While Iowa gun enthusiasts are celebrating a landmark liberalization in state law, Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner and some colleagues are bracing for it.

“The general public is going to freak out when they see people walking down the street with guns strapped to their hip,” Gardner said.

Gardner's concern is one of several he has with the bill that made Iowa a “shall-issue” state, where anyone without a felony on their record may get a permit to carry weapons in public. He said the bill to change the law, signed in the spring by Gov. Chet Culver and effective Jan. 1, reaches beyond the question of an individual sheriff's authority to decide who may carry a gun in public.

“This whole thing's open to too much interpretation,” Gardner said.

The Iowa Firearms Coalition, whose members lobbied for the changes, won't support sheriffs' efforts to tweak the law in this winter's legislative session, said President Sean McClanahan of West Des Moines.

“I think that's safe to say,” said McClanahan. “We're going to one of the better shall-issue laws in the country.”

Iowa's current law says sheriffs “may issue” permits, leaving them discretion to deny a permit. Some sheriffs adopted their own shall-issue policy, issuing permits to any applicant without a felony, domestic-violence conviction or other disqualifier under federal law.

Gardner himself adopted a shall-issue policy after making it a campaign issue in his run for the office two years ago. Last year, his office approved 1,209 non-professional permits, compared with 439 in the last year Don Zeller was sheriff.

“I'm OK with shall-issue. That's not what I'm about,” Gardner said. “What I'm about is, there are now some public-safety concerns that have to be cleaned up.”

Gardner and other sheriffs supported efforts to set a common statewide training standard for those seeking a carry permit. The new law calls for permits to be issued to anyone completing “any handgun safety training course available to the general public” offered by law enforcement, community colleges or other public or private agencies.

That's too much leeway for Gardner and for Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. There are currently 408 non-professional permit holders in Johnson County.

“Any law enforcement officer has to qualify twice a year,” said Pulkrabek. “Why wouldn't we want any Joe Resident out there that's going to carry a gun to be competent? Instead of 99 different ways (of training), you now have 1,000 or 2,000.”

Gardner is especially vexed the law won't require applicants to fire a weapon.

“There is no standard system for training whatsoever,” he said. “It doesn't say you have to ever grab ahold of a handgun and shoot it.”

Linn County applicants currently must pass a four-hour classroom course, including instruction on Iowa's laws regarding the use of deadly force, followed by a session in which they must fire at least 10 rounds at a target.

Gardner, who carried that policy over from predecessor Zeller, said it's possible applicants could qualify for a permit under the new law with an online course. “You don't even have to meet your instructor,” he said.

McClanahan said a training requirement would run afoul of gun owners' Second Amendment rights.

“We certainly encourage anybody to get as much training as they can possibly afford, but because this is a constitutional right, we would not support mandating this training,” he said.

Firearms instructor Tom Nichols compared the new law to issuing a driver's license without behind-the-wheel testing.

“You've got to be competent, and typically competency comes with training,” said Nichols, of Anamosa. “With the old rule, as far as I know, everyone in the state had to show competency. If that truly gets taken away, I'd find that odd.”

Although present law doesn't ban the practice of openly carrying holstered weapons, most sheriffs required permit holders to carry theirs concealed under clothing. McClanahan doesn't expect that to be an issue, but the sheriffs do.

“I don't believe you're going to see waves of people walking around with their firearms,” he said. “Most of us prefer to carry concealed.”

While permits are rendered invalid under the new law if the bearer is drunk or on drugs, there's no provision spelling out enforcement.

“There's no mechanism to allow law enforcement to check if someone is intoxicated,” said Pulkrabek.

McClanahan said because intoxication invalidates the carry permit, “that would be carrying a firearm without a valid permit. If you tend to make it a habit, the sheriff would pull your permit at some point.”

The Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association is trying to mobilize members to lobby for changes this winter, but Pulkrabek and Gardner are skeptical.

“We screamed for changes (last session), and it literally fell on deaf ears,” Gardner said.

“I don't know, honestly, if we'll get some changes,” Pulkrabek said. “It's not like the (sheriffs and deputies association) brings a lot of money to the table.”