Some Iowa sex offenders receive gun permits

DES MOINES (AP) ? More than 50 Iowa sex offenders have permits to carry guns in public thanks to a two-year-old law that makes it harder for sheriffs to deny permits.

The Des Moines Register reports law enforcement officials and some state lawmakers are worried about armed sex offenders.

Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, who leads the state sheriffs' association, said he worries about sex offenders having guns because many of them use intimidation to get what they want and a gun could help that.

"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 said.

Most of the sex offenders who have obtained gun permits in Iowa were convicted of misdemeanors such as lascivious conduct with a minor.

A law changed two years ago makes it harder for sheriffs to use discretion to reject applications for permits to carry weapons. Before 2011, many gun permit applications from sex offenders were denied by sheriffs because the applicant was a sex offender.

Maia Christopher, executive director of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, said it doesn't make sense to prohibit all sex offenders from owning guns.

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

Ronald Hahn Jr. said he doesn't pose a threat to public safety and he uses guns for hunting. He has been a registered sex offender since 2005 for an indecent exposure conviction.

"My offense happened seven or eight years ago and it has nothing to do with weapons, so why should I be denied the ability to purchase a gun?" said Hahn, 51.

Rob Burdess, a Newton police detective and the president of the Iowa State Police Association, said he's not sure sex offenders should be allowed to have gun permits when 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 appear divided over whether the weapons permit law needs to be changed to prohibit permits for sex offenders.

Republican Rep. Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley said he thinks the ban on people with felony convictions getting permits addresses most of the concern.

"If their local sheriff does not have probable cause to restrict that person under current law from being able to obtain a permit, then that's the situation at hand," said Windschitl, who has backed several pro-gun bills.

But Democratic Rep. Bob Kressig of Cedar Falls said he thinks the issue should be examined.

"I wasn't aware that sex offenders would be given permits," Kressig said. "This is definitely a concern."