Sheriff: Iowa's Gun Permit Issuing 'Convoluted'

When Iowa's law on gun permits changed in 2011, it became a lot easier to legally own a firearm, according to Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson, even if the applicant has issues like mental illness or lack of proper training.

That's when Iowa became a "shall-issue" state, meaning the discretion to deny a gun permit is greatly restricted.

Speaking at a community discussion on gun control at the Cedar Falls Public Library March 26, Thompson said in the past, there were about five sheriffs in Iowa that made it very difficult to get a gun permit, and the 2011 law was meant to reign that in. However, he thinks the law had a lot of negative effects along with its intended effect.

"One of the most dramatic things that impacted us was the ability to research mental health," he said.

He said under the law and due in part to privacy laws, he can only research someone's mental health background through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). However, Thompson said many states do not report mental health records to NICS, or do so inadequately, meaning many people fall through the cracks. Iowa did not report mental health records to NICS until 2011, and because of the cost did not convert older records. So anyone who was adjudicated mentally ill in the state before 2011 won't be flagged.

Another issue he sees is what the law will accept as training.

For example, an online course based out of Maryland that covers such things as cleaning and storing a gun but not how to safely handle one and requires no actual handling of a weapon to pass, is considered acceptable. Thompson would know, since he once tried to deny a permit to someone with only that training. The man appealed the denial and won.

"At that point, the law was very, very clear to me that, write it on a cocktail napkin, training doesn't really matter," Thompson said. "Training means nothing when you can do it online, start a power point, go make a sandwich and come back and print your certificate."

All this doesn't mean he doesn't believe in the right to gun ownership.

"For those that say Black Hawk County is a dangerous place, certainly we understand that. You have the right to protect yourself and your family," he said.

He would like to see the law adjusted to take into account the lessons he and other law enforcement officers have learned.

"There are some flaws, there are some problems with the law as it stands today, based on the incompleteness of this fledgling law," he said. "Issuance today has become so much more convoluted. That’s not me complaining. That’s me stating the fact."