Odd that alcohol addiction is listed as a reason for denial, but not any other drugs, legal or illegal.
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/d...-for-disaster/
Opponents say new gun permit law ‘formula for disaster’
Blog post by Jason Clayworth • jclayworth@dmreg.com • March 29, 2010
A bill yanking the ability of Iowa sheriffs from having nearly unlimited authority to deny permits to carry a gun was approved this afternoon by the House.
Advocates say the law would standardize the permit process in all of Iowa’s 99 counties.
But opponents aggressively argued that the law would make Iowa less safe.
One of the key pieces of debate today centered around the issue of reciprocity. Iowa’s public safety commissioner would have compared laws in other states with Iowa’s before that state’s gun permits would be recognized in Iowa. The commissioner would have been in charge of obtaining agreements with each state that meet or exceed Iowa’s concealed weapons laws.
But instead, under a provision approved by the Senate, valid permits issued to nonresidents by other states would be valid in Iowa without the commissioner’s review.
Opponents argued that laws in other states may be so weak that virtually any person – regardless of their possible criminal histories – could be eligible to carry a gun.
“It should not be up to those states, it should be up to us to determine if their standards were as good as ours,” said Rep. Mary Mascher, later adding that “this kind of reciprocity, I think, is a formula for disaster.”
Iowa would go from a “may issue” state to a “shall issue” state, where sheriffs could deny a permit for only a limited number of reasons under the Bill, Senate File 2379.
Gun advocates have long said the standardization creates fairness.
“This bill is a first step forward toward restoring true constitutional rights to carry a weapon,” said Rep. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull.
Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, argued that the ability of sheriffs to deny permits on a wide variety of reasons is sensible. Local sheriff officials may be aware, for example, if a local residents is involved in domestic abuse but has escaped charges because the other spouse my refuse to come forward.
Hunter argued that overprotective sheriff officials who wrongly deny gun permits is rare and, if a problem, voters can oust that sheriff.
“Iowa has a good law on the books right now,” Hunter said.
The House approved minor changes to clarify language in the bill. The bill passed in an 81 to 16 vote. The Senate, in turn, approved of the changes and passed the bill in a 38 to 4 vote. The bill now heads to the governor.
Here is some highlights of the bill:
REASONS FOR DENIAL: Alcohol addiction; documentation of past actions that leads the sheriff to believe a person is likely to use a weapon unlawfully or negligently; misdemeanor assault convictions within the prior three years; federal possession disqualifiers.
AGE LIMITS: Professional permits, for Iowans who need to carry a gun for their job, could not be issued to anyone under 18. And no one under 21 could get a nonprofessional permit.
FEE: The $10 fee for a new permit would go up to $50, and the $5 renewal fee would go to $25.
EXPIRATION: Permits, good for one year now, would be valid for five years.
TRAINING: Training would be required for a new permit, and in order to renew a permit.
PUBLIC RECORDS: Gun permit records are public now and would remain that way.
HANDGUNS: Sheriffs could no longer restrict a permit for a concealed weapon to a handgun only, or impose any other limits.
MAKE AND MODEL: Sheriffs could not require an applicant to identify the make, model and serial number of his or her gun on the permit. This issue is not addressed in current law.
RECOGNITION: Out-of-state residents with a valid permit in their home state could carry in Iowa.
APPEALS: Currently, Iowans must fight a sheriff’s permit denial in district court. Under the proposal, they could also appeal to an administrative law judge.
Originally Posted by angelatc
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