Iowa grants gun permits to the blind - Poll

Okay, I have to ask: where do you stand on this and why?

[url=http://www.usatoday.co:3vktsnok]Iowa grants gun permits to the blind [/url]
No one questions the legality of the permits, but some officials worry about public safety.
Jason Clayworth, The Des Moines Register
September 8, 2013

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Here's some news that has law enforcement officials and lawmakers scratching their heads:

Iowa is granting permits to acquire or carry guns in public to people who are legally or completely blind.

No one questions the legality of the permits. State law does not allow sheriffs to deny an Iowan the right to carry a weapon based on physical ability.

The quandary centers squarely on public safety. Advocates for the disabled and Iowa law enforcement officers disagree over whether it's a good idea for visually disabled Iowans to have weapons.

Private gun ownership — even hunting — by visually impaired Iowans is nothing new. But the practice of visually impaired residents legally carrying firearms in public became widely possible thanks to gun permit changes that took effect in Iowa in 2011.

"May be subject to more danger" is key. How many blind or visually impaired people have been attacked versus non-impaired? Is it a similar or higher percentage? Of those times that they were attacked, would a gun have helped them or not?

Does the increased safety risk justify the increased defense capability? This has nothing to do with "liberal" vs "conservative" - this is about safety vs the right to carry in public only - not own or not own.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I'm guessing that that data is available somewhere. Regardless, this law applies specifically and only to public carry, so the increased safety risk comes only if a gun is actually used by a visually impaired person in an unsafe manner in public. I don't see that as being a huge issue, but concerning for many nonetheless.

That blind people would be permitted to carry in public is yet another question - how would a blind person safely shoot a target in a crowd of people? Assuming they are not in a crowd, and only confronted by a single perpetrator on a street, for example - is it really effective for a blind person to carry a gun as a deterrent, or would that be inviting trouble? Is it a risk that many blind people would take in taking a shot in public?

I just don't know. That's why I presented this as a poll because I am truly curious as to what you all thought.