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Blind Man Gets Concealed Weapons Permit in North Dakota

Jan 3, 2001 - 11:30 AM The Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Carey McWilliams has a concealed weapons permit from the state of North Dakota and isn't afraid to use a gun - even though he's blind. McWilliams, a 27-year-old North Dakota State University graduate student, says the permit, issued in September, is for protection.

"If you choose this blind victim, you might end up dead," McWilliams said. "I don't want to shoot anybody, but an assailant's life is not an issue with me."

McWilliams' sight is limited to light perception, which means he can tell night from day. He says he has been blind since he was 10.

In North Dakota, applicants for concealed weapons permits must pay a fee, undergo a background check and pass written and shooting exams, said Pat Healey, a Cass County sheriff's deputy who administers permit tests.

"He completed the background check, so the county and city were comfortable with him getting the permit," Healey said.

Applicants must put 10 shots in a row in a black silhouette target from 7 yards away. Healey said McWilliams was allowed to get his bearings on the target before shooting and put nine of 10 in the black the first time around, and the required 10 of 10 on the re-shoot.

McWilliams added a few more shots as exclamation points, and the target now hangs on his living room wall.

Healey said McWilliams was "very competent" with a handgun.

"I don't see a problem with him doing it. People who are challenged that way compensate nicely. They can be as reliable with a weapon as anybody," he said.

Concealed weapons are not allowed in bars, shopping malls, churches, schools or any public gathering place, including North Dakota State University.

"I told him to be real cautious," Healey said. "A whole new world of liability goes with this, for anyone with a permit."

McWilliams, who plans to work in public relations for the National Rifle Association after graduation, has 10 guns. He said he has gone parasailing and scuba diving and served as a search-and-rescue communications officer.

"I get ticked off when people say I can't do something because I'm blind without giving me the chance," he said.

McWilliams' friend Kathy Steffan said her first response when he told her he would seek the permit was, "You're going to blow away the Avon Lady."

Steffan said it is hard for most people to understand how vulnerable McWilliams can feel.

"We think he can't aim," she said. "The fact that somebody might have his fingers around Carey's throat doesn't enter our heads."

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), January 03, 2001

Answers

May The Force be with him.

-- helen (b@r.f), January 03, 2001.

Tomorrow Mr McWilliams will take his driving exam.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), January 03, 2001.

LOL! nemesis, you're a scream.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), January 03, 2001.

Why do drive through ATM's have braille?

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), January 04, 2001.

Go Carey! I think that the word "can't" isn't in this persons vocabulary.

-- mary (maryb@centurytel.net), January 04, 2001.

Don't forget that blind people concentrate more and usually have better hearing. Rob this guy and you have a sonar guided bullet!

-- TINY tHOMPSON (TINY66@SHORE.NET), January 04, 2001.

Some of the most popular slot machines in a casino are the video poker machines. For those who may not be familiar with them, they are a machine containing a video monitor which displays a poker hand after your coins have been inserted. To play the game, you look at the cards and push the "hold" buttons beneath those cards which you feel will give you the best chance of winning.

One of the strangest things I ever saw in a casino was a blind woman playing a video poker machine with a seeing-eye dog lying on the floor next to her. (We finally determined that the blind woman's friend in the next chair was directing the her.)

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

Nemisis WILL be in the passenger seat while Mr. takes the test.

Right Nem?

FS: I've ALWAYS wondered that.

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), January 06, 2001.