought to balance support for the Second Amendment with efforts to reduce gun violence, including expanding background checks and supporting red-flag laws. In a May 2022 interview with KCCI, Bohannan said her philosophy on gun policy requires consensus between gun owners and gun safety advocates.

“What we need to do is to stop fighting about this, and have responsible gun owners, law enforcement and other gun safety groups to come together, and figure out how do we move the needle on reducing gun violence, while at the same time ensuring that people who lawfully and responsibly own guns can still protect their rights as well,” Bohannan said. 

Bohannan as a state legislator

Bohannan’s record in the Iowa House mirrors those views, as she has previously advocated in favor of gun safety measures and voted against sweeping pro-gun legislation. 

In January 2021, she published an opinion letter in Little Village opposing a proposed amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would make gun ownership a fundamental individual right and subject restrictions to strict scrutiny, a demanding legal standard. She voted against the amendment, warning that it could threaten existing firearm restrictions and make it harder to enact background-check requirements and red-flag laws.

“We can also unite against an extreme gun amendment, even though many support a basic right of gun ownership, as I do,” she wrote.

Iowa voters approved the amendment, known as Amendment 1, in November 2022, with about 65% voting in favor.

Its legal consequences have since emerged in court. In June 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a man barred from possessing firearms because of a 2010 misdemeanor domestic abuse assault conviction. The court found that applying the lifetime ban to him, given the circumstances of his case and nearly 14 years without reoffending, violated the state constitution’s strict-scrutiny requirement.

The ruling did not strike down the entire 2010 Iowa law, which banned those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse or put on a no-contact order from possessing firearms. However, it found that the prohibition was unconstitutional as applied to that individual.

Bohannan also voted no on an Iowa bill that would allow Iowans to carry handguns without permits. The bill passed and was signed into law in April 2021.

Balancing gun safety and responsible gun ownership

Bohannan’s legislative history on gun safety aligned with the position of gun violence prevention advocates. GIFFORDS, a gun safety organization that endorsed her campaign in 2022, describes her as a longtime member of Moms Demand Action, an organization that supports expanded background checks, red-flag laws and restrictions on firearm access for domestic abusers.

The 1st Congressional District race has been a large spending recipient of gun safety interest groups. Everytown, an interest group advocating for gun safety, has already spent $2.46 million on the race with $1.45 million in support of Bohannan and $1.01 million in opposition to Miller-Meeks, according to reporting to Legis1. 

Bohannan is a gun owner herself. In August 2024, during her second run for Congress, she visited a shooting range accompanied by a reporter from The Gazette to practice firearm safety and marksmanship.

“I grew up with guns; I’m a gun owner myself, I support the Second Amendment,” she said, according to The Gazette.

Bohannan supported expanding background checks but stopped short of endorsing an outright ban on semiautomatic assault-style rifles or bump stocks. Instead, she called for tighter regulations and said a ban was open for discussion.

“Whether we should have an outright ban, I think, is a conversation we can have,” she said.

Bohannan did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Her opponent, Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, has taken a firm stance against gun regulations while in Congress. Miller-Meeks voted against legislation to expand background checks and raise the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles to 21, according to congressional voting records. She has also supported expanding concealed-carry rights. Miller-Meeks has previously advocated for tougher enforcement of gun safety laws already in place.