(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court rules an antique muzzleloading rifle is a firearm under state law. Adam Rhodes bought a replica muzzleloader rifle and killed a deer with it in Des Moines County in 2021. The D-N-R investigated reports of the big deer being shot and found Rhodes had been convicted of third-degree burglary in 2004 and he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Rhodes appealed the charge saying the state should follow the federal law which does not classify muzzleloaders as firearms.

The Muzzleloader purchased by Rhodes.

The Iowa Supreme Court disagreed, saying the Iowa legislature declined to exempt antique firearms from the felon-in-possession law and the Court will not add an exception that the legislature chose to omit.