(a) It shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly carry on the person or have within the person's immediate control a firearm while engaged in the commission of a separate misdemeanor offense, whether the firearm was loaded or not, and whether operable or not; provided that a person shall not be prosecuted under this section when the separate offense is an offense otherwise defined by this chapter or is the offense of criminally negligent storage of a firearm under section 707-714.5.
(b) A conviction and sentence under this section shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any conviction and sentence for the separate misdemeanor; provided that the sentence imposed under this section may run concurrently or consecutively with the sentence for the separate misdemeanor.
(c) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a class C felony.
(d) For the purposes of this section, "misdemeanor" does not include a petty misdemeanor.