NRA State Affiliate for
South Dakota Says:
�If you�re going to
carry in an enclosed motor vehicle, you better have a permit.�
South
Dakota Gun Owners E-mail Alert
PO Box 3845, Rapid City, SD 57709
(605) 737-5583
[email protected]
http://www.SDGO.org
Tuesday,
February 17, 2004
RAPID
CITY, South Dakota -- The law denying your right to carry a handgun for
self-defense in a vehicle will remain intact, thanks to a sweeping amendment to
HB 1247.
Originally,
HB 1247 would have repealed the requirement to obtain a permit before carrying a
handgun concealed in a vehicle for self-defense.
But surprisingly, David Conway, lobbyist for NRA affiliated South Dakota
Shooting Sports Association, opposed this pro-gun bill in committee, stating
that he had a problem with repealing the permit requirement.
�If you�re going to
carry in an enclosed motor vehicle, you better have a permit,� Mr. Conway
stated. He then brought an
amendment, supported by the NRA, which completely wiped out the pro-gun language
of HB 1247 and replaced it with a minor adjustment to current law.
The only change the Conway
amendment makes is to allow a handgun carried in a closed compartment to be
loaded. Current law (SDCL
22-14-10) allows a person without a permit to carry only an unloaded
handgun in a closed compartment or container too large to be concealed.
By destroying HB 1247�s
pro-gun Right to Arms in Vehicles language, the Conway amendment helped
politicians sidestep the real issue � that bearing arms for self-defense while
in your vehicle is a right, not a government granted privilege. [1]
The Conway amendment was
moved and promoted by Rep. Larry Rhoden, who betrayed his desire to avoid a
recorded vote on the strongly pro-gun Right to Arms in Vehicles bill when he
stated, �For the benefit of this committee, and all members involved, I would
suggest that we move this amendment forward, turn a � I believe � a clearly
lousy bill into a very good bill.�
Following the lead of
Conway and Rhoden, the House State Affairs committee adopted the amendment by an
unrecorded voice vote. This
vote to adopt the Conway amendment was a vote to kill the pro-gun Right to Arms
in Vehicles bill. Thus, the Conway
amendment provided the perfect political cover-up for an anti-gun vote.
HB 1247 as amended has
passed both the committee and the House of Representatives and currently awaits
a hearing before the Senate.
_________
[1] South
Dakota�s current permit requirement violates Art. 6, sec. 24 of the South
Dakota Constitution by delaying the exercise of the right to bear arms in
self-defense until a government permit is first obtained.
Based on the US Supreme Court opinion that �a right delayed is a right
denied,� it is clear that the permit requirement is an unconstitutional prior
restraint on the right to bear arms.
