Mike
Site Co-Founder
imported post
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OpenCarry.org Press Release - February 17th, 2008
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Iowa legislature must not tolerate Sheriffs’ whining over concealed handgun permit reform
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As everybody knows, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
That’s why 37 states issue concealed handgun permits on a “shall issue” basis – meaning you either qualify, or you don’t based upon objective criteria.[1] Vermont and Alaska do not even require a permit to carry concealed handguns!
Iowa now stands alone among our nation’s heartland states in allowing Sheriffs to arbitrarily deny concealed handgun permits to citizens.[2] Yet now we hear that “[t]here was an outcry at the statehouse Wednesday from county sheriffs objecting to a bill they say would make it harder for them to deny permits to carry concealed weapons.”[3]
Dubuque county Sheriff Kenneth Runde argues that Sheriffs need the discretionary power to deny permits to otherwise qualified applicants on unproven allegations that the individual is a domestic abuser.[4]
Sorry, Sheriff, but that dog won’t hunt.
Under current Iowa and federal law, unconvicted domestic abusers may still lawfully own handguns, keep them at home, transport them in vehicles, and carry them openly on foot in unincorporated areas of Iowa. As such, lack of a permit to conceal is not any hindrance to an abusers use of a gun in domestic crime. But a Sheriff’s arbitrary denial of a concealed carry permit to a potential law abiding spousal victim could be a death sentence.
And let’s face it – if you believe that gun carry is a constitutional right, then discretionary licensing of that right is unconstitutional.[5]
Therefore, OpenCarry.org calls on the Iowa legislature to pass “shall issue” concealed carry permit reform this year
And if the Sherriff’s can’t get over the loss of their current arbitrary powers, then the legislature should follow the lead of many states turn the whole permit system over to the State Police.
Mike Stollenwerk
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Contact anytime on gun stories:
Mike Stollenwerk/John Pierce
[url]http://www.OpenCarry.org[/url]
A national pro-gunInternet community with more than 3,970 registered membersNews media reports citing OpenCarry.org's perspective: [url]http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum63[/url]
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[1] State disqualifiers usually include felony convictions, mental health commitments, and certain other objective disqualifiers. See progression of “shall issue” reform across the states over time at http://www.gun-nuttery.com/rtc.php.
[2] Darwin Danielson, Sheriffs don't want to give up control of concealed gun permits[/i], RadioIowa.com, February 14, 2008, available at http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=18A2DB76-9E46-6F58-896E7F0ED16A5DFB.
[3] Id[/i].
[4] Id[/i].
[5] C.f. Cox v. Louisiana[/i], 379 U.S. 536 (1965) (holding that “t is clearly unconstitutional to enable a public official to determine which expressions of view will be permitted and which will not . . . by use of a statute providing a system of broad discretionary licensing power”).
************************************************************
OpenCarry.org Press Release - February 17th, 2008
************************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
************************************************************
Iowa legislature must not tolerate Sheriffs’ whining over concealed handgun permit reform
---------------------------------------------------------------------
As everybody knows, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
That’s why 37 states issue concealed handgun permits on a “shall issue” basis – meaning you either qualify, or you don’t based upon objective criteria.[1] Vermont and Alaska do not even require a permit to carry concealed handguns!
Iowa now stands alone among our nation’s heartland states in allowing Sheriffs to arbitrarily deny concealed handgun permits to citizens.[2] Yet now we hear that “[t]here was an outcry at the statehouse Wednesday from county sheriffs objecting to a bill they say would make it harder for them to deny permits to carry concealed weapons.”[3]
Dubuque county Sheriff Kenneth Runde argues that Sheriffs need the discretionary power to deny permits to otherwise qualified applicants on unproven allegations that the individual is a domestic abuser.[4]
Sorry, Sheriff, but that dog won’t hunt.
Under current Iowa and federal law, unconvicted domestic abusers may still lawfully own handguns, keep them at home, transport them in vehicles, and carry them openly on foot in unincorporated areas of Iowa. As such, lack of a permit to conceal is not any hindrance to an abusers use of a gun in domestic crime. But a Sheriff’s arbitrary denial of a concealed carry permit to a potential law abiding spousal victim could be a death sentence.
And let’s face it – if you believe that gun carry is a constitutional right, then discretionary licensing of that right is unconstitutional.[5]
Therefore, OpenCarry.org calls on the Iowa legislature to pass “shall issue” concealed carry permit reform this year
And if the Sherriff’s can’t get over the loss of their current arbitrary powers, then the legislature should follow the lead of many states turn the whole permit system over to the State Police.
Mike Stollenwerk
##########################
Contact anytime on gun stories:
Mike Stollenwerk/John Pierce
[url]http://www.OpenCarry.org[/url]
A national pro-gunInternet community with more than 3,970 registered membersNews media reports citing OpenCarry.org's perspective: [url]http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum63[/url]
##########################
[1] State disqualifiers usually include felony convictions, mental health commitments, and certain other objective disqualifiers. See progression of “shall issue” reform across the states over time at http://www.gun-nuttery.com/rtc.php.
[2] Darwin Danielson, Sheriffs don't want to give up control of concealed gun permits[/i], RadioIowa.com, February 14, 2008, available at http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=18A2DB76-9E46-6F58-896E7F0ED16A5DFB.
[3] Id[/i].
[4] Id[/i].
[5] C.f. Cox v. Louisiana[/i], 379 U.S. 536 (1965) (holding that “t is clearly unconstitutional to enable a public official to determine which expressions of view will be permitted and which will not . . . by use of a statute providing a system of broad discretionary licensing power”).
