Did you know that some sex offenders in Iowa can openly carry guns? An astute reader pointed us to this recent exclusive in The Des Moines Register, which revealed that 50 sex offenders in Iowa are currently carrying a gun in public. It’s news that has surprised some state lawmakers and alarmed a few Iowa and national law enforcement officers, Jason Clayworth reported.

“It does seem to go contrary to what the whole point or the whole purpose” of the sex offender registry is, said Steve Conlon, an F.B.I. official and former assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation who previously oversaw the state’s sex offender registry.

So how did this happen?

Two years ago, the law was changed to allow people convicted of misdemeanor sex crimes to walk the streets legally armed (though The Register found two men convicted of felonies who’d been issued permits). Also, state law enforcement officials do not check to see if sex offenders who previously used weapons to commit their crimes now have carry permits because it’s not one of the checks they are required to make under Iowa law. Sheriffs are also reluctant to deny permits because appeals can cost a county government and taxpayers hundreds of dollars.

There is no national data on how many weapons permits are being issued to convicted sex offenders. Nebraska, Missouri and Wisconsin also do not specifically exclude sex offenders from obtaining such permits.

“My concern of a sex offender having a gun is they try to typically rule in a bullish way to influence people,” said Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, who is president of the Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association. “Just the presence of a gun on a hip could be a threat to get people to cooperate. They intimidate to get what they want.”

Here is today’s report.

—Jennifer Mascia

A 3-year-old girl was shot in S.E. Washington, D.C., Thursday evening. The child, who was shot while on a balcony, was breathing when she was taken to the hospital. Police believe she was hit by a stray bullet. They have a description of the suspect.

—WUSA9

D.C. police are investigating a triple shooting on Eastern Avenue Thursday evening. The shootings happened just before 7 p.m. and the victims included an adult male and two younger men. A police cruiser collided with another vehicle while responding to the incident, sending two officers to the hospital.

—WTOP

Police in Newburgh, N.Y., are investigating a double shooting Thursday, less than a week after a fatal triple shooting. Two men were injured after they were shot inside a house where a marijuana distribution center was discovered.

—News 12

Two men who were fatally shot in Monroe County, Ga., Wednesday were likely killed during a robbery. 36-year-old Russell Jacobs and 40-year-old Pittman Woods were found dead at their house by Woods’s father. Police have not yet identified any suspects.

—MyFoxAtlanta.com

Two people were injured Thursday morning after a fight escalated to a shooting at an apartment complex in Phoenix, Ariz. A group of people got into a fight at the apartment and shots were fired. The shooter fled before police arrived. The victims are expected to survive.

—AZcentral.com

A 23-year-old man is in critical condition after he was shot several times in West Philadelphia’s Belmont Section early Thursday evening. Police found the victim sitting in the driver’s seat of a Chevy Impala that had crashed into a set of concrete steps in front of a row house. He was bleeding from at least three gunshot wounds to the upper torso and shoulder. He is in critical condition.

—Philly.com

39-year-old Felix DeJesus was shot inside his car and killed in Hartford, Conn., Thursday. The victim was apparently in the capital city to sell electronics to someone he met online. Officers are looking into information from members of the victim’s family.

—WTNH.com

A woman was shot inside a car and wounded in Bessemer, Ala., Thursday morning. Police say two suspects followed the victim’s car from a gas station after gunfire between the cars was exchanged. The driver of the victim’s vehicle and a small child inside were not injured in the shooting. The victim was taken to a hospital.

—Fox 6 WBRC

Jerrick Jackson, 46, was gunned down at his northwest Atlanta, Ga., home Tuesday, after a robbery. Thieves took a wallet and a purse but wanted more. When Jackson told them not to go upstairs because his fiancé’s daughter was there, he was shot in front of his fiancé several times. Newly released surveillance video shows men using the victim’s fiancé’s stolen debit card after the shooting.

—WSBTV.com

A San Diego, Calif., resident opened fire on a man vandalizing a market, injuring him and leading to his own arrest on criminal charges. Antonio Barragan heard the commotion outside the Cloverleaf Market, grabbed his semi-automatic FN-57 and left his home to investigate. Norson Obet, 30, was injured, and Barragan was arrested. He faces an assault with a deadly weapon charge.

—7SanDiego

A 23-year-old East Chicago, Ind., man was shot late Wednesday night and died shortly thereafter in a local emergency room. Carlos Velez III, was shot multiple times. Detectives are following up on leads in the case.

—NWITimes.com

Springfield, Ill., police are investigating the city’s second shooting in as many days. A man reported that he and several friends were standing in the front yard of a home about 2:20 a.m. Thursday when they heard gunshots being fired from down the street. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the left wrist, and the same bullet struck him in the chest. Police are still investigating whether Thursday’s shooting is connected to a drive-by shooting shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday on the same block.

—SJ-R.com

Ricky Robertson was riding his bike in Chicago’s Washington Heights neighborhood on Wednesday night when someone in a passing car opened fire and shot the 47-year-old man dead. Robertson’s body was still in the street as family gathered on a nearby lawn to pray. Nine others were shot across the city Wednesday night.

—Huffington Post

A Lincoln County, Ky., teen allegedly shot by her grandfather in a domestic dispute early Thursday morning has been released from the hospital. Monique Brummett, 18, was shot in the upper leg. Her grandfather, Danny Brummett, 66, was found near the home and had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

—Lex18.com

Markquett Nunn, 30, was shot in the head and killed in the Normandy area of St. Louis, Mo., Wednesday. Nunn’s body was found between two houses. Police are looking for information about a gray Dodge Durango with dark tinted windows.

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A homeowner shot and killed an acquaintance Thursday evening in Vancouver, Wash. Several neighbors say they heard three to four gunshots, and told police that they often hear screaming and arguing between a man and a woman at the house.

—KomoNews.com

According to Slate’s gun-death tracker, an estimated 3,947 people have died as a result of gun violence in America since the Newtown massacre on December 14, 2012.