Christ in a teapot, this is beyond stupid. Iowa is allowing legally blind people to carry guns in public. Yes, that is correct.
This is bats*** crazy. Blind people packing heat and blazing away on the street. Absolutely bugf*** insane.
From the Des Moines register:
Private gun ownership — even hunting — by visually impaired Iowans is nothing new. But the practice of visually impaired residents legally carrying firearms in public became widely possible thanks to gun permit changes that took effect in Iowa in 2011.
“It seems a little strange, but the way the law reads, we can’t deny them (a permit) just based on that one thing,” said Sgt. Jana Abens, a spokeswoman for the Polk County sheriff’s office, referring to a visual disability.
Polk County officials say they’ve issued weapons permits to at least three people who can’t legally drive and were unable to read the application forms or had difficulty doing so because of visual impairments.”
People, please: this is where the NRA and gun nuttery in general have gone. To a very strange place indeed, where not just convicted felons and the mentally ill must have guns (yes, they think that); but now, blind people who cannot see what they are shooting at must have guns, too. If there is a dumber, crazier, and just generally jackass idea out there than this one, it will be surprising.
Guns for people who cannot see. Good God.
Mr. Blunt and Cranky
bluntandcranky 
“Legally blind” doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is profoundly blind. It’s a tax code term. Robb really is a dingbat.
Granted, but there are no provisions in the law spelling out which visual impairments are or are not disqualifiers. I have friends who are legally blind, and some could possibly shoot. At least one couldn’t, however. The law should call it out.
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A shooting proficiency requirement would remove that uncertainty. If the person can distinguish between a target and a non-target, and hit the target reliably, there is no problem. I don’t care if they do it by echo location.
No problem here with that reasoning. But there needs to be some set of criteria establishing the ability. Right now, the law lacks it.
Echolocation, now that would be useful for lots of things. At least, my shins think so sometimes when I run into things in darkened rooms.
Maybe a set of metrics or an objective shooting proficiency test would be a good idea. I don’t have any disagreement with that idea, but because I live in a different state I don’t have a dog in that fight.
Because the state doesn’t have either at the moment, it’s up to legally blind people to judge for themselves whether or not it’s appropriate for them to get permits to carry weapons. Being visually impaired doesn’t mean that a person has impaired judgement.
There are many people who elect not to carry because of their own temperament, or because of physical limitations other than visual impairment, that in their judgement makes a concealed weapon inappropriate.
Sometimes we have to trust people to be the best judges of what they should and should not do. I know that makes some people uncomfortable, but it’s a reality that all of us live with whether we think about it or not.