Campus gun ban is defeated

Campus gun ban is defeated, right to carry on campus bill moves forward –

Your action achieves victory, more action needed to win this battle!

South Dakota Gun Owners Email Alert Network

PO Box 3845 Rapid City, SD 57709

605.221.5766

www.SDGO.org

January 31, 2008

Congratulations! Thanks to your efforts, the battle for the right to self-defense gained a significant victory yesterday.

The campus gun ban bill (HB 1086) was unanimously defeated by the House State Affairs committee. Better still, the right to carry on campus bill (HB 1261) was unanimously passed and will proceed to a vote on the House floor (see below for background).

The old saying proves true again: “When politicians feel the heat, they see the light.” Committee members received dozens and dozens of phone calls and emails from gun owners on this issue. This strong grassroots pressure was the primary reason for both of the unanimous votes in favor of the right to bear arms in self-defense.

Thanks to your work, we’re moving ahead. Now we need to focus on the House of Representatives to get HB 1261 over the next hurdle.

Action:

HB 1261, the right to carry on campus bill, will probably come to a vote within the next week. Please contact your two state representatives and ask them to support HB 1261. Your message need be no more than “Please vote YES on HB 1261.” You can also use the sample message below to direct your comments.

You can leave a message for your two state representatives with one call to the Capitol. The number for the House Lobby is (605) 773-3851. A legislative page will be there to take your call between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.

You can identify your representatives on the State Legislative website: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/mem.htm You can also email them from this site by clicking on their name. If you do, your message need be no more than “Please vote YES on HB 1261” in the subject line, or feel free to copy and paste the sample message below.

You can also find out who your legislators are here: http://capwiz.com/gunowners/dbq/officials

You can view the names of the representatives who have sponsored HB 1261 here: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2008/Bills/HB1261P.htm Please be sure to express your approval to your representatives if they are on the bill.

---Sample message---

Dear Representative,

I strongly support HB 1261, which would recognize the right to self-defense on state college campuses.

The current patchwork of so-called “gun free” policies on college campuses throughout South Dakota is simply appalling. “Gun free” zone signs don’t stop armed criminals. Turning colleges into “gun free” zones via school policy only invites another horrific massacre.

Experience has proven that “gun free” zones are far from gun free. In fact, virtually every major mass shooting in recent history has been committed in a so-called “gun free” zone. A “gun free” zone simply means that the law-abiding can’t defend themselves from armed criminals.

Why should a person have less freedom and safety than anyone else simply because he or she goes to college? If a person is responsible enough to cast a vote, fight a war, own a gun, carry a gun and exercise every other right of citizenship that every other adult citizen enjoys, then why should he or she be disarmed and defenseless at institutions of higher learning?

Rep. Tom Brunner has sponsored HB 1261 to recognize the right to self-defense on college campuses. If it is passed, HB 1261 will simply allow adults who can legally carry anywhere else in the state to carry on campus. Statistics clearly demonstrate that the right to carry is a strong deterrent to mass shootings. HB 1261 will help protect South Dakota colleges from a Virginia Tech-style massacre.

Please vote YES on HB 1261. South Dakota Gun Owners will keep me informed on how you vote.

Respectfully,

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Background:

HB 1086 would have turned every college campus in South Dakota into a so-called “gun free” zone, where the law-abiding can’t defend themselves from armed criminals. The bill was defeated thanks to strong opposition from gun owners all across the state.

But stopping HB 1086 hasn’t stopped South Dakota colleges from banning guns. Even though state law doesn’t deal with firearms on campus, state colleges have taken it on themselves to turn their campuses into “gun free” zones via school policy.

South Dakota Gun Owners has partnered with Rep. Tom Brunner and Sen. Dennis Schmidt to introduced House Bill 1261, which will remove this patchwork of “gun free” zones. HB 1261 recognizes the right to bear arms in self-defense on every state college campus in the state. If it is passed, HB 1261 will simply allow adults who can legally carry anywhere else in the state to carry on campus.

Statistics clearly demonstrate that the right to carry is a strong deterrent to mass shootings. HB 1261 will help protect South Dakota colleges from a Virginia Tech-style massacre.

For more on the “gun free” zones issue, click here.

Vote to defeat HB 1086

Voting against the college gun ban: 12

Rep. Thomas Brunner

Rep. Joni Cutler

Rep. Thomas Deadrick

Rep. Joel Dykstra

Rep. Margaret Gillespie

Rep. Dale Hargens

Rep. Shantel Krebs

Rep. Kathy Miles

Rep. Garry Moore

Rep. Tim Rave

Rep. Larry Rhoden

Rep. Charles Turbiville

Voting for the college gun ban: 0

Vote to pass HB 1261, sending it to the House floor

Voting for the right to carry on campus: 12