Push in Iowa to eliminate handgun permits [View All]

Monday's U.S. Supreme Court decision casting doubt on Chicago's ban on handguns will provide momentum to efforts in Iowa to repeal requirements for obtaining annual pistol and revolver permits, gun advocates and some supporters in the Legislature said.

Permit proponents, including the president of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association, say a repeal would jeopardize public safety. Iowa law requires anyone who purchases a pistol or revolver to obtain a permit or face misdemeanor criminal charges.

Advocates of abolishing gun permit requirements insist that doing so would more closely follow the intent of the U.S. Constitution.

"That's where we want to get to — where you can exercise your constitutional rights to keep and bear arms without having to go through a check and balance of your local authorities," said Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, whose family owns a gun shop. "The Constitution doesn't dictate you have to do that. That's someone else's interpretation, and I think it's an unjust interpretation."


http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100629/NEWS/100629006/Iowa-s-handgun-permit-opponents-applaud-Supreme-Court-ruling