Mike
Site Co-Founder
BREAKING NEWS!
It was just reported that Fort Madison voted unanimously NO to a second reading of their local "No Firearms Ordinance." This essentially kills the proposed ordinance for now! Hats off to the large number of pro-gun supporters who were at the meeting, and congrats to the Fort Madison City Council for doing the right thing.
NEW LAW UPDATE
After two full days of the “new law” being in effect, here is a bit of a compendium of what's been happing across the state. Keep in mind that this information is being reported to us from folks out in the community. We're only able to report back what's been told to us.
For the most part, everything is going relatively smoothly. Most counties are working fine, getting through the applications, and even some are processing the permits the same day as the application is made, letting the applicant walk out the door with a permit in hand.
Unfortunately, there are other counties where applicants are not so lucky.
In Dubuque County, applicants are still being limited (rationed) to 25 per day. If you are number 26 in line, you will have to come back another day to make your application. We understand and can sympathize somewhat with the amount of pent up demand in Dubuque County, due to former Sheriff Runde's draconian policies, there is still no provision in the law for putting a cap on the number of applications accepted on any given day.
In Polk and Buena Vista Counties, applicants are being charged an extra $5 for their permits, with no “paper or plastic” option being given. We were somewhat OK with an extra fee being tacked on for plastic, IF the applicant was able to get a paper permit for the state mandated fee of $50 (or $25 for a renewal) – but technically, even that is wrong. However, simply tacking on the extra fee “because I say so” is not OK under any circumstance, and is illegal. (Polk County issues a plastic permit, while Buena Vista issues a paper permit.) Kossuth County may be doing the same thing, but we are in need of better information about that.
Carroll County is reportedly charging $10 extra for a plastic card, but not offering a paper option for the state mandated fee.
Greene County is asking for fingerprints from applicants. This is illegal. Fingerprints are not allowed to be collected for the purpose of issuing a permit.
Woodbury County is reportedly telling everyone that they cannot do a renewals unless the applicant is six weeks away from their expiration date. This is wrong. You can go for a renewal at any time. However, once challenged, the staff relents and accepts the application anyway.
Two counties are actually doing it right, and then some. Their Sheriffs deserve a huge thank you from the citizens there.
Decatur County - issuing plastic permits, at no extra cost to the applicant. The way it should be.
Sac County- realized that they had an error in how they were doing things, and with very little prompting, fixed their process and will be issuing refunds to everyone who overpaid.
Overall, the process is going very well, statewide. We figured there would be some bumps in the road, and we're continuing to watch everything unfold. I would encourage everyone to check out the thread on our forums we have set up to report on the process in each county. If your county is not yet listed there, help us out and make a post about your experience.
MEDIA COVERAGE
I was on WHO radio with Jan Mickelson yesterday, and was interviewed by WHO-TV and WOI-TV this evening. The show with Jan covered a lot of topics, and the primary focus was on answering questions about the new law from as many callers as we could get to.
WHO-TV's interview focused on the Huxley Chief of Police advising business owners in town to post “No Weapons Allowed” (NWA) signs, while WOI-TV's interview focused on the general topic of businesses and the posting of NWA signs. The TV interviews should be aired tonight at 10 PM (with WHO-TV's interview also being shown at 9 PM on KDSM-TV's news show).
Overall, two important points remain the same:
1 – Nothing in the law today is any different than a week ago, at least in regards to carrying a weapon. Open or concealed, long gun or pistol... Iowa has a Permit to Carry Weapons. The ONLY difference between today and last week was Sheriff's discretion. With that removed, a Sheriff cannot revoke a permit for carrying openly, or carrying a long gun.
2 – Businesses are certainly well within their rights to post an NWA sign. Likewise, gun owners are well within their rights to take their business somewhere else, and leave a “Merchant Education Card” behind as they leave. Regardless, an NWA sign still does NOT carry the force of law in Iowa! You must be asked to leave the business, refuse to do so, and have law enforcement involved before you can be charged with trespassing.
Sean
This list, and the contents herein, are the property of the Iowa Firearms Coalition. The content of this list may be reproduced at any time, provided IFC is properly listed as the source.
Be sure to visit our website! http://www.iowafc.org
It was just reported that Fort Madison voted unanimously NO to a second reading of their local "No Firearms Ordinance." This essentially kills the proposed ordinance for now! Hats off to the large number of pro-gun supporters who were at the meeting, and congrats to the Fort Madison City Council for doing the right thing.
NEW LAW UPDATE
After two full days of the “new law” being in effect, here is a bit of a compendium of what's been happing across the state. Keep in mind that this information is being reported to us from folks out in the community. We're only able to report back what's been told to us.
For the most part, everything is going relatively smoothly. Most counties are working fine, getting through the applications, and even some are processing the permits the same day as the application is made, letting the applicant walk out the door with a permit in hand.
Unfortunately, there are other counties where applicants are not so lucky.
In Dubuque County, applicants are still being limited (rationed) to 25 per day. If you are number 26 in line, you will have to come back another day to make your application. We understand and can sympathize somewhat with the amount of pent up demand in Dubuque County, due to former Sheriff Runde's draconian policies, there is still no provision in the law for putting a cap on the number of applications accepted on any given day.
In Polk and Buena Vista Counties, applicants are being charged an extra $5 for their permits, with no “paper or plastic” option being given. We were somewhat OK with an extra fee being tacked on for plastic, IF the applicant was able to get a paper permit for the state mandated fee of $50 (or $25 for a renewal) – but technically, even that is wrong. However, simply tacking on the extra fee “because I say so” is not OK under any circumstance, and is illegal. (Polk County issues a plastic permit, while Buena Vista issues a paper permit.) Kossuth County may be doing the same thing, but we are in need of better information about that.
Carroll County is reportedly charging $10 extra for a plastic card, but not offering a paper option for the state mandated fee.
Greene County is asking for fingerprints from applicants. This is illegal. Fingerprints are not allowed to be collected for the purpose of issuing a permit.
Woodbury County is reportedly telling everyone that they cannot do a renewals unless the applicant is six weeks away from their expiration date. This is wrong. You can go for a renewal at any time. However, once challenged, the staff relents and accepts the application anyway.
Two counties are actually doing it right, and then some. Their Sheriffs deserve a huge thank you from the citizens there.
Decatur County - issuing plastic permits, at no extra cost to the applicant. The way it should be.
Sac County- realized that they had an error in how they were doing things, and with very little prompting, fixed their process and will be issuing refunds to everyone who overpaid.
Overall, the process is going very well, statewide. We figured there would be some bumps in the road, and we're continuing to watch everything unfold. I would encourage everyone to check out the thread on our forums we have set up to report on the process in each county. If your county is not yet listed there, help us out and make a post about your experience.
MEDIA COVERAGE
I was on WHO radio with Jan Mickelson yesterday, and was interviewed by WHO-TV and WOI-TV this evening. The show with Jan covered a lot of topics, and the primary focus was on answering questions about the new law from as many callers as we could get to.
WHO-TV's interview focused on the Huxley Chief of Police advising business owners in town to post “No Weapons Allowed” (NWA) signs, while WOI-TV's interview focused on the general topic of businesses and the posting of NWA signs. The TV interviews should be aired tonight at 10 PM (with WHO-TV's interview also being shown at 9 PM on KDSM-TV's news show).
Overall, two important points remain the same:
1 – Nothing in the law today is any different than a week ago, at least in regards to carrying a weapon. Open or concealed, long gun or pistol... Iowa has a Permit to Carry Weapons. The ONLY difference between today and last week was Sheriff's discretion. With that removed, a Sheriff cannot revoke a permit for carrying openly, or carrying a long gun.
2 – Businesses are certainly well within their rights to post an NWA sign. Likewise, gun owners are well within their rights to take their business somewhere else, and leave a “Merchant Education Card” behind as they leave. Regardless, an NWA sign still does NOT carry the force of law in Iowa! You must be asked to leave the business, refuse to do so, and have law enforcement involved before you can be charged with trespassing.
Sean
This list, and the contents herein, are the property of the Iowa Firearms Coalition. The content of this list may be reproduced at any time, provided IFC is properly listed as the source.
Be sure to visit our website! http://www.iowafc.org