Guns in the Hands of Sex Offenders

More than 50 Iowa sex offenders have open-carry gun permits, thanks to a 2-year-old state law requiring any disapproving sheriff to demonstrate “probable cause” in advance that a sex offender will use a gun illegally in order to reject his application. Before that, a sheriff could use a sex offender’s previous felony conviction as sufficient cause. Said Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, “[J]ust the presence of a gun on a hip could be a threat to get [sex-crime victims] to cooperate.”