Campus Gun Rights Bill Passes SD House

The South Dakota House of Representatives passed HB 1261 yesterday, affirming the right of college students to possess firearms on campus. The bill passed 63-3.

Now let's hope it makes it through the South Dakota Senate.

From the Argus Leader, legislative debate included some salient testimony on why the right to bear arms is important, especially in an increasingly lawless culture.

"The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Rep. Thomas Brunner, R-Nisland, the main sponsor of the bill.

Brunner said he has two daughters in college, and one who just turned 18 wants a permit to carry a concealed weapon because she has to walk a half mile to her dormitory after parking her car. If criminals know law-abiding citizens might be armed, they will be less likely to consider attacking someone, he said.

Brunner said most mass shootings in recent years have occurred in areas where guns are prohibited. Murderers, such as the disturbed student at Virginia Tech last year, were able to kill many people because no one else was armed, he said.

However, House Republican Leader Larry Rhoden of Union Center said the bill does not encourage students to carry guns. It merely confirms that students have the same constitutional rights as anyone else to bear arms, he said.

Rep. Manny Steele, R-Sioux Falls, said the guard who shot and wounded a gunman at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs in December helped save lives.

Knowing that potential targets might be armed could dissuade a violent person from initiating a shooting. And even if it doesn't, if there are armed citizens nearby, they have the tool to do what must be done to cut short the harm a gunman might otherwise do.

Unarmed citizens are an invitation to the criminal element.