Iowa allows permitless carry for non-prohibited adults 18+. A PCW is still available and is what other states recognize.
Permitless carry is legal in Iowa
A non-prohibited adult aged 18 or older may
carry a concealed handgun without a permit
(since 2021).
NO PERMIT OF ANY KIND IS NEEDED TO CARRY IN IOWA. Effective 1 July 2021 (H.F. 756 / 2021 Acts, ch 35), Iowa Code § 724.5 provides that 'The availability of a professional or nonprofessional permit to carry weapons under this chapter shall not be construed to impose a general prohibition on the otherwise lawful unlicensed carrying or transport, whether openly or concealed, of a dangerous weapon, including a loaded firearm.' Verified verbatim in the official Iowa Code 2026 section PDF on 15 Sept 2026. Iowa DPS confirms on its official FAQ: 'No. Effective July 1, 2021, a permit to carry is not be required in order to carry handguns in the State of Iowa as long as the individual is not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from carrying or possessing a firearm and abides by all other provisions in the new law.' MINIMUM AGE 18: § 724.4E makes it a serious misdemeanor for a 'minor' - under 18, per Iowa Code § 599.1(1), 'The period of minority extends to the age of eighteen years' - to go armed with a concealed dangerous weapon, or to carry, transport or possess a loaded firearm within the limits of a city or knowingly carry or transport a pistol or revolver in a vehicle. The 18-20 bracket was opened by 2025 Acts, ch 27 (H.F. 924), effective 1 July 2025, which rewrote § 724.22 (its heading now reads 'Persons under eighteen'). Persons ineligible under § 724.8B - those disqualified under § 724.8, subsection 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 (alcohol addiction, documented likelihood of unlawful weapon use, § 724.26 disabilities, a ch. 708 serious or aggravated misdemeanor within three years, or a federal firearms prohibition), plus anyone illegally possessing a ch. 124 subchapter II controlled substance or committing an indictable offense - are prohibited from carrying dangerous weapons at all, a serious misdemeanor. § 724.4C makes it a serious misdemeanor to carry a dangerous weapon on the person, or within immediate access or reach while in a vehicle, while intoxicated under § 321J.2(1)(a)-(c). DPS warns that carrying WITHOUT a permit forfeits the state-permit exemption to the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(25), 922(q)(2)), so an unpermitted carrier can commit a federal offense within 1,000 feet of school grounds. Iowa Code §§ 724.4A (weapons free zones) and 724.4B (school grounds) also still apply and were NOT changed in 2026: S.F. 2263, which would have rewritten them, died without becoming law.
Getting the permit anyway is still worth it for most people: other states recognize
the permit, not your residency, so without one you generally cannot carry
across state lines.
Iowa Code § 724.5 (2021 Acts, ch 35, § 13); see also §§ 724.4E, 724.8B, 724.4C
There are 9 details on this page we
could not confirm from a primary source.
Read what they are
before relying on this.
Requirements at a glance
Permit name
Nonprofessional Permit to Carry Weapons
Issuing authority
Sheriff of the applicant's county of residence issues the Nonprofessional Permit to Carry Weapons, and also the Resident Professional, County Attorney, Attorney General, Peace Officer and Reserve Peace Officer professional permits. The Iowa Department of Public Safety issues the Nonresident Professional permit, General Assembly permit, Judicial Officer permit, State of Iowa Correctional Officer permit, other state-employee professional permits, and the Educator Professional Permit to Carry Weapons. (Routing per Iowa Code § 724.11(1) and the DPS Form WP5 instructions, edition for use on or after 07/01/2026; the General Assembly, Judicial Officer and Attorney General permit categories were created by 2026 Iowa Acts, ch. 1077 (S.F. 2280), approved 6 May 2026, effective 1 July 2026.)
System
shall-issue
Minimum age
18 — Iowa Code § 724.8, as amended by 2025 Acts, ch 27 (H.F. 924) effective 1 July 2025, bars a permit only where the applicant 'Is less than eighteen years of age.' Verified verbatim in the Iowa Code 2026 section PDF, which carries the flag 'Subsection 1 amended' against '2025 Acts, ch 27, §1'. That single threshold applies to BOTH the professional and the nonprofessional permit - § 724.8 opens 'No professional or nonprofessional permit to carry weapons shall be issued to a person who is subject to any of the following' - whereas before 1 July 2025 the nonprofessional permit required age 21. The official Form WP5 (for use on or after 07/01/2026) states the applicant must 'Be at least 18 years old for a permit to carry.' IMPORTANT NUANCE: Iowa Code § 724.15(1) still provides that 'A person under the age of twenty-one shall not be issued a permit to acquire a pistol or revolver, nor shall a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons held by a person who has not reached the age of twenty-one be valid for the transfer of a pistol or revolver from a federally licensed firearms dealer.' Federal law independently bars FFL handgun sales to those under 21. An 18-20 year old may lawfully carry and may acquire a handgun from a private party - Iowa DPS: 'A person needs to be at least 18 years old in order to acquire a handgun from a private party or obtain a Nonprofessional Permit to Carry Weapons in Iowa.'
Training required
Yes
State fee
$50 initial / $25 renewal — the state's own charge, not the total
Valid for
5 years
Processing time
STATUTORY DEADLINE: Iowa Code § 724.11(4) - the sheriff or the commissioner of public safety 'shall approve or deny an initial or renewal application submitted under this section within thirty days of receipt of the application... The failure to approve or deny an initial or renewal application shall result in a decision of approval.' DELIVERY: the official Form WP5 instructions (for use on or after 07/01/2026) state that if the application is complete the permit 'will be issued by the sheriff's office in the applicant's county of residence, or the Iowa Department of Public Safety within 30 days as long as the criminal history reveals no disqualifying information. Once approved, permits take 4-6 weeks to arrive in the mail.' The older DPS FAQ still says that 'Once the permit is approved and uploaded securely to the print contractor, the permit is printed and mailed within the same week' - the two official statements conflict; plan on the 4-6 weeks stated in the current form. DPS acts as the secure print gateway for all 99 sheriffs' offices, so printing is centralized, but intake practice and actual turnaround vary by county sheriff and status inquiries must go to the office where the application was filed. VALIDITY BY PERMIT CLASS (Form WP5, page 5): 'Nonprofessional permits to carry are valid for 5 years. Resident and non-resident professional permits are valid for 1 year. All other professional permits are non-expiring and are valid for the duration of employment.' That tracks Iowa Code § 724.7(1) (nonprofessional permits 'shall be for a period of five years') and § 724.6(1)(d) (professional permits 'shall expire twelve months after the date when issued' except that permits issued to peace officers, county attorneys, assistant county attorneys, correctional officers and - added by 2026 Iowa Acts, ch. 1077, effective 1 July 2026 - members of the general assembly, judicial officers, the attorney general, deputy attorneys general and assistant attorneys general are valid through the holder's period of employment unless otherwise cancelled). A deployed service member's nonprofessional permit that would otherwise expire during deployment stays valid for ninety days after the deployment ends, and DPS must provide a process for early renewal by mail (§ 724.7(2)).
Fingerprints
Not required
Non-resident permit
Not available
What it actually costs
The state fee is rarely the whole bill. Fingerprinting is usually charged by a private
vendor, training is bought from an instructor, and several states add photographs,
notarisation or other requirements on top.
State fee
$50
Training course
$75–$250 (private instructor)
Realistic total
$125–$300
Iowa Code § 724.11(3) sets $50 for an initial permit to carry weapons and $25 for a renewal or duplicate - but the $25 renewal rate applies only to an application filed within thirty days either side of expiry; miss that window and the $50 initial fee applies again. The official Form WP5 restates it: 'New permit - $50, renewal permit - $25, duplicate permit - $25.' The same amounts apply to the nonprofessional and the professional permit, and they are identical in all 99 counties because the legislature, not the sheriff, sets them. Duly appointed peace officers and correctional officers pay no initial fee. No fingerprints are required, so there is no fingerprint or live-scan charge. § 724.9 accepts any of six ways to demonstrate firearm-safety knowledge, including an NRA or online course or prior military service - and no course at all if you hold or held an Iowa permit issued on or after 1 January 2011 - so what the training costs varies far more than what the permit does. The Educator Professional Permit carries substantially higher training cost (annual emergency medical, communication and live-scenario training plus quarterly live fire qualification), which DPS says the school and the employee arrange between themselves.
SET BY STATUTE AND UNIFORM IN ALL 99 COUNTIES - a sheriff cannot vary them. Iowa Code § 724.11(3): 'The issuing officer shall collect a fee of fifty dollars for an initial permit, except from a duly appointed peace officer or correctional officer, for each permit issued. Renewal permits or duplicate permits shall be issued for a fee of twenty-five dollars, provided the application for such renewal permit is received by the issuing officer within thirty days prior to the expiration of the applicant's current permit or within thirty days after the expiration of the applicant's current permit.' The official Form WP5 (for use on or after 07/01/2026) states it plainly: 'Fee. New permit - $50, renewal permit - $25, duplicate permit - $25.' These amounts apply to the permit to carry weapons generally - the nonprofessional permit and the professional permit alike - because § 724.11(3) is written in terms of 'an initial permit', not of a permit class. A renewal filed outside the 60-day window (30 days before through 30 days after expiry) is treated as an initial application and charged $50 (§ 724.11(1); DPS FAQ: 'Any permits falling outside of the previously mentioned window must be charged the higher "new" permit fee'). A duplicate or replacement permit - lost, stolen, damaged, name change or address change - is $25 and keeps the current permit's expiration date. Duly appointed peace officers and correctional officers are exempt from the initial fee. Of each fee the issuing officer forwards $10 per initial permit and $5 per renewal or duplicate to the commissioner of public safety. There is no fingerprint fee, photo fee or background-check surcharge. Training-course cost is separate and set by the private provider. Note that validity differs sharply by permit class even though the fee does not - see validityYears and processingTime.
How to apply
FIRST, CHECK WHETHER YOU NEED A PERMIT AT ALL. Iowa is a permitless-carry state: since 1 July 2021, Iowa Code § 724.5 means no permit is required to carry a handgun openly or concealed anywhere in Iowa if you are at least 18 and not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law. Iowa DPS lists the reasons people still obtain the Nonprofessional Permit to Carry Weapons: it lets you carry in states that honor Iowa permits, it can avoid delay from a NICS check when buying from an FFL, it confirms your eligibility, and it restores the state-permit exemption to the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(25), 922(q)(2)) within 1,000 feet of a school.
Confirm you are not disqualified under Iowa Code § 724.8. Iowa DPS offers a free 'Carry Eligibility Quiz' on its Weapon Permits page and advises anyone unsure to consult an attorney.
Decide which permit class you are applying for, because the route and the paperwork differ. A private citizen living in Iowa wants the Resident Nonprofessional Permit. Employment-based permits (Resident Professional, Nonresident Professional, County Attorney, Attorney General, General Assembly, Judicial Officer, Correctional Officer, Peace Officer, Reserve Peace Officer) are professional permits under Iowa Code § 724.6 and additionally require the employer-authorization section of Form WP5 to be signed by an appropriate authority confirming occupational eligibility. School employees use the separate Educator Professional Permit (Form WP13) filed with DPS.
Complete a qualifying firearm safety course under Iowa Code § 724.9 within 24 months before applying - unless you hold or held an Iowa permit to carry issued on or after 1 January 2011, in which case you check the 'TRAINING EXEMPT' box on Form WP5 and no course is needed. Qualifying options: any NRA handgun safety course; a course taught by an instructor certified by a DPS-approved organization (NRA, USCCA, Concealed Coalition, or T-M Firearms Training) or by another state's law enforcement certifying body; a public course from a law enforcement agency, community college, college, institution, organization or firearms training school; U.S. armed forces small arms training; a law enforcement firearms qualification course; or a DNR-approved hunter education program with handgun safety noted on the certificate. Online and web-based courses are expressly permitted if the instructor or provider verifies completion (§ 724.9(2)). No minimum hours and no live fire are required, and § 724.9(5) forbids your sheriff from adding any training requirement beyond these.
Obtain Form WP5, Application for Iowa Permit to Carry Weapons - the current edition is marked 'Form for use on or after 07/01/2026' - from https://dps.iowa.gov/weapon-permit-applications or from your county sheriff. Many Iowa sheriffs also run their own online version of the application; DPS advises contacting your sheriff's office to confirm which application methods and payment forms it accepts.
File the completed application with the correct issuing officer. Resident Nonprofessional, Resident Professional, County Attorney, Attorney General, Peace Officer and Reserve Officer applications go to the sheriff of your county of residence. Nonresident Professional, General Assembly, Judicial Officer, State of Iowa Correctional Officer and other state-employee professional applications go to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, C/O Program Services Bureau, 215 E. 7th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319. By statute the form may require only your full name, driver's license or nonoperator's identification card number, residence, place of birth and date of birth; a Social Security number is optional (§ 724.10(1)).
Display a photo identification card - an Iowa DOT driver's license or nonoperator ID, or another state's photo license or ID - and submit your training documentation: a photocopy of the certificate of completion, an instructor or provider affidavit, or a DD-214, DD-256, NGB-22 or basic-training small-arms qualification record for military applicants.
If you have not been issued an Iowa driver's license or nonoperator ID, also submit proof of Iowa residency - a residential lease agreement, utility bill, voter registration, Iowa college or university tuition receipt, or other documentation acceptable to the issuing officer showing your presence in Iowa is more than transitory. If you are not a U.S. citizen, submit proof of lawful status (permanent resident card, employment authorization card or visa), your Alien Registration Number, USCIS number or I-94 admission number, and documentation that you have resided in Iowa for at least 90 consecutive days.
Pay the statutory fee: $50 for an initial permit, $25 for a renewal filed within 30 days before or after expiration, $25 for a duplicate. The amounts are identical in every county because the legislature sets them. Duly appointed peace officers and correctional officers pay no initial fee.
The issuing officer immediately conducts a background check by obtaining criminal history data from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, including an inquiry of the federal NICS system (§ 724.10(2)). No fingerprints are taken: neither Iowa Code ch. 724, nor Iowa Admin. Code 661 ch. 91, nor the Form WP5 list of required submissions mentions fingerprints. Knowingly making a false statement of material fact, or submitting materially falsified or forged documentation, is a class 'D' felony (§ 724.10(3)).
Await a decision within 30 days of receipt of the application. Failure to approve or deny within 30 days is by statute a decision of approval. A denial may be appealed under Iowa Code § 724.21A, and the issuing officer must record the reason and give written notice of denial by personal service or mail.
Receive the permit by mail - the current Form WP5 says approved permits take 4-6 weeks to arrive. A nonprofessional permit is valid for five years and valid throughout Iowa except where possession or carrying of a firearm is prohibited by state or federal law; resident and nonresident professional permits are valid for one year; other professional permits run for the duration of employment and must be surrendered to the issuing officer for cancellation when the employment ends.
To renew, apply within 30 days before expiration or within 30 days after expiration - no repeat training is required if your permit was issued on or after 1 January 2011. Miss that 60-day window and you must file as a new initial applicant at $50. DPS cautions that although a permit can be renewed up to 30 days after it expires, you should not go armed in a manner that requires a permit during the gap. For a name change, an address change, or a lost, stolen or damaged permit, file a Duplicate application with a $25 fee and a color photocopy of your driver's license; the duplicate keeps the original expiration date.
Less than eighteen years of age (Iowa Code § 724.8(1), as amended by 2025 Acts, ch 27, § 1)
Addicted to the use of alcohol (§ 724.8(2))
Probable cause exists to believe, based upon documented specific actions of the person, at least one of which occurred within two years immediately preceding the date of the permit application, that the person is likely to use a weapon unlawfully or in such other manner as would endanger the person's self or others (§ 724.8(3))
Subject to the provisions of Iowa Code § 724.26 - convicted felons, persons subject to qualifying domestic abuse protective orders, and persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (§ 724.8(4))
Convicted within the previous three years of any serious or aggravated misdemeanor defined in Iowa Code ch. 708 - assault, intimidation, harassment, hazing, stalking and the like - not involving the use of a firearm or explosive (§ 724.8(5))
Prohibited by federal law from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm - 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and § 922(n) - which the issuing officer verifies through a NICS inquiry (§ 724.8(6))
Not lawfully present in the United States. DPS lists 'Not currently illegally or unlawfully in the United States' among the permit eligibility requirements, and Form WP5 requires a non-citizen applicant to document lawful status (permanent resident card, employment authorization card or visa) plus an Alien Registration Number, USCIS number or I-94 admission number, and to show 90 consecutive days of Iowa residence.
Knowingly making a false statement of material fact, or submitting materially falsified or forged documentation, in connection with the application - a class 'D' felony (§ 724.10(3))
Non-residents of Iowa are ineligible for the NONPROFESSIONAL permit (§ 724.11(1); Iowa DPS: 'Iowa nonprofessional permits to carry weapons will only be issued to qualified Iowa residents'). A nonresident may still apply to the Iowa Department of Public Safety for a Nonresident PROFESSIONAL permit under § 724.6 if the need to go armed arises out of employment, with the employer-authorization section of Form WP5 completed.
Separately from permit eligibility, Iowa Code § 724.8B prohibits a person disqualified under § 724.8, subsection 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, a person illegally possessing a controlled substance included in ch. 124 subchapter II, or a person committing an indictable offense from carrying dangerous weapons at all - a serious misdemeanor - and § 724.4C makes it a serious misdemeanor to carry a dangerous weapon on the person, or within immediate access or reach while in a vehicle, while intoxicated.
Where to get the required training
Iowa does not publish a central list of certified instructors. Confirm directly
with Sheriff of the applicant's county of residence issues the Nonprofessional Permit to Carry Weapons, and also the Resident Professional, County Attorney, Attorney General, Peace Officer and Reserve Peace Officer professional permits. The Iowa Department of Public Safety issues the Nonresident Professional permit, General Assembly permit, Judicial Officer permit, State of Iowa Correctional Officer permit, other state-employee professional permits, and the Educator Professional Permit to Carry Weapons. (Routing per Iowa Code § 724.11(1) and the DPS Form WP5 instructions, edition for use on or after 07/01/2026; the General Assembly, Judicial Officer and Attorney General permit categories were created by 2026 Iowa Acts, ch. 1077 (S.F. 2280), approved 6 May 2026, effective 1 July 2026.) that a course will be accepted before you pay for it.
Training providers in Iowa
Businesses in our directory that offer firearms training. These are
not state-verified as certified permit instructors —
check against the official list above, or ask the provider directly.
Iowa recognizes permits from 49 other jurisdictions.
Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming
31 jurisdictions honor a Iowa permit
Derived from what each of those states officially publishes.
Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming
Iowa has NO statute prohibiting the manufacture of a firearm for personal use and NO statute requiring a serial number, state registration, or state marking on a self-made firearm. A full-text search of the official Iowa Code 2026 chapter 724 (Weapons) PDF returns no occurrence of 'unfinished frame,' 'homemade,' or any serialization mandate; the only uses of 'serial number' in chapter 724 are provisions FORBIDDING the state from recording a weapon's make, model, or serial number in connection with a permit (§§ 724.7(1), 724.10(2), 724.11(2), 724.11(5)). Iowa Code § 724.28 preempts cities, counties, and townships from enacting any ordinance regulating the ownership, possession, carrying, transfer, transportation, modification, registration, or licensing of firearms, so no Iowa locality may impose a serialization or registration requirement either. Iowa Code § 724.2(1)(f) expressly exempts from the offensive-weapons ban 'Any person, firm or corporation who under the laws of this state and the United States is lawfully engaged in the improvement, invention or manufacture of firearms.' LIMITS THAT STILL APPLY: Iowa Code §§ 724.1 and 724.3 ban possession of 'offensive weapons' (machine guns, certain short-barreled rifles/shotguns, destructive devices) except as authorized, and §§ 724.1A-724.1C tie suppressors and short-barreled rifles/shotguns to federal NFA compliance. All federal law continues to govern: the National Firearms Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) (post-1986 machine guns), 18 U.S.C. § 922(r), the Undetectable Firearms Act, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale without an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F. Iowa Senate File 2098 (91st G.A., 2026) would have created a state system issuing unique serial numbers for unfinished frames and lower receivers by 1 December 2026; it DID NOT BECOME LAW. It appears nowhere among the 2026 Iowa Acts chapters (1001-1201) in the Legislative Services Agency's official Iowa Acts Chapters index for the 91st G.A. (2026 Regular Session), it is absent from the LSA 'Code & Acts Sections Amended - 2026 Report', and its bill history records no action after the 28 January 2026 Judiciary subcommittee assignment.
Iowa Code ch. 724 (contains no provision regulating self-manufacture or requiring serialization); Iowa Code § 724.28 (state preemption of local firearms regulation); Iowa Code § 724.2(1)(f) (offensive-weapon exemption for persons 'lawfully engaged in the improvement, invention or manufacture of firearms')
Whether Iowa Code § 724.11A's phrase 'another state' reaches the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories rests on the general definition in Iowa Code § 4.1(32) ('state ... includes the District of Columbia and the territories'). I found no Iowa DPS statement, attorney general opinion, or case law applying that definition to § 724.11A specifically, so a DC or territorial permit holder traveling in Iowa should not treat it as settled - although Iowa's permitless carry under § 724.5 makes the question academic for anyone 18 or older who is not prohibited.
The 'honors' array is my enumeration of every U.S. jurisdiction that issues a carry permit, derived from Iowa's universal-recognition statute rather than from any Iowa-published list, so it cannot be checked against a state-published enumeration. Vermont is excluded because Vermont Statutes Title 13 ch. 85 contains no carry-licensing provision; DC is included on the strength of Iowa Code § 4.1(32).
The absence of a fingerprint requirement is still established negatively, though more strongly than in the August pass: Iowa Code § 724.10 lists only name, driver's license or ID number, residence, place of birth and date of birth plus a criminal-history and NICS check; the word 'fingerprint' appears nowhere in Iowa Code ch. 724 or in Iowa Admin. Code 661 ch. 91 (full-text searched in the current 09/16/2026 publication); and the official Form WP5 enumerates what an applicant 'must submit ... at time of application' - the form, employer authorization for professional permits, proof of training, proof of identification, proof of residency, proof of lawful status, and the fee - with no mention of fingerprints. No official source affirmatively states that fingerprints are not required, and individual county sheriffs' intake practices were not surveyed.
No statute or rule sets a number of training HOURS for the nonprofessional permit, so hours is reported as unspecified rather than assigned a number, and Iowa Code § 724.9(5) forbids a sheriff from adding any. Iowa DPS states it 'does not have the ability to suggest one course over another, nor do we have the authority to maintain a list of qualified instructors' - hence instructorRegistryUrl is null. DPS does publish the list of approved certifying ORGANIZATIONS (NRA, USCCA, Concealed Coalition, T-M Firearms Training) at https://dps.iowa.gov/permit-training-requirements, with links to those private organizations' own instructor directories.
Two official DPS statements about delivery time conflict. The current Form WP5 says 'Once approved, permits take 4-6 weeks to arrive in the mail'; the DPS FAQ still says the permit 'is printed and mailed within the same week' once uploaded to the print contractor. I report the 4-6 weeks because the form is the newer document (edition of 1 July 2026), but the two were not reconciled by any source, and DPS publishes no processing-time statistics. Only the 30-day statutory decision deadline under § 724.11(4), with failure to act deemed an approval, is firm.
County practice was not surveyed. Fees, the 30-day decision deadline and the training rules are statewide statute and cannot vary by county, and § 724.9(5) bars a sheriff from adding training requirements, but intake mechanics do vary: DPS says 'Several Iowa Sheriff's Office are using an online version of the application form' and advises applicants to check their own sheriff's office for hours, office location, accepted payment methods and actual turnaround. I did not sample any of the 99 sheriffs' offices.
Iowa Admin. Code 661 ch. 91 has not been updated for 2026 Iowa Acts, ch. 1077. The chapter published in the current 09/16/2026 Iowa Administrative Code still carries the rule-text date 'IAC 2/5/25' and does not mention the General Assembly, Judicial Officer or Attorney General permit categories that took effect 1 July 2026, even though the DPS Form WP5 already implements them. A rulemaking is presumably coming; until it lands, the statute and the form - not the rules - describe those permits.
The home-manufacture conclusion rests on the ABSENCE of any Iowa provision plus the preemption statute (§ 724.28), not on an affirmative statutory authorization. I verified this by full-text searching the official Iowa Code 2026 chapter 724 PDF for 'manufactur', 'serial number', 'unfinished', 'receiver', and 'homemade'. A relevant provision could sit outside chapter 724 in a chapter I did not search exhaustively. Federal law (the NFA, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and (r), the Undetectable Firearms Act, ATF Rule 2021R-05F) independently governs and was not analyzed.
The official Iowa Code 2026 edition I quoted was generated 13 December 2025 and therefore does not itself incorporate any 2026-session act, and the Iowa Code 2027 edition is not yet published (its chapter listing renders empty). I covered that gap with the Legislative Services Agency's 'Code & Acts Sections Amended - 2026 Report', which shows § 724.6 as the only chapter 724 section amended in the 2026 session, and with the Iowa Acts Chapters index for the 91st G.A. LSA describes both as provisional listings whose official version appears in the printed 2026 Iowa Acts, so a late correction to either is conceivable.