Jerry Dunbar, Washington County sheriff and president of the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association, said of the finding, "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. They intimidate to get what they want." The sheriff is right. As much as any criminal, sex offenders are intimidators -- and allowing them to carry a gun just gives them another tool with which to intimidate (and poses a substantial risk for those who might try to rescue one of their victims).
One sex offender (on the sex offender registry for an indecent exposure in 2005) with a concealed carry permit told the newspaper that he posed no danger to the public and only used his guns for hunting. But concealed carry permits are not issued for hunting rifles (since they cannot be concealed on your person). He has a permit to carry a handgun. What is he hunting with a handgun -- human victims? The only thing a handgun is good for is to intimidate or kill humans at close range.
This is just crazy. Sex offenders (and domestic abuse misdemeanor offenders) should never have a concealed carry permit. In fact, in my opinion, they should not be allowed to even own any kind of firearm -- because the sex offenders are likely to offend again (and the gun makes that easier) and the domestic abusers are the most likely to injure or kill a member of their own family with a gun.
It's time for some reasonable gun restrictions in this country. Guns may not kill people, but they certainly make it much easier for criminals and other dangerous people to injure or kill other people. It's time to ignore the NRA (which has just become a lobby for gun manufacturers) and pass some reasonable laws to make it more difficult for dangerous people to buy or carry a firearm -- and that includes ALL sex offenders.
The trouble with the sex offender lists, is that a child abbuser, or a stanger on stranger rapist is in the same catagory as he said, she said thing. Or a 17 year old caught with a 15 year old. The first two should never walk the streets again. Banning guns for the last two would be an injustice.
ReplyDeleteIn the 70s, when my brother was in the army, he was arrested for streaking a football game off base. He was in Maryland at the time. He went to court, paid the fine and thought that was the end of it. Last month he applied for a concealed carry permit in Nevada. When they did a background check they uncovered his 1973 arrest, denied his application, told him he had to sell all his guns and register as a sex offender.
ReplyDeleteHe has no other incidences or arrests. So, I'm thinking that some registered sex offenders are a result of zero tolerance laws. The Nevada law was only put into place a few years back so it is being used retroactively to punish people who really aren't sex offenders but who were stupid young adults.
I've hired an attorney for him to try to get this straightened out but for now his life is a mess. I'm wondering how many other people are registered sex offenders who were just stupid at some point in their lives.
Just sayin.
Terry
This is what you get when dealing with the mentality that gun rights supersede everything.
ReplyDeleteNote to Jack and TK-
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with both of you, but you are talking about a different issue. The issue of who should be on sex offender lists, and whether sex offenders should be allowed to have guns, are different and separate issues. If there are those who should not be on sex offender lists (and I agree that there are some), that will not be fixed by allowing sex offenders to own guns and carry concealed weapons.