Sheriff's don't like the new carry law

Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said Iowa sheriffs know people in their counties who have histories of bad behavior, even if they've never been convicted of crimes that would disqualify them.

"We know individuals who may have an assaultive [sic] or abusive relationship in their family," Fitzgerald said. "Just because an individual has never been convicted in court doesn't mean this abusive relationship doesn't exist."

Culver signs law to unify gun permits, but sheriffs dubious

Either this guy is being disingenuous or he hasn't read the law (which should disqualify him for the office of sheriff). The law states that a applicant can be denied if the sheriff thinks they might commit a crime in the future or are a danger to themselves or others. (Section 724.8 paragraph 3 - SF2379)

And this is where I think a lot of denials will be placed and possibly upheld on appeal. "The sheriff thinks you might be a danger."

"Now if we deny somebody, for whatever reason, we have to give a detailed explanation," he said. "If someone doesn't know they're under investigation, I'm going to have to grant the permit."

He has a valid point here, I believe. But then he throws out this:

If sheriffs write an invalid reason just to stall the gun permit, "we'll lose in the appeal and the person will get the firearm anyway," Fitzgerald said.

So this sheriff implies that he would act in a dubious manner to deny someone a permit. In one amendment to this bill, penalties would have been enacted against this guy if he tried that, but it failed.

Iowans no longer need to justify why they feel the need to carry a weapon that could be used with deadly force, Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens said.

"Instead of 'Why do you need it?' It's 'Why can't I have it?' " Martens said.

Currently in some counties stating a "personal protection" need would be a disqualifier, while in others, would get you right in. Uniformity in the law is a good thing.

But it all falls back to asking permission and then qualifying for a right.