New Gun Law Widens Permit Holders’ Rights

Under Iowa’s new weapons permit law — starting in 2011 — a person with a permit could openly walk down Central Avenue with a shotgun slung in a holster across his back.

Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo, explaining the changes to Iowa’s permit laws, said such a situation would be legal, but not likely.

As of Jan. 1, people with permits can carry visible guns in public, Van Otterloo said.

Before this, the law allowed Iowa sheriffs to put restrictions on nonprofessional permits to carry weapons.

Those could include restrictions like being valid for concealed carry only or valid for handguns only or not valid while using or consuming alcohol or illegal drugs, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.-[source]