GunsIowa sex offenders allowed to keep guns

A law enacted two years ago has made it possible for more than fifty sex offenders in Iowa to apply for gun permits.

The Des Moines Register reports that  law enforcement officials and lawmakers in the state have expressed their concern about sex offenders being allowed to carry weapons.

Two years ago a law was changed to make it harder for sheriffs to use their discretion when rejecting gun permit applications. Before the law was changed in 2011, gun applications sent in by sex offenders were denied because the person was an offender.

Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, the head of the State Sheriff’s Association, says that putting guns in the hands of sex offenders could lead to problems because they tend to use intimidation to get what they want, and a gun would only make things easier for them.

“My concern of a sex offender having a gun is they try to typically rule in a bullish way to influence people — and just the presence of a gun on a hip could be a threat to get people to cooperate,” Dunbar told the Register.

Maia Christopher, the executive director for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, says that just because someone is a sex offender does not mean they are a dangerous criminal.

“There’s no blanket way of stating that sex offenders are more dangerous than everybody else,” Christopher said.

Rob Burdess, a Newton, Iowa police detective, said he is not sure whether sex offenders should be allowed to carry guns because other people with felonies or domestic abuse convictions are denied.

“If they’re on the sex offender registry, they’re already a safety concern in one aspect,” Burdess said. “Who’s to say they’re not a safety concern with weapons? They’ve already shown propensity to be sexually violent, so the escalation can be the use of weapons.”

State lawmakers are divided on the issue and whether the law needs to be changed.

Representative Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) believes the ban on people with felony convictions is enough, but Representative Bob Kressig (D-Cedar Falls) wants the issues to be examined.

“I wasn’t aware that sex offenders would be given permits,” Kressig told the Register. “This is definitely a concern.”

Steve Conlon, the deputy unit chief of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit’s Evil Minds Research Museum, who previously ran the state’s sex offender registry, said he would discuss the issue with other law enforcement officials in the state.

“I’ve never even heard of anybody looking into this arena,” Conlon said. “You’re in some unchartered grounds.”

Nebraska, Missouri, and Wisconsin have similar laws that do not restrict sex offenders from obtaining gun permits.