Iowa Law Controversy: Gun Permits For The Blind

Iowa Law Controversy: Gun Permits For The Blind

ABC NEWS: An Iowa law allowing the legally or completely blind to acquire permits to carry guns in public has stirred up debate as to whether or not the visually impaired should have “full access” to firearms.

In 2010, Iowa became a “shall-issue” state when the legislature amended a law to create a uniform procedure for issuing gun permits statewide. As a result, Iowa residents could get a gun permit so long as they did not have a criminal background or history of mental illness, Wethington said.

While applicants need to take a firearm safety course to obtain a permit, it is available online and does not need to include hands-on firearms training, which “makes it a little difficult,” LeClere said.

Still, advocates for the blind say the law squares away with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that the same restrictions that apply to sighted people should also apply to the blind when it

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