Committee passes HB 1278
Anti-gunners line up to gut the bill with
amendments on the House Floor
South Dakota Gun Owners Email Alert Network
PO Box 3845 Rapid City, SD 57709
605.415.4299
February 13, 2009
ACTION:
Thanks to your excellent work, HB 1278 passed
the House Local Government Committee yesterday. HB 1278 is the bill to end
city gun bans. The vote is displayed below.
The bill now goes to the House floor. Sadly,
Rep. Val Rausch (R-04) wants to attach an extremely anti-gun amendment that
will effectively gut the bill. The language he is currently circulating
would give every mayor in South Dakota the authority to ban guns on all
property owned or leased by the city.
Please email Rep. Rausch at the link below and
respectfully urge him not to offer his amendment.
If you would like to do more, please contact
the committee members below. Be sure to thank the ones that voted for HB
1278 and respectfully let the ones who voted against it know that they have
made a mistake. Urge them all to resist amendments to HB 1278 and to pass it
as it is.
House Local Government Committee
Voting for HB 1278 – Pro-gun
Voting against HB 1278 – Anti-gun
You can also contact your state
Representatives and urge them to resist amendments to HB 1278. Ask them to
pass the bill as it is.
Phone: Call the House Lobby at (605)
773-3851 to leave a message. The House will adjourn early today and will
not be in session on Monday. The best time to call will be Tuesday, February
17. Your message can be as simple as “Please vote YES on HB 1278 and
resist any amendments. Please pass the bill as it is.”
Please take action as soon as possible.
---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 and resist any
amendments. Please support the bill as it is.
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 on all city property. That includes 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.