According to this KCRG report, Sheriff Brian Gardner gives his "knowledgeable" opinion of the new permit law that will go into effect January 1st:
“We’re going from having some standards, while different, to having no standards whatsoever,” said Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner.Close, but not quite. There were (still are) 99 standards in Iowa because each sheriff could come up with his/her own criteria and restrictions. That was one of the reasons behind the new law.
“It’s not the concept of the “shall issue” it’s the lack of training session, it’s the lack of discretion from sheriffs whatsoever,” said Gardner.Bull.
There is a training requirement for issuing and for renewals. Just ask Bea about the new law. She completed a class conducted by the Washington County Sheriff's department in preparation for the upcoming law. (I guess someone in the Washington County actually read the new law (SF2379).)
There are also provisions in the new law that allows a sheriff's discretion. The only difference is that they will now have to list the reasons - and they need to be valid reasons. Not "because we don't like you."
So what's Gardner's solution? Local ordinances.
There is a state code that bans those in this case, but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't pass something and then the courts end up deciding.
You know, the final and best arbiters of our Constitutional rights.
West Burlington is facing a lawsuit from the NRA over their bans, and now Ottumwa is considering a ban, but from the comments on this article, Ottumwa may be backing down. But consider the anti-gun comments from Ottumwa's police chief, Jim Clark:
“It is expected that a large number of people will be acquiring concealed weapon permits in Wapello County, including a number of people who should not be allowed to do so."I guess Chief Clark knows who should and shouldn't be "allowed" to have a firearm.
There's always that "I support the Second Amendment, but..." moment:
Sheriff Gardner says he’s not against giving out gun permits. This year, he’s only denied 35 permits and approved more than 1,300. Gardner says he asked every legislator to revise the law before it goes into effect on January 1st.This reiterates my opinion that when you take power away from someone, they will always try to take it back.
Many other sheriff's around the state don't like the new law and from what I've found, only two actually supported it. Here's a few who don't like SF2379.
These LEO's don't think people should be "allowed" to have a firearm or have to justify themselves to carry one. That's how much they think of the citizenry.
