Sixteen Story County residents affiliated with Iowa State have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Of the 228 permits issued in 2003 by the Story County Sheriff’s Office, 16 belong to individuals employed or enrolled at Iowa State.

Although these people have permits to carry concealed weapons, this does not mean they can carry firearms to work or to class. ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said firearms are prohibited on campus.

“Unless the person is in a police role or a contracted security role for the university, no firearms are allowed on campus,” Deisinger said.

David Webber, graduate student in agricultural and biosystems engineering, has had a permit to carry a concealed weapon for 20 years. Webber was trained as a police officer at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

“I’ve kept my permit over the time period as a safety officer with the hunter education program,” he said.

Webber has left law enforcement to do research in natural resources at Iowa State and decided to keep his weapon permit up-to-date. At this time, Webber is not an instructor for the hunter education program.

Albert Augustin, animal caretaker for laboratory animal resources, also holds a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Augustin said he “carries light amounts of cash” for a private company he works for outside the university and carries a weapon for protection.

Gene Richardson, mail clerk for facilities planning and management, also has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He said he carries the weapon for “personal safety.”

According to Section 724.4A of the Iowa Code, no one can have a weapon in a “weapons free zone.” A “weapons free zone,” as defined in the Iowa Code, means the area in or on, or within 1,000 feet of, the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, or in or on the real property comprising a public park.

To have a firearm on campus is also in violation of Iowa State’s Student Disciplinary Regulations. A firearm is listed under Section 4.2.1.7 as a violation and could be grounds for expulsion from the university.

Deisinger said if a student wants to have a firearm, he or she should not store it on campus and should either find a place off campus to store it or leave it at home. Generally, ISU Police isn’t concerned with people who have concealed weapons permits, Deisinger said.

“I can’t think of a problem or a call we had involving a person with a concealed weapon permit,” he said.

Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said permits to carry a concealed weapon are distributed at the discretion of the Story County Sheriff, the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Justice.

According to Section 724.8 of the Iowa Code, there are six requirements for a person to be eligible for a permit:

* He or she is 18 or older,

* He or she has never been convicted of a felony,

* He or she does not have an alcohol or substance abuse problem,

* He or she has no history of repeated acts of violence, and

* The sheriff reasonably determines the applicant does not constitute a danger to any person and has never been convicted of assault or harassment.

Fitzgerald said he set up additional standards in addition to the state regulation for people applying for concealed weapon permits.

“There has to be some rationale as to why you are wanting to carry a concealed weapon,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said he denied a permit to an individual who said he wanted to carry a gun because he liked to take his wife to a restaurant in what he said was not the best part of Des Moines.

“If they come in and they don’t have a justifiable reason, I can deny the permit,” he said.

He said he might deny one or two new permits each year. He said about a dozen new people each year come in and apply for a weapons permit.

Fitzgerald said that in Story County, even if an individual has passed the state-required checks, a weapon permit is still not automatically given to the person. The state also requires the applicant to pass a 50-question written test and a Story County required acquisition test, where an individual must shoot 70 percent or better in the range.

“If someone comes in and has a legitimate reason for a concealed weapons permit, usually business- or hobby-related, and after I do the check and have an opportunity to visit with them to see what my impression is of the person, I will then go ahead and grant a permit,” he said.

This correction was printed on April 13, 2004:

Due to a reporting error, a list accompanying the April 12 article “Even with a permit, firearms not allowed on ISU campus” incorrectly stated Chad H. Olson, program assistant in student financial aid, has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Olson does not have such a permit. The Daily regrets this error.