Iowa has 99 counties, and according to Iowa law, the county sheriff decides who may or may not have a concealed carry license. There are literally 99 different concealed carry policies in Iowa, and there are many counties where a law abiding citizen is not allowed the means to protect him/herself.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette recently published lists of concealed carry permits issued by several Iowa counties in December of 2009, and it makes for some interesting reading. The Gazette published the names of permit holders in eight counties; there were 253 new and renewed concealed carry permits in those counties, with only 14 permits going to women. The Washington County Sheriff issued 91 permits in December with 3 permits going to women. Jones County issued the most permits (6) to women, with a total for December of 41. Iowa County was the least discriminatory toward the fairer sex, issuing NO permits for men or women. Linn County and Johnson County showed the worst bias against women; Linn with 1 out of 60, and Johnson with 0 out of 49.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette has performed a great service to muggers, rapists, and other criminals who are looking for safe victims by publishing the names of permit holders rather than just the statistics. The reporter who put this report together should "Man Up" and print the names of Gazette employees who don't carry in order to further protect potential muggers and miscreants. If the Gazette is really concerned about the citizens to whom they sell newspapers, they would be doing some investigative reporting to discover just what the agenda is of each sheriff who issues permits almost exclusively to men.
UPDATE: Iowa's Governor Culver signed a Shall Issue law which passed the Iowa legislature in 2010. It comes into effect in January, 2011. Go Here to read the new law, then make an appointment for your carry class. Some county sheriffs are more enthusiastic about it than others. Washington County Sheriff Dunbar is trying to get ahead of increased need for carry classes; Kudos to him!
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3 comments:
Several years ago the Iowa Newspaper Association sued the state and counties to allow them to publish concealed carry permit holders. (These are considered public record and you can go to the courthouse and ask to see if your neighbor has one) All this in the name of "public safety" pphhhtt
One instance caused a positive. In Des Moines county the sheriff at that time publicly stated no carry permits would be issued. The Burlington Hawkeye published the names those who had permits in the county and revealed that only friends and family of the sheriff had permits (about 20-30 if I recall correctly). The sheriff was booted out in the next election.
This one good event does not sway my opinion that these names should not be published. Why give the criminal class a location for their next break-in while you're on vacation?
So rather liberal Iowa discriminates against women! Interesting. They'd rather let men have protection than weaker women. IOW, they'd rather women were raped than men were robbed.
If you read the local news for Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (Johnson and Linn Counties) regularly, you will see that criminals from the Chicago area come over on I-80 to target restaurant and bar patrons in muggings. They know that these people are generally as defenseless as Illinois Citizens, then the perps can run for the border on the interstate. On a more positive note, there is a good chance that new legislation is going to allow concealed carry for Iowa citizens this year. Mom is already looking at holsters, and .45's that she might pack.
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