Iowa Grants Gun Permits To The Blind

[Tennesseer]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Here's some news that has law enforcement officials and lawmakers scratching their heads:Iowa is granting permits to acquire or carry guns in public to people who are legally or completely blind.

No one questions the legality of the permits. State law does not allow sheriffs to deny an Iowan the right to carry a weapon based on physical ability.

The quandary centers squarely on public safety. Advocates for the disabled and Iowa law enforcement officers disagree over whether it's a good idea for visually disabled Iowans to have weapons.

On one side: People such as Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington, who demonstrated for The Des Moines Register how blind people can be taught to shoot guns. And Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, who says blocking visually impaired people from the right to obtain weapon permits would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. That federal law generally prohibits different treatment based on disabilities.

On the other side: People such as Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos, who said he wouldn't issue a permit to someone who is blind. And Patrick Clancy, superintendent of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, who says guns may be a rare exception to his philosophy that blind people can participate fully in life.

Private gun ownership — even hunting — by visually impaired Iowans is nothing new. But the practice of visually impaired residents legally carrying firearms in public became widely possible thanks to gun permit changes that took effect in Iowa in 2011

"It seems a little strange, but the way the law reads we can't deny them (a permit) just based on that one thing," said Sgt. Jana Abens, a spokeswoman for the Polk County Sheriff's Department, referring to a visual disability.

More:  Iowa Grants Gun Permits To The Blind

What are your thoughts on this.

[workpublic]

obviously, Justice is Blind.

my take? it's stupid. a lot of my "stances" are based on common sense.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

The idea of my great aunt walking around with a loaded gun makes me want to invest in a bullet proof vest.

[Deleted]

One of my favorite David Sedaris stories discusses, among other things, states in which the blind may legally hunt... 

6-8 Black Black Men... awesome story. He reads it live. 

[jkapp]

Well what are the odds they'd actually hit you if they shot it?

But considering how many blind idiots I see driving their cars everyday, I don't see this as the biggest threat to our health...if granny is allowed to drive the car of which she can't even see over the dashboard, then I don't see how allowing her to carry a magnum at the same time makes it any more or less dangerous.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

if granny is allowed to drive the car of which she can't even see over the dashboard, then I don't see how allowing her to carry a magnum at the same time makes it any more or less dangerous

Now she can shoot you after running you over while mistaking the gas pedeal for the break?

[EVT1]

How ridiculous- next up- permits for quadriplegics. 

[Virgil Showlion]

Iowa is granting permits to acquire or carry guns in public to people who are legally or completely blind.

One doesn't always acquire or carry a gun in public because he intends on firing it.

I'd bet that most of the time a typical firearm appears "in public", it's being transported, purchased, sold or shown off. And I'd also bet that firearms, when fired by a blind person, are exclusively fired at firing ranges and other controlled venues. It doesn't make sense that a blind man would own a gun to go hunting with it. It would be useless. He wants to collect it and have fun with it. And if the staff at firing ranges are willing to let him shoot there, I have no problem with it. Sight isn't required to keep a gun pointed downrange, if the firing ranges I've visited are anything to go by.

I'm not sure what you'd shoot at, but maybe it's just for the feel of it and so you can hang out with the guys.

Maybe if somebody can come up with "accidental shootings by blind people" as a statistic?

ETA: If it makes people nervous, why not add a caveat to the permit that states the gun can't be loaded while in public and in the possession of the blind individual. That makes more sense as a safety precaution.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

I'm curious why a state would ever presume a "gun permit" is permissible?

[Deleted]

Gun permit = WELL REGULATED 

[EVT1]

Sept 9, 2013 19:04:28 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

I'm curious why a state would ever presume a "gun permit" is permissible?

Public safety.  Even your favorite amendment has limits.  If you want to be a part of a civilized society then you play by the rules society sets.  You can use your other rights to complain about it all you like or vote for someone that sees things the way you do.

[AGB]

Sept 9, 2013 11:34:47 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

The idea of my great aunt walking around with a loaded gun makes me want to invest in a bullet proof vest.

Why?

[mtman]

Gun permits have nothing to do with safety......Their purpose is so the friggin government can ding you for a few dollars.

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2013 20:50:58 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Sept 9, 2013 19:04:28 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

I'm curious why a state would ever presume a "gun permit" is permissible?

Public safety.  Even your favorite amendment has limits.  If you want to be a part of a civilized society then you play by the rules society sets.  You can use your other rights to complain about it all you like or vote for someone that sees things the way you do.

When the so called "civilized society" eliminates crime and criminals,  I will destroy all my self defense type weapons. Until then, someone approaching me with criminal intent might be doing the last thing that person does.