60K Iowans Get Concealed Weapon Permits

(Auction Arms News)

DES MOINES, Iowa -- More than 60,000 people have taken advantage of Iowa's concealed weapons law since the law was changed last year making it easier for people to secure a permit.

At the beginning of 2011, more than 39,000 Iowans had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said those numbers had climbed to nearly 100,000 by the end of 2011, an increase of 154 percent.

The Legislature last made it easier for people to get a concealed weapons permit but changing language in the law that read "may issue" to "shall issue," and restricting the reasons a county sheriff can deny permit.