Iowa granting gun permits to the blind

[RED333]

I do not know what to think about this, on one hand rights are rights.

On the other, blind shooting, cant be good

 

 

Iowa is giving people who are blind permits that will allow them to purchase guns or to carry firearms in public, the Des Moines Register reports.

The permits are legal, as Iowa law does not deny anyone the right to carry a weapon based on physical disability.

But, the paper reports, the dilemma comes for law enforcement officials who are trying to ensure public safety.

Advocates for the disabled are split over the decision.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/08/iowa-granting-gun-permits-to-blind/#ixzz2eLBPBrSw

[TrickyNicky]

This is a tough one to be sure. Just for food for thought one can be considered legally blind and still have enough eyesight to identify a threat, at least in theory.

I'm really torn about this and it is something that has crossed my mind in the past. I'm going to say that rights are rights, maybe the NRA can work with a blind advocacy group to come up with a course? I know if I were kind I sure as hell wouldn't want my rights taken from me, on the other hand I doubt I would carry in public out of personal responsibility, but that is MY choice.

[TNcitizen22]

There is no way this is a good idea.

 

"Some insist blind people can be taught to use guns, and blocking any visually impaired person from obtaining a weapons permit would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act."

 

Well, no crap, but there is a difference in being able to mechanically operate a fairly simple device and acquire a target!  

 

This is lunacy.

[vontar]

Well, some how they have to pass the shooting test.  If in TN, they would have to hit so many in the correct area out of what 46 shots or so.

In my opinion they would need to be able to find and hit their target with out aid.  In TN that is various distances as well.

 

So I wonder how they would pass that step of the test.

[nightrunner]

I dont think they should give them a carry permit but no reason they shouldnt be able to buy one and go to the range.

[sigmtnman]

I've been amazed at what some blind folks can do.  It would not surprise me if they could memorize where to place the gun and hold it to hit the targets well enough to pass.  May take a good bit of shooting, but not unreasonable to think they have the ability.  It also seems reasonable that if attacked they could get a gut shot with something concealed.

[walton6467]

I know a man who is legally blind and who passed the TN HCP shooting test. He can't see well enough to get a driver's license, but he does have his HCP.

[R_Bert]

Very few limitations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AyRpdrJKmFI

Edited September 8, 2013 by R_Bert

[Dolomite_supafly]

I am for it. In Iowa they have to get permission to BUY a firearm. If a blind person is at home and hears someone in the house they should be able to defend themselves. I know I could keep my eyes closed, get to my gun and shoot in the direction of someone coming through my house that shouldn't be there. Not saying I will hit them but I would rather have the chance to hit them than be guaranteed to be a victim.

 

And as far as carrying one in public I am all for that as well. Imagine a blind man being grabbed and dragged into an alley or a blind women being raped. Both could easily hit their attacker because they are up close. Not all engagement are are far away, amtter of fact most are up close and personal.

 

I don't see blind people making a judgement and shooting at any distance beyonf point blank. They are not going to run around shooting wildly because they get a HCP and start carrying.

[Guest The Itis]

Time for seeing eye dog training to step it up a notch

[bersaguy]

Back several years ago I was given the learning experience of my life when I watched a friend of mine shoot. He was in training for United States Marshals Service .He wanted to be a U.S. Marshall more than life itself. He was a Marine Sniper before he sit his eyes on that. I went and watched him qualify. He amazed me for sure. This was a closed shooting course and the targets were in the form of human outlines. Each man testing was given 24 hours to learn the 7 different sounds that each target made when it stood up. One target was a woman with groceries in her arms, another one was a uniformed police officer. One was of a little boy with a toy gun and 4 were bad guys and each bad guy had a different sound then the next. My buddy Butch shot expert and killed all 4 bad guys and never shot any innocent person and folks he was blind folded. He had been practicing shooting at noises for over a year because he knew that passing the blind fold test meant you got the job or you didn't. He would have buddies come by and they would hide behind walls behind him and pull ropes on different sounding targets. He was so good he was scary. He even had special hearing aids made to make sure he heard every sound around him. Now with that said, In my past I have known several blind people. Some from birth and some from war and I often wondered how true it was about other senses making up for senses lost. I have seen a few of my old friends that lost their eyesight in war that I served with and one of them can hear a finishing nail drop on a carpet and tell you what piece of furniture it fell near in the room. I have little doubt he would miss an intruder in his home if he had to shoot one. Especially in a dark house when of course the blind person will have the full advantage. You can bet if I went to visit my buddy Phillip and I knew he had a gun I would not stand out side his door and call him on the phone and let him know it was me coming in your crazy. I know he could hit me at least twice before I hit the floor. Now with that said to allow a totally untrained person that has never been around a firearm and is blind to get a gun and a carry permit, That is a really scary thought for sure. Don't know that answer..............JMHO

[npgunner]

 They are not going to run around shooting wildly because they get a HCP and start carrying.

 

But according to the liberals ... this is what all of us do!!! A regular wild, wild, west shootout every day of the week!

[safeandsecure]

Don't mean to make light of this but the thread title made me think of "El Dorado," where John Wayne asks the gunsmith to help Mississippi, James Caan's character, find a weapon for a man who can't shoot.  He came up with a sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip.  The gunsmith said it had belonged to a fellow who couldn't see too good, so he just aimed at the sound.  A fight happened in a saloon, and the piano player was making so much noise that he couldn't hear the other guy, so he shot the piano player.

 

Wish I could have found a clip. 

[Oh Shoot]

I am for it. In Iowa they have to get permission to BUY a firearm. ...

 

Just a note: purchase permit needed for handgun only,  but a carry permit bypasses it, same as in NC.

 

- OS

[austin7.62]

This seems like a relatively bad idea!

[2.ooohhh]

"According to U.S. law, if a person's best eye has an acuity of 20/200 or worse and/or if their peripheral vision is less than 20 degrees, then that person is LEGALLY BLIND. This criteria is used to determine eligibility for driver's licenses, disability requirements, and eligibility for special services. So, legally, those whose best eye, with correction, can see at twenty feet what those with normal vision can see at 200 feet, or whose peripheral vision is less than 20 degrees, are legally blind. "

 

source

 

 

3 of the 4 blind people I'm acquainted with would be fine with a pistol in a self defense situation, all can see pretty dang well close up. None can legally drive but as I understand it from the one I know best it's because he can't focus on anything at a distance greater than 50 or so feet, and from my interactions with the others I would suspect that that they are about the same.

[Will H]

Hmmm...  I checked the 2A again and saw nothing about people that cannot see.  Bad idea or good idea does not matter.  They are Americans and have rights. 

[DaveS]

There's enough folks here on TGO who push second amendment rights, that I will say "a blind person has every right to carry a weapon". Here's the scoop; most SD shoots are at arms length or less. I see no problem with a blind person carrying a handgun.

 

DaveS

[tnguy]

Hmm. Be sure of your target and what's behind it

 

With that said, call me when there's a rash off innocents being gunned down by blind people attempting to defend themselves. Until then, this is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

[10-Ring]

My grandfather was blind for the last 6 years of his life due to injuries sustained in a car crash.  He talked about getting a permit but never did.  Dave S hit the nail on the head when he mentioned that many SD shootings take place at arms length.  Not to beat a dead horse but just imagine George Zimmerman, forget the circumstances leading up to the shooting, just imagine being blind and being held on the ground, no reason you could not effectively use a gun to neutralize the threat.  Blind people are already easy targets for criminals, we strip them of their right to use a gun and they become an even easier target.  While wrestling in high school and college I encountered several blind wrestlers, it was amazing what they could do and how their other senses heightened after not having another.  To say that blind people should not be allowed to defend themselves with a gun is taking a step backwards for all of us.

[bersaguy]

Like I said in my earlier post. I know some blind guys that I would not want to be shooting at me as long as they can hear me even breathing the least bit heavy............JMHO

[Randall53]

Well, this must be the same people that use the Braille keypads at the drive through tellers at my bank.