I received this very nice message from Jeff Burkett in response to my post which he linked below. One thing I wondered is, did he misunderstand my reference to needing the car comparisons? That was about the alcohol issue, which has been a hot topic around here lately.
Do these gun activists in Iowa, and our other commenters for that matter condone drinking while carrying a gun? Is it to be presumed that excess would be avoided, or is that also acceptable as long as you don't drive? What about at home, is there no limit to the amount of alcohol consumption a gun owner can enjoy? Is it always left up to his own common sense?
About the may issue / shall issue question, isn't the local sheriff in a unique position to determine this in the many cases in which, just for example, juvenile offenders coming of age haven't yet been branded with felonies but have demonstrated true irresponsibility. And what about those folks who are dangerously unstable but have not yet been committed to an asylum? Aren't these the reasons for giving the local cops that power?
These are my idea, which are well known. Here's Jeff's message in its entirety, which I appreciated very much for its reasonable tone.
This article in the Chicago Tribune was not completely clear. Does it mean all Iowans who have a concealed carry permit will now be issued another permit for open carry? Is that a change in the law?
There is a change in the law to Iowa's Permit to Carry (not CCW permit). Effective Jan. 1st, 2011, Iowa transitions from a May Issue state, with Sheriff's having full autonomy over the permit system, to a Shall Issue state where there is one law for the land (Iowa), period. And the law isn't based on Sheriff discretion. ISSDA has been on a media blitz to raise awareness because they want to move restrictions into place that they feel should be in place. Hence, the media, in an effort to fear-monger, is tripping over themselves to get information out in a relatively poor manner.
At any rate, to directly address the question, it is really, really poor journalism that you've discovered. There is not permit for a permit. Basically, as described previously, we simply go from May Issue to Shall Issue, and the only real major change to the law is that Sherrif's can not place restrictions on permits. Iowans have been able to Open Carry for decades, they've been able to drink alcohol while carrying for decades...so long as the Sheriff didn't restrict so on their individual permit. Under current law there are thousands of permits not restricted on these two items already.
Where are all the car comparisons when we need them? What could these people possibly be thinking?
What, in my opinion, had really paved the road for Shall Issue to pass were a few things:
1. Iowa Carry, and other pro-gun organizations in the past really got a head of steam rolling to change what was clearly a broken mess of 99 counties with 99 ways of permitting.
2. NRA started backing these organizations efforts.
3. In fairness, the Democrat majority leader in the Senate has historically been fairly pro-gun.
4. Democrats have been taking a lot of heat in recent years, as recent elections in Iowa have demonstrated. This was an opportunity for them to appeal to people on a conservative issue, and frankly it was the right thing to do which made it easy, Sheriff's shouldn't be allowed to individually permit people based on personal opinion. So, the only people Democrats would really irritate over this were two groups; a. A handful of Sheriff's and, b. A minority of anti-gun advocates that all vote straight-ticket Democrat anyway.
So, in summary, I don't think it is really anything to do with Iowa as it relates to other states, although it's a very fair observation that often states to somewhat mirror each other on legislation.
Just my take on it, as a Iowa Carry/Iowa Firearms Coalition member, volunteer.
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Jeff Burkett
VP of Public Relations
Iowa Firearms Coalition
www.iowafirearmscoalition.org
515.994.0330
