House Local Government Committee to vote on Uniform Gun Laws bill
South Dakota Gun Owners Email Alert Network
PO Box 3845 Rapid City, SD 57709
605.415.4299
February 10, 2009
ACTION:
HB 1278, the bill to end city gun bans, is scheduled for its first hearing and vote on Thursday morning, February 12 (scroll down for more info on the bill).
If there are any committee members below that you have not yet contacted on this issue, now is the time. Feel free to use the sample message to help direct your comments. As always, it’s OK if none of these Representatives are not from your district. As a committee they represent the entire state.
Phone: Call the House Lobby at (605) 773-3851 to leave a message. A legislative page will be there between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to take your call. Your message can be as simple as “Please vote YES on HB 1278.”
Email: You can use the addresses provided below. If you experience any problems, please use the online system at the following address: http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx Choose his or her name from the drop down.
As you may know, Representatives Mark Kirkeby, Betty Olson and Dan Lederman have co-sponsored HB 1278. If you communicate with them, be sure to thank them and encourage them to continue supporting the right to arms.
House Local Government Committee
Rep. Justin Cronin rep.cronin@state.sd.us
Rep. Jim Bolin rep.bolin@state.sd.us
Rep. Blake Curd rep.curd@state.sd.us
Rep. Dennis Feickert rep.feickert@state.sd.us
Rep. Jason Frerichs rep.frerichs@state.sd.us
Rep. Val Rausch rep.rausch@state.sd.us
Rep. Fred Romkema rep.romkema@state.sd.us
Rep. Tim Rounds rep.rounds@state.sd.us
Rep. Mark Kirkeby rep.kirkeby@state.sd.us
Rep. Dan Lederman rep.lederman@state.sd.us
Rep. Betty Olson rep.olsonbetty@state.sd.us
Rep. Darrell Solberg rep.solberg@state.sd.us
Rep. Martha Vanderlinde rep.vanderlinde@state.sd.us
---Sample message---
Dear Representative,
I urge you to support HB 1278.
This bill simply clarifies South Dakota’s preemption laws, which were originally passed in 1983 to ensure uniform gun laws across the state. These preemption laws were designed to play several important roles.
They are intended to guarantee that the South Dakota pistol permit is valid throughout the state, and that the regulations on concealed carry are uniform. Our preemption laws were also designed to provide for uniform safe transportation regulations, so that the same approved method for safely transporting a firearm is legal as a person travels across South Dakota. Our preemption laws are also intended to guarantee that the process for purchasing a firearm will be uniform.
Our state is the home of several nationally recognized manufacturers of firearms and ammunition. These facilities hold to a very high standard of safety, and play an important part in our economy by providing hundreds of jobs. One of the main reasons many of these companies located in South Dakota was because of our excellent gun laws, and our preemption laws, which are intended to guarantee that the regulations on the manufacture and repair of firearms and ammunition will be uniform across the state.
HB 1278 simply clarifies that South Dakota’s gun laws should remain uniform, and that the Legislature alone has the jurisdiction to change them. This is the clear intent of the current law.
Please vote YES on HB 1278
Respectfully,
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Background
City bureaucrats are banning guns in South Dakota.
Regardless of whether you possess a concealed pistol permit, these bureaucrats say you cannot carry a handgun to defend yourself on city property.
The City of Sioux Falls has banned the right to carry in numerous parks, every city transit bus, twelve different Libraries, a 7000 seat Arena, a convention center and many other locations. In Rapid City, bureaucrats are imposing an outright gun ban in the 10,000 seat Civic Center Arena, and more than a dozen other towns are also moving in this direction.
It may be hard to believe that this could happen in your town. But if cities like Sioux Falls and Rapid City are allowed to get away with banning guns, you can be sure other towns across South Dakota will follow suite.
Current state law makes it illegal for cities to create a patchwork of “gun free zone” ordinances. Since 1983, SDCL 9-19-20 has preempted city ordinances which restrict possession or ownership of firearms.
But the bureaucrats have found a loop-hole, and they are exploiting it with a vengeance. They are creating an entangling web of so-called “gun free” zones that will ensnare law-abiding gun owners. You could face arrest and confiscation of your firearm simply for exercising your right to bear arms in these towns.
This is why SDGO has partnered with pro-gun Rep. Don Kopp and Sen. Dennis Schmidt to introduce HB 1278. This simple legislation will close the city gun ban loop-hole and end this outrageous denial of the right to bear arms.
Click here for more on the city gun ban issue