Here's the most recent tally, courtest of jdege.
There are 37 shall issue and 2 unrestricted, Vermont and Alaska. There are 2 no issue and 9 may issue.
Here's the most recent tally, courtest of jdege.
There are 37 shall issue and 2 unrestricted, Vermont and Alaska. There are 2 no issue and 9 may issue.
The NRA considers Alabama, Connecticut, and Iowa to be in a fourth catagory - “reasonable discretionary”. That is jurisdictions in which the law is written so as to give the issuing authorities discretion, but in which that discretion is used in a responsible manner.
First - all of the so-called “may issue states” grant some discretion to the issuing authority. The MN law allows sheriffs to deny, if they have evidence that the individual might pose a risk. The sheriff can look at a record of DUIs, of various police complaints, etc., and make the judgement that the individual will not be granted a permit. The difference, as I see it, between reasonable discretion and arbitrary discretion, is whether the issuing authority is basing its decision on evidence about the individual.
But in any case, the dividing line between the two is not as clear-cut as it sometimes sounds.
I think the NRA’s is a fair description of Alabama and Connecticut. On Iowa, they’re simply wrong. In Iowa, permits are issued by the county sheriffs, and many sheriffs issue in a reasonable manner. Some refuse to issue at all. Which makes Iowa no different that California.