Blind Man Finds Bias In Denial Of Gun Permit

[Low Key]

By David Peterson, Star Tribune

Last update: May 15, 2007 – 9:52 PM

A North Dakota man who is styling himself as "America's first sightless gunslinger" is claiming to be the victim of discrimination because Minnesota won't give a blind man a permit to carry a gun in public.
Carey McWilliams, 33, of Fargo says he carries one anyway when he crosses the state line because his Utah permit is accepted in Minnesota. But he isn't sure that will always be so.

Any use he would make of his gun, he said, would be a response to an assault and wouldn't put anyone other than his attacker in jeopardy. "It would be self-defense, at point-blank range, with ammo that doesn't go any further than the assailant," McWilliams said Tuesday.

In neighboring Moorhead, Minn., Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said he didn't feel he had a choice but to deny the permit application.

"I had to sign something saying he could 'safely' whatever, and I felt I couldn't say that of someone who's legally blind," Bergquist said. "The shooting he's done in the past was with the help of someone. When confronted, he won't have that help.

"... The application states that a person should be able to show proficiency on the firing range and a proficiency of the weapons," he said. "That's the issue.

McWilliams, who says he was forced to act as his own attorney for financial reasons, hopes to stir up help before a one-year window for appeal expires.

He has appealed for help from organizations such as Legal Aid and the American Civil Liberties Union, to no avail. Even if his appeal rights expire, he said, he would consider filing his own discrimination case.

He said he has concealed-carry permits from North Dakota as well as Utah. States vary quite a lot in how demanding they are of people seeking permits, he said, but he insists he can legitimately pass a marksmanship test.

How can he see to shoot when he can't see?

"That's the deal!" he exclaimed. "I sight in via sound, gravity, body position."