Iowa gun permits for the blind is the topic of interest among Iowa law enforcement officials as of late, ABC News reported Monday.
According to the Des Moines Register, the Iowa law does not prohibit sheriffs from providing permits to blind people for them to legally carry a gun in public despite their physical limitation.
USA Today reported that no one actually questions the permits since the state law changes that took effect in 2011 provides provision for the blind to carry a weapon in public.
However, while many sheriffs readily grant gun permits to people with visual impairments there are some law enforcement officials, who deny blind Iowans of the said permit.
Jane Hudson with Disability Rights Iowa commented on the issue saying that denying any blind Iowan of weapon permits would definitely violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Meanwhile, other states such as Nebraska require gun permit applicants to provide credible evidence of their visual ability through a doctor's permit or a driver's license.
On the other hand, Hudson claimed that someone could challenge Nebraska's vision restriction since the federal law requires states to analyze the situation for every applicant prior to providing or denying them of a service.
"The fact that you can't drive a car doesn't mean you can't go to a shooting range and see a target," Hudson maintained.
Sheriffs in Jasper, Delaware, and Kossuth counties shared that they have granter gun permits to Iowans with severe visual impairments while Polk County officials said that they have issued weapons permits to people who can't legally drive due to vision problems at least three times.
"It seems a little strange, but the way the law reads, we can't deny them (a permit) just based on that one thing," Spokeswoman for Polk County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jana Abens said.
Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington claimed that blind people can be taught to shoot guns similar to people without visual problems.
Wethington shared that his blind 19-year-old daughter is also applying for a weapons permit.
"If sheriffs spent more time trying to keep guns out of criminals' hands and not people with disabilities, their time would be more productive," he said.
Nevertheless, Delaware County Sheriff John LeClere and other advocates against the Iowa gun permits for the blind continue to question the idea of providing weapons to the visually-impaired.
"At what point do vision problems have a detrimental effect to fire a firearm? If you see nothing but a blurry mass in front of you, then I would say you probably shouldn't be shooting something," LeClere said.
Superintendent of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School Patrick Clancy also maintained that guns may be a rare exception to his philosophy.
"Although people who are blind can participate fully in nearly all life's experiences, there are some things, like the operation of a weapon, that may very well be an exception," Clancy said.
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