Senate committee will vote Wednesday on pistol permit police-radio database bill --
Now is the time to register your opposition to this new central registry for gun owners
South Dakota Gun Owners E-mail
Alert
PO Box 3845, Rapid City, SD 57709
(605) 737-5583
LibertyTeeth@sdgo.org
http://www.SDGO.org
(February 14, 2005) – The anti-gun crowd is pushing hard to pass the new database bill.
HB 1209 is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary committee on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 16. After that, it will go to the Senate floor.
The bill would give the anti-gunners the central registry that they have always wanted in order to profile gun owners. And thanks to a backroom deal, anti-gun HB 1209 could become law if gun owners don’t voice their fierce opposition.
Action:
1. If you have not yet had a chance to contact the members of the Senate Judiciary committee listed below, please do so now. You can call and leave a message anytime tomorrow between 8 am and 5 pm, CST. The number is (605) 773-3821. Your message can be as simple as “Please vote NO on HB 1209.”
You can also email them at the addresses listed below, or click on their names to use an online email form.
2. Contact your Senator. Even if you have already called him or her on this issue, they need to hear from you again. If HB 1209 makes it out of committee, it will probably be rushed to the Senate floor the following day.
We encourage you to both call and email. To leave a message at the Capitol, the number is the same: (605) 773-3821.
To email, you can insert your Senator’s last name into the following address: sen._____@state.sd.us For example, sen.abdallah@state.sd.us
If you know what Legislative district you are in, click here and choose your district number to bring up your Legislators. To access their contact info, including the online email form, simply click on his or her name.
To find your Legislative district and Senator, click here, choose “State” and search by ZIP code. You can also reply to this message and we will forward your Legislators’ contact info to you.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Gene Abdallah – Chair
Lee Schoenbeck – Vice-Chair
---Sample message---
Dear Senator:
I am strongly opposed to HB 1209. It is not good for gun owners and it is not good for law-enforcement.
I urge you not to be taken in by the smoke and mirrors in this bill. First it strictly prohibits any kind of registry. Then it specifically exempts law-enforcement from that prohibition. Then it reiterates that law-enforcement may use the database in the physical presence of a permit holder but does nothing to prohibit an officer from accessing that same database at any time.
It is undeniable that HB 1209 does indeed provide for the establishment of a new central registry for concealed pistol permit holders without ensuring that the permit system will not be misused to profile gun owners. Such a system would mislead our officers by suggesting that permit holders, as a class, are a threat and need to be treated differently than the general public.
Please vote NO on HB 1209, and please let me know what you intend to do.
Sincerely,
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As you may know, lobbyist David Conway has engineered a compromise with the anti-gunners in Pierre. As a result, Mr. Conway has been working to sell the anti-gun HB 1209 as a measure that will help gun owners who forget to carry their permit card.
Database proponents are spreading the absolute falsehood that current state law somehow requires law-enforcement to detain and even lock up someone who forgets their permit card. This is simply not true. It is a petty offense if you forget your permit. The officer can only detain you long enough to write a ticket. Furthermore, the law provides that if you produce the permit within 24 hours, the petty offense charge must be dismissed. You can read the law at SDCL 22-14-9.1
Mr. Conway’s organization, South Dakota Shooting Sports, is affiliated with the NRA. Unfortunately, he has used this relationship to obtain an NRA endorsement for the new anti-gun database bill. Anyone who reads this endorsement will wonder if the NRA has actually read the bill (you can read the NRA endorsement here). It appears that they too have fallen victim to the misinformation and downright falsehoods being spread about HB 1209.
Some of the politicians may respond to your call or email with claims that you have been misinformed. If one of them tries to blow smoke in your face, feel free to respectfully tell them that the bill clearly allows a database in Section 2, subdivision (5). They will doubtless tell you that the amendments added in the House safeguard against abuse. But the amendments are simply smoke and mirrors. They are cleverly worded, but provide NO actual safeguards.
For background on HB 1209, click here.