Liza
O’Connor provides a deeper analysis of Iowa’s gun laws.
As
an author of fiction, I tend to take reality and bend it for my
readers’ entertainment. In this case, I took Iowa’s vote to allow
blind people the right to carry a loaded weapon in public places and
had fun with it.
Only
a gun wasn’t going to work for me, because my character wished to
go hunting. Also Sam, the sheriff of my fictitious town, would have
never have given Leroy a permit to carry a gun. So I seized upon the
fact that no permit is required for hunting rifles in Iowa. You can
buy whatever and as many you want when it comes to ‘long’ guns.
Now to shoot deer or turkey, you do require a hunting license, but
that doesn’t concern Leroy. He wants to shoot pigeons
This
left only one issue. I needed him to hunt in a park that borders Main
Street. Since the town is fictitious, I had the park registered as
hunting grounds as long as hunters don’t aim towards the town. Most
towns in Iowa will not let hunters anywhere near their cities,
because not all hunters are good shots… or sober, for that matter.
But Denton is a very small town, population 2,154. And they have a
very fine bit of wilderness near the river, which their ancestors
used to bring home a quick meal. In the Victorian era when Denton was
a prosperous river town, a half acre of the land was gentrified with
several gazebos, or follies as they called them, park benches, and
lots of bushes that require endless trimming. Despite all their
changes, no ever removed the land’s classification as hunting
ground.
Thus,
when Leroy sits on a bench and fires an AK47 into the air, towards
the sound of pigeons cooing in the trees, he is breaking no laws. He
is not aiming towards the town and he is hunting on legal hunting
ground. It doesn’t matter that he’s blind and cannot see what
he’s shooting. Iowa doesn’t think that should impede a person’s
right to carry arms.
Now
you might challenge me that hunting and carrying a gun are very
different things. That is true. Iowa has always perceived handguns to
be far more dangerous than hunting guns. They’ll allow a twelve
year old child to go hunting without supervision. (Any younger and
they have to bring a parent along.). So when I say hunting regulation
is lax, I mean it’s sound asleep.
Iowa’s
official reason why they MUST allow blind people to carry loaded guns
while walking about in public is because to deny them this right
would put them in trouble with the federal Disabilities Act. If that
is their reasoning, then it would be likewise illegal to deny Leroy
his right to sit on registered hunting ground and shoot up into the
tree with his AK47.
While
four other states do allow blind people to hunt, they require a
seeing partner to aim the gun. Most of these states allow laser
beaming, so it’s easier for the seeing person to adjust the gun
accurately, so it hits the deer instead of the trailer house a half
mile further in the woods.
Iowa
has no such regulations. Thus Leroy doesn’t need a seeing partner.
In
case you’re curious, the four states that specifically allow blind
people to hunt are Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. That doesn’t
necessarily mean blind people aren’t hunting elsewhere. In some
cases, such as Iowa, it means the situation has never specially been
addressed. But since Iowa isn’t requiring the blind person carrying
a loaded gun in public arenas to have a seeing partner, why would
they require such in their less regulated hunting?
And
that is why Leroy gets to hunt pigeons with his AK47. Now let’s
learn more about Trent’s redemption.
Climbing
Out of Hell
Book
4 of the series
A
Long Road to Love
Romantic
Comedy
Billionaire Trent Lancaster has destroyed his
relationship with the only woman who ever loved him. Now we discover
the full truth of what happened.
He actually had reasons for his behaviors.
Still, there is no going back. Trent has lost Carrie
forever, but he would rather die than marry Coco, so he does just
that. Trent gives away most of his possessions, fakes his death, and
starts over with a new face and a better attitude in a small town in
Iowa where his half-brother Sam is sheriff.
Losing his true love has fundamentally broken Trent to
his core. His only chance for happiness is to become the better
man Carrie had always seen inside him.
True change is not easy. Can Trent grow up and become
a man we can love?
Excerpt
Sam
burst into the kitchen, frowned at Trent, then focused on Dani.
“Leroy is at it again. I thought you said you were going to hide
the damn thing?”
“I
did. But there aren’t many places one can hide an AK-47 rifle.”
“Well,
you hid it worth shit because it’s raining lead again at the
downtown square!”
She
gripped her head as if it might explode.
“What’s
the problem?” Trent asked.
Sam
rolled his eyes. “Iowa passed a law allowing blind people to carry
guns in public. So her grandfather, who is blind as a bat, sits on a
bench in the square and shoots his AK into the trees.”
“What’s
he trying to shoot?”
“Pigeons,”
Sam and Dani answered at once. She glared him into silence and
continued her reply. “He likes pigeon soup. A Pakistani doctor told
him it would prevent strokes.”
“Well,
he’s giving me a stroke,” Sam snapped. “You have to make him
stop!”
“I’ve
talked to him until I’m blue in the face. He won’t listen to me.
Most of the time he thinks I’m three-years old. Who listens to a
three-year-old?” She threw her hands up in frustration and turned
back to the grill.
Trent
didn’t care for the way Sam pushed Dani. Grandparents were
impossible to boss around…at least his had been. “Why don’t you
talk to him?’
Sam
released a hurricane of air. “Because the mayor told me to stay
away from him, since he is not breaking any laws, and any attempt on
my part could result in a lawsuit against the town.” He eyed Trent.
“You should talk to
him.”
“Sam,
Trevor’s been in town an hour. You know Gramps doesn’t trust
people right off.”
“Neither
do you, yet here he sits, like an old friend, watching you cook him
dinner.”
She
rescued the burgers off the grill, slapped them both on buns, and
shoved one at Sam. “This is your hamburger. Trevor is holding out
for braised lamb.”
“Point
still stands. Look, I think
he can do the job. I intended to hit him with a ticket but he was so
nice I sent him to you instead. He’s a likable guy. Let’s send
him out and see if he can stop this madness.”
“No!”
“Then
I’m shutting this bar down for safety violations.”
She
stared at him in shock. “What violations?”
“Don’t
worry. Mr. Olsen will find something. He owes me big time after last
night’s poker game.”
Trent
stood up. “Sam, you’re digging yourself into a hole. Your initial
solution was excellent, and frankly I’m honored you think so well
of me. I’ll go talk to him right now. Just
tell me how to get to Pigeonville.”
Sam
grinned and slapped him on the back as he led him out of the kitchen.
“Way to man up. Seriously, I’ll owe you one if you can get the
gun away from Leroy and bury it six feet under.”
Trent
just hoped being a nice
guy didn’t get him
buried six feet under as well.
Links
Released
May 1, 2014
Book
Four of the series:
A
Long Road to Love
Climbing
out of Hell
“Easily, the best of the
series!”
Other
books in the A
Long Road to Love series
Book
One
Worst
Week Ever
“Love
this book and couldn't stop laughing from beginning to end.” 5
stars – Alves - Amazon
Book
Two
Oh
Stupid Heart
“Be
warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week
Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situations that you would
think...NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more.” 5 stars -
Brian’s Mom – Amazon
Book
Three
Coming
to Reason
Once
again, Ms. O’Connor has written a brilliant book about the
complexities of relationships, good and bad. Again, to me, the book
is the best break up book EVER and it left my heart singing in the
end. Best. Book. Ever…
Other
Books by Liza O’Connor
Liza
O’Connor
Author Bio:
Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.
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