DES MOINES (AP) — A newspaper reported Sunday that the majority of Iowans who have applied for a gun permit in the past two years have been approved under a state law that some sheriffs say hinders their power to say no.

More than 148,000 people in the state have applied for a permit since a 2011 state law went into effect, the Des Moines Register reported. About 620 permit applications have been denied, which means there’s a 99.6 percent approval rating.

The newspaper’s analysis of public records from the state’s 99 county sheriffs also shows there’s an increase of more than 100,000 Iowa residents with a permit to carry or conceal a weapon since 2011.