Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office is asking for an additional $3,000 to do more frequent weapon permit checks

Winneshiek County Supervisors are being asked to approve an additional $3,000 in funding to bring about yearly weapon permit checks.  Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx says there's a five-year term to weapon permits once they have been issued, but state law allows background checks to be performed every 12 months.  Such a schedule would result in discovering any cases in which the permit holder had become ineligible.

The leading cause for someone losing their right to carry a weapon is that they have been convicted of a crime.  Law enforcement officers wouldn't necessarily learn of a conviction—especially if it occurred out of state.  Marx says changing to a 12-month schedule of background checks would do a better job of finding out about such cases.

County supervisors have not yet made a decision on the request.