Public Carry Gun Permit for the Blind? No Problem in Iowa.

In Iowa, a blind person can get a gun license and even a permit to carry that gun in public.  County licensing agents report that they have issued public carry permits to persons who could not legally drive a car and who could not see to fill out the application form.   No one is legally challenging the issuing of public carry permits to the blind.  Iowa state law does not permit their sheriffs to deny a person the right to carry a weapon based solely on physical ability.  Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa claims that to deny a gun license to a blind person would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

what eye thynk:  Look, I'm all for giving the other guy a fair chance. I'm for wheelchair ramps, automatic doors in public buildings and assistance to visually or audibly impaired people in the classroom and in life.  I'll write a nasty note and leave it on the windshield of a car without a handicapped permit  when I see one in a specially marked parking space.  I am open to changes in my daily life that make things easier for those who don't have the luxury of my physical capabilities.  But, really, there has got to be a point when common sense comes into play. 

Other states require those applying for gun permits to prove proficiency by taking a field test to demonstrate they can hit a target.  Some states require a vision test.  To date, there have been no challenges to the Americans with Disabilities Act that would prohibit these requirements.

I did some more looking into the issue of guns and the blind when I first read about Iowa and found that there are skeet shooting clubs for the blind where they use specially designed clays that give off a sound that the blind shooter uses to track his target. That makes sense to me and I admire that this can be done.  

A gun permit for the blind so they can participate in shooting sports specially designed for them? Absolutely.  But giving a person who cannot see well enough to get a drivers license or to fill out a paper application a license to carry a loaded gun into a public place is a tragic error just waiting to happen.

What next, blind airline pilots trying to land a plane by listening to a pinging runway?  Public accommodations for the physically handicapped?  Yes! But not at the cost of public safety.  Once more: common sense, Iowa, common sense.