I have to admit — EB keeps me up-to-date on the bizarre things happening in our world. I’ve just about concluded that our world has gone insane and the only safe place for me is in inside a psychiatric hospital where I’d be surrounded by the few sane people left in the world.
Steve Jobs once pointed out that what scared him most was that the world was built by people just like him — and us. It was built by ordinary people and therefore we have what we have now – a world full of lunacy, idiotic laws, questionable leaders, governments out of control, etc. We’ve become a world of sheep being led astray by political cartoonists posing as world leaders — who prevaricate their way to the top then make decisions that leave us scratching our heads. But we, the sheep, blindly follow – maybe doing a little bah-bah-bahing to each other.
We have gun enthusiasts who want to put guns in the hands of elementary school children, and gun opponents who want to take guns away. We have people who believe in capital punishment and those who oppose it: The sanctity of life. We have those who oppose abortion and those who don’t: The sanctity of life. We have one billion Facebook users who are there because that’s where everyone else is – like a bunch of high school freshman who want to be in with the cool kids.
But this article, sent to me by EB this morning, really illuminates the fact that the world is now out of control and common sense is evaporating faster than the polar ice caps are melting.
Iowa grants gun permits to the blind
No one questions the legality of the permits, but some officials worry about public safety.by Jason Clayworth, The Des Moines Register Sept. 8, 2013 original
Cedar County (Iowa) Sheriff Warren Wethington has been teaching his daughter, Bethany, to use firearms. A brain tumor left Bethany, 18, partially blind, but he believes that once she becomes of legal age to purchase firearms, she should not be excluded from her second amendment rights.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Here’s some news that has law enforcement officials and lawmakers scratching their heads:
Iowa is granting permits to acquire or carry guns in public to people who are legally or completely blind.
No one questions the legality of the permits. State law does not allow sheriffs to deny an Iowan the right to carry a weapon based on physical ability.
The quandary centers squarely on public safety. Advocates for the disabled and Iowa law enforcement officers disagree over whether it’s a good idea for visually disabled Iowans to have weapons.
On one side: People such as Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington, who demonstrated for The Des Moines Register how blind people can be taught to shoot guns. And Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, who says blocking visually impaired people from the right to obtain weapon permits would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. That federal law generally prohibits different treatment based on disabilities
On the other side: People such as Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos, who said he wouldn’t issue a permit to someone who is blind. And Patrick Clancy, superintendent of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, who says guns may be a rare exception to his philosophy that blind people can participate fully in life.
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.
You can read the rest of this by clicking here.
What do you do with a gun? You shoot something. How do you know where to shoot? You LOOK.
Thank goodness I don’t live in Iowa.
Barb.
All I can say is ‘I’ll meet you at the Psychiatric hospital. It may very well be the safest place to be.
It’s going to get very crowded in that psychiatric hospital!!
It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so very deadly dangerous.
What next? Driver’s licences?
OMGosh, this is crazy! I agree with Peggy!
At age 80 I’ve lost count of the number of rounds I’ve fired off during my lifetime. But with every one, I knew what I was shooting at because I could see the target. How in the world does a blind person “see” the target? Can anyone answer that question for me?
Though it can at times be very difficult to foresee every angle of any given situation, it seems too many laws are made without the slightest thought to the consequences. So many laws are either way overly complex, or way to simplified. I have never owned a gun, but I wholly support our constitutional right to have them, and use them. And I can see in some situations that even a blind person has the right to defend themselves with a gun if necessary. Let’s level the playing field – and yes, we could throw in a billion different scenarios, but let’s make this simple. It’s the middle of the night, pitch black, and someone breaks into your home. Chances are the blind person with their heightened sense of hearing and smell can recognize if it’s someone they know or not before the sighted person can. A blind persons direction of hearing could very well pinpoint an intruder before a sighted person. Does this blind person have the right to defend themselves with a gun? In this situation I would think a sighted person has just as much chance of shooting an innocent as a blind person. No, I don’t support blind persons carrying a gun in public. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let’s make sensible laws.
I thought of blind people protecting themselves with guns and this is what I think — I think blind people have a more acute sense of hearing but I doubt there sense of smell is so sensitive they can tell the scent of a family member from ten or twenty feet away. What if the perpetrator comes in and throws something in the opposite direction from where he or she is. Isn’t the blind person going to start firing at the point from which the sound came? I don’t think guns in the hands of blind people is a good ides — they’re far more likely to end up being killed or injured if they are armed with guns. There are some really bad people in this world, but most wouldn’t shoot an unarmed blind person – do you think? But a gun in the hands of a blind person may well end up badly for the blind person…especially if the perp knows they’re blind and can deceive them by using their more acute hearing against them.
I’m afraid there is going to be some people hurt by some of these not so sensible gun laws being passed. This at the top is a perfect example. Other states may look at this to.
Wow. I’m wondering if the law allows them to pack ’em… I can kind of see in the scenario of a home invasion but what if you hit your own kin by mistake. Packing in the streets: I sure hope not. What a society we have become. Also, I would be curious who backed this law..
Melanie
It is not a law but no where in the constitution does it eliminate blind people from owning a gun. Many laws are made with emotions and not common sense but Iowa needs to clarify this one for sure . It is a constitutional right to bear arms, I used to think you was allowed to wear sleeveless shirts with out breaking the law but as I matured into a raging adult I found it meant to carry on your person a fire arm. It is amazing how we learn as we grow up . `(humor) for the humorless. I am glad it is not a constitutional law that would allow any one to drive or be a comedian. LOL
I was told by a policeman many years ago that if your home is invaded and you feel that life or bodily harm is threatened, and you make the choice of defending yourself with a gun, then you better have an accuate and sure aim and shoot to kill. (Assuming, of course, the lights are on and you can see what you’re shooting at) Otherwise, the invader will sue you and he/she could win in court. AND, if you do kill the intruder, you’ll probably get arrested and do time in the clink, anyway.
That assumes that one of your kids or another adult living in the house didn’t get caught in the crossfire.
That would have a significant bearing on your court case.
Either way, if you fire your gun beause of an intruder in your home, the ONLY sure thing is a lot of heartache, and a very expensive “court case”.
If you happen to be blind, have a gun permit, and use a gun in a similar situation, then what?
Now take into consideration the gun laws in your state. Some states require that your firearm must be locked up in a “secure” place, and your ammunition be locked up in a separate space. Now how in the heck could you get to your gun and then your bullets, load it in time to “defend” anything (blind or not)….especially if your gun safe is in the basement, and you and the intruder are somewhere else in the house.
There are as many scenarios and what-ifs as there are guns and people with licenses to own one. There are scenarios from people who live where bears and raccoons roam their forty acres, and scenarios from people who live where they don’t even see a blade of grass or a tree on a daily basis, and scenarios from people who live in the desert with cacti and snakes.
I don’t own a gun and don’t want to. But, I have shot a rifle many times when I visit a gun owner who lives near a remote sandbank where I can safely place a target or a line of tin cans to practice on, without even a remote possibility of accidentally hitting any living thing or disturbing the peace.
There haven’t been any “reasonable and common sense” gun laws since the Sheriff of Dodge City required all guns to be checked in at the Sheriff’s Office until they left town.
I’ll keep my can of hairspray or mace where I can reach them no matter where I am. All I need to check out is which one “shoots the furthest”, keep practicing on my aim, exit options, running speed, and hope I never have to rely on either one of them in the dark.
By the way, the 2nd Amendment doesn’t even mention the word “gun” or “weapon”. I interpret the word “arms” to mean whatever I choose to “defend” myself and my property with. Common sense choices used to the best of my abilities, based on the circumstances and opportunities at hand….I can dial 911, climb out a window or use my hairspray or slingshot with utmost confidence and ability…so can a blind person.
Why not let the blind own guns we have many blind and deaf politicians holding office that really mess things up royally. LOL its true we sure do.
When growing up as a small child I always thought it meant you could keep your arms and no one could take your arms away from you , they are a handy place to keep your fingers and hands.