Iowa Will Now Grant Gun Permits To People Who Are Legally Or Completely Blind
(USA Today) 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. On one side: People such as Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington, who demonstrated for The Des Moines Register how blind people can be taught to shoot guns. And Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, who says blocking visually impaired people from the right to obtain weapon permits would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. That federal law generally prohibits different treatment based on disabilities On the other side: People such as Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos, who said he wouldn’t issue a permit to someone who is blind. And Patrick Clancy, superintendent of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, who says guns may be a rare exception to his philosophy that blind people can participate fully in life.
Sure. Why the fuck not. You wanna get nuts? Come on, let’s get nuts. And no, that’s not an article from The Onion. That’s a real thing. My great state in the middle of the map is handing out gun permits to the Blind Mikes of the world. Letting them run wild. And not just the Blind Mikes either who are simply legally blind. We’re gonna have people walking around here strapped who are completely blind. I give it three weeks before I catch a hot one in the neck at the gas station from some blind guy mad about lottery tickets. There’s a lot of bad ways to die but I think taking a bullet from a blind guy is at least in the top 10. I don’t understand how governments or legislation or laws work. I’m a guy who sits in his boxers all day and stares at the internet hoping a story will land in my lap. But I feel like if somebody, anybody, raised their hand and said, “Hey we probably shouldn’t let blind people carry guns” they would get support. Lots of it. Let common sense prevail. Maybe that’s discrimination against people with disabilities. Who the hell knows. But hear this, when I get shot by a blind person I’m gonna be pissed.
Open invite to Blind Mike to come to Iowa, hang out and shoot some shit.