How many concealed carry gun permits have been issued in Winneshiek County?

When the Iowa Legislature was meeting in 2011 to discuss passing changes to Iowa's gun registration law, sheriffs from 77 of Iowa's 99 counties met at the State Capitol to ask legislators not to make changes.

But the legislature passed a law stating that when an Iowan applied for a permit to conceal carry a gun, the sheriffs "shall" issue a permit.  The new law got rid of most restrictions on who can purchase a gun permit, leaving only exceptions for those with a felony criminal record or a mental illness.

Winneshiek County Sheriff Lee Bohr says there were just under 100 Winneshiek County residents who had concealed carry gun permits before the law was changed.

Now there are 1,400.

However, Bohr says the sharp jump in the number of firearms permits from 2011 to 2014 hasn't changed the way his department responds to incidents.  That's because sheriff's deputies have already been trained to approach every situation as if it could become dangerous.  Bohr says a police offer's response should always be the same, whatever the gun laws.

However, he predicts that if any shooting accidents occur in Iowa and lead to a public reexamination of gun laws, the pendulum may swing back to making it harder to apply for a gun permit.