Signed
http://gazetteonline.com/local-news...bill-making-iowa-shall-issue-gun-permit-state
Culver signs bill making Iowa “shall issue” gun permit state
Posted on Apr 29, 2010 by Rod Boshart.
DES MOINES – Gov. Chet Culver today signed legislation that will make Iowa a “shall issue” state when it comes to county sheriffs issuing permits to acquire or carry a concealed weapon.
“This bill strikes an appropriate balance” between citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms and the need for law enforcement officers to maintain public safety, Culver said.
Under Senate File 2379, county sheriffs would lose much of their discretion in denying concealed weapons permits.
The bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2011, would create uniform standards in all 99 counties for issuing permits to carry a concealed weapon in public. It will require sheriffs to issue a permit to carry firearms to all applicants unless they are subject to certain specific disqualifiers.
Under current law, sheriffs can issue or deny permits. There standards vary with some issuing permits to nearly everyone who applies and some denying nearly all applications. Nearly 35,000 Iowans have concealed carry permits, according to lawmakers.
Chris Rager, an Iowa lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, said today’s action signifies the first time in nearly a century that a major step has been taken to enhance the right-to-carry freedoms of Iowans. He said the NRA-backed legislation will allow law-abiding Iowans the right to carry without being subject to the subjective discretion of individual sheriffs, changing Iowa from a “may-Issue” state to a one of 38 “shall-Issue” U.S. states.
Under the bill, Iowans who need to carry a gun for their job could get a permit starting at 18. Otherwise, applicants would have to be 21 to get a non-professional permit. Permits could be denied for alcohol addiction or probable cause based on documentation of past actions that an applicant might use a weapon in a way to endanger himself, others or the public safety. Anyone convicted of misdemeanor assault within the prior three years could be denied a permit. Several other federal and state disqualifiers apply.
The permit fee would increase from $10 to $50 for five years with a $25 renewal fee. Although training would be required to obtain a permit, permit holders could qualify on a firing range to renew their permits.
In addition, this legislation will increase the term of a permit from one year to five years; narrow the disqualifying circumstances for a permit to the federal minimum in most cases, while at the same time further narrowing state-specific disqualifiers; prevent the issuing officer from placing limits on or restricting the scope of a carry permit; ensure that denials, suspensions and revocations of permits would be subject to both administrative and judicial review; grant recognition to all valid out-of-state permits; broaden the types of training that would fulfill the state-mandated training requirement for permit applicants; and remove other over-reaching restrictions on gun owners in Iowa, according to the NRA.
“This is a truly big day,” said Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, a retired state trooper who has been working on the issue for 12 years. He called standardization of 99 sets of rules a “fairness issue.”
