The People of Iowa Repudiate Their Right to Live

The Cedar Rapids Gazette
Jan. 31

CEDAR RAPIDS —
For reasons ranging from personal security to “because I want to and I can,”
the number of Iowans with licenses to carry concealed weapons
increased 154 percent during the first year of relaxed laws
governing their issuance.

Dennis Rosekrans, 63, of rural Cedar Rapids — one of more than 60,000
Iowans who’ve secured licenses in the year since Iowa went from
a “may issue” to a “shall issue” state — said the main reason he
obtained one is that the Legislature made it easier to do.

Rosekrans said the law change enabled him legally to act upon his
long-held interest in taking responsibility for his and his family’s defense.
Melissa Halserty, 43, and Kelly Kellner, 41, friends and neighbors in
southwest Cedar Rapids, say concern about safety and security in their homes
inspired them to seek licenses to carry handguns.

“We’ve had three recent home invasions in our neighborhood, and
my husband has been after me to learn how to protect myself,” Halserty said.
“It’s not the worst neighborhood in town, but it’s not the best, either,” said Kellner,
whose husband often works an overnight shift. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

At the beginning of 2011, 39,397 Iowans had licenses to carry concealed weapons,
secured during an era in which county sheriffs had considerable
discretion over their issuance.
At the end of 2011, with the sheriffs’ discretion largely nullified by the law,
that number had climbed to 99,932, with more 2011 licenses still trickling into
the state database, said Sam Knowles, bureau chief of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
That surge [micro-mini surge] — during which the percentage of Iowans with licenses to carry increased
from 1.3 percent to 3.3 percent — has been “a bit of a phenomenon,” Knowles said. [Phenomenally tiny;
in other words, 96.7% of the citizens of Iowa
show NO INTEREST in surviving the predatory violence of man or beast.]

“Just the widespread general awareness that it is available led a lot of people to think about [obtaining licenses],
but in the end, I couldn’t tell you why” the response has been so dramatic, he said.
“Honestly, I was not surprised at the increase,” said Jeff Burkett, president of the Iowa Firearms Coalition,
which lobbies and advocates for the right to keep and bear arms.
“I fully expected [the number of Iowa license holders] to reach 100,000 by the end of last year.”

In Linn County, where the number of licenses increased 183 percent — from 1,871 to 5,298 — during 2011,
Sheriff Brian Gardner said widespread publicity surrounding the law change was the biggest factor.
“People found out how easy it was to get one and took advantage,” Gardner said.
Many Iowans “got licenses just because they can,” said Lonny Pulkrabek, sheriff of Johnson County,
which registered more than a fourfold increase in carry licenses — from 552 to 2,270 — during the past year.
Pulkrabek and other informed observers say many of the license holders have no intention
of ever carrying their weapons in public. [Every motorist shud have a good spare tire, but LEAVE IT HOME.]

Halserty and Kellner, who were practicing their marksmanship Saturday
at the Izaak Walton League indoor shooting range in Cedar Rapids,
said they fall into that category.
“I just want to feel more competent that I could handle a dangerous confrontation
if one ever occurred,” Halserty said. [That 's Y she wants to leave her gun at home.]

Pulkrabek, a critic of the law, said Johnson County issued 381 licenses last year to people
with criminal records that did not include felony convictions or other disqualifiers specified in the law.
“I probably would have denied a good portion of them if I still had discretion,” he said. [Only the FINEST,
most perfect citizens have a right to live, thinks he.]

Knowles at the Department of Public Safety said he had heard of only a few untoward incidents
involving people with licenses to carry, mainly drunken driving arrests
of people carrying weapons.

Pulkrabek and Gardner said they still worry about the law’s lack
of a requirement that applicants demonstrate proficiency with a
weapon before being granted a license.

So does Bob Godlove, a 20-year handgun instructor at the Izaak Walton
League in Cedar Rapids, which for many years conducted all the
training classes, including range qualification, for Linn and
Johnson County weapons license applicants.
The league, which trained 300 applicants in 2011, still requires
range qualification before training certificates are signed.
“I was in favor of the ‘shall issue’ law, but I am not at all in
favor of giving a license to anyone who steps up and wants one,” Godlove said. [In other words: equality is bad.]

“I just want to feel more competent that I could handle a
dangerous confrontation if one ever occurred,” Halserty said.

Pulkrabek, a critic of the law, said Johnson County issued 381 licenses
last year to people with criminal records that did not include
felony convictions or other disqualifies specified in the law.
“I probably would have denied a good portion of them if I still had discretion,”
he said. [He thinks equality of the right to live is bad. ]

Knowles at the Department of Public Safety said he had heard of
only a few untoward incidents involving people with licenses to carry,
mainly drunken driving arrests of people carrying weapons.

Pulkrabek and Gardner said they still worry about the law’s lack
of a requirement that applicants demonstrate proficiency with a weapon
before being granted a license.

So does Bob Godlove, a 20-year handgun instructor at the Izaak
Walton League in Cedar Rapids, which for many years conducted
all the training classes, including range qualification, for Linn
and Johnson County weapons license applicants.

The league, which trained 300 applicants in 2011, still requires
range qualification before training certificates are signed.
“I was in favor of the ‘shall issue’ law, but I am not at all in favor
of giving a license to anyone who steps up and wants one,” Godlove said.

[All emfasis and and all red colored textual intercalations were added by David.]