What a great idea!

Iowa is granting gun permits to people who are legally blind.

Seriously.

From  CBS News:

Iowa law enforcement officials are debating the wisdom of granting gun permits to blind people.

The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa law doesn’t allow sheriffs to deny a permit to carry a gun in public based on physical ability.

Some sheriffs have been granting gun permits to people with visual impairments while others have been denying them. Blind people and other Iowans can obtain the permits for carrying a weapon in public because of changes to state law that took effect in 2011.

Jane Hudson with Disability Rights Iowa said keeping legally blind people from obtaining weapon permits would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Some other states, including Nebraska, require anyone applying for a gun permit to provide proof of their visual ability by supplying a driver’s license or doctor’s statement.

Hudson said she thinks someone could successfully challenge Nebraska’s vision restriction because federal law requires states to analyze a situation individually before denying a service.

“The fact that you can’t drive a car doesn’t mean you can’t go to a shooting range and see a target,” Hudson said.

Read more.

My favorite quote:

“When you shoot a gun, you take it out and point and shoot, and I don’t necessarily think eyesight is necessary,” said Michael Barber, a blind man interviewed by The Register at a gun store in Iowa last month.

Check out the original story in the Des Moines Register.