So, the Des Moines Register capped off four days of
investigative reporting today with an editorial that caught my eyes for what it admitted, and two things it pointed out as gaps in the state’s 2011 concealed-carry weapons law.  With 148,000 applications processed since the law took effect two years ago, the Register’s editorial copped to the fact that, even if some lawmakers wanted to, this bell is most likely not going to be un-rung.  I give kudos to the paper for moving to the next step of offering suggestions on how to make the law work better going forward.

If we have a state-wide database of drivers licenses and car
registrations that law enforcement officer can access, why not the same for those who have gun permits—especially if that permit allows the person holding it to keep that handgun hidden?  I guess I want local cops, deputies, and state troopers to have all the information they can get to keep them safe.  Also, just as cops use drivers’ license and registration information to nab people who have warrants against them, can’t that CCW database do the same thing?  Oh, and that database should be available to
the public.

To me, here’s the most striking thing the Register pointed out in its editorial.  The nice young woman who cuts my hair has to get 2,000 hours of experience before the state will give her a required license.  On a
five-day, 40-hour week it would take her A YEAR to get that experience—so the state can sign off on her ability to cut my hair.  When I was 16, I had to prove to the state in a written and field test that I could handle driving a car.   Know what it takes to get a gun permit in Iowa?  You need to past just one 30 minute class on gun care and safety.  Oh, and you can take that class on-line and meet the state’s requirement.  You know what you DON’T have to do to pass that class?  Fire a gun.  Not once. This means the state that’s issuing a gun permit has no idea if that freshly minted arms-bearer has the first clue how on how, or when (or not), to shoot.   Huh?

As the Register points out, until this state closes these gaps in its law, it will be hard for someone like me to take it at all seriously.