SD Shooting Sports Legislative Affairs ALERTS

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail

2006-09-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

From the NRA State Affiliate, the SD Shooting Sports Assoc.

Sept. 30, 2006

Hello To All,

November elections are fast approaching and many of you are
taking advantage of the early voting option offered by South Dakota. That is
a wise choice considering there are 11 Constitutional Amendments to consider
when you go to the polls in November. To vote early, just pick up an
Absentee Ballot at your local County Auditor's office or just vote while you
are there. Remember to bring a picture ID. The SD Shooting Sports Assoc.
takes no official stand on the ballot issues, but we are very biased when it
comes to supporting our progun candidates which have gone that extra mile,
supporting and enhancing our Second Amendment rights to "Keep and Bear
Arms". Governor Mike Rounds and Attorney General Larry Long are two such
candidates. I will concentrate on Mr. Long in this Alert E-mail.

Larry Long is running for reelection to the State Attorney General position.
While in office, Larry has supported every gun bill that was brought forth.
When the Criminal Code Revision bill was debated in 2005, there was a
section supported by the National Rifle Assoc. and the SD Shooting Sports
Assoc. which restores a person's right to own firearms after being denied
those rights by a Federal Law. Mr. Long supported this venture. The AG's
office dealt directly with the NRA legal team to assure that everything went
with as few problems as possible. In most other states the Attorney General
will not even consider this type of legislation because it is in direct
conflict with Federal Law. Not Larry Long, his priorities lie with the
people of SD. Being a fellow shooter, he will always remain a friend of gun
owners.

In 2006 we passed 4 extremely important gun bills, one being our version of
the famed Florida Castle Doctrine law. It is our "right to self defense" or
"stand your ground" law which passed with Mr. Long's approval. He was
involved in the process from the very beginning and contributed immensely to
its passage.

In 2006 he not only supported, but initiated a bill which gave his Dept. of
Criminal Investigation the authority to sell unclaimed confiscated guns
rather than destroying them. While most states opt for the latter, Larry
Long knows it is the criminals, not the lawful firearms that need to be
removed from society. He views firearms in the same light as you and I.

Again in 2006 he supported our bill which stopped any state agency from
restricting your legal right to carry a concealed firearm. The Attorney
Generals office supports your lawful right to self defense. He also
supported our bill which would halt the practice of media outlets printing
the names of CCW permit holders. Individual rights and privacies have always
been a prime concern for Larry and he does not feel that gun owners deserve
any less just because they own firearms.

Larry Long stood with us again in 2005 when we pushed through a bill stating
that South Dakota would honor ALL legal pistol permits issued by other
states. He is of strong opinion that permit holders are the most lawful
segment of our society.

Again in 2005, when we introduced a bill which restricted access to our CCW
permit data base to specify only a single permit declared by the holder, Mr.
Long did not interpret this as a restriction for his law enforcement agents,
but supported it for what it was. A much needed tool to address the privacy
concerns of permit holders.

Larry Long has always maintained and continued on the "open door" policy as
it pertains to our issues. Through out the years that I have been lobbying
for your gun rights at the capital, it has always been a pleasure to be able
to walk into his office unannounced and discuss our agenda with him. He
welcomes every opportunity to work with gun legislation.

It is now time for voters to show their thanks to an extremely PRO-GUN
Attorney General. Vote early or vote in November, but please vote to send
Larry Long back to Pierre as our Attorney General. You can rest assured that
your Second Amendment rights will always be protected in South Dakota while
Larry Long is our Attorney General.

As always; please forward this message to every gun owner you know. If this
message was forwarded to you and you want to become a member of the SDSSA
Alert E-mail list, or if you know any gun owners who should receive the
Alert E-mails, send only the e-mail address to sdssala@cs.com and you will
be added to the largest pro-firearms e-mail network in state of South
Dakota. Our unduplicated legislative success rate stands at 100% without
ever having solicited funds from anyone.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

12708 Robinson Road

Black Hawk, SD 57718-9325

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen
occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com",
and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept
our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail

2006-05-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

May 23, 2006

Alert E-mail

Hello To All,

This E-mail is mainly intended for the Black Hills area folks, but due to the nature of the message, every gun owner in the state should be aware of yet another attack on their intelligence. In the Sioux Falls area, Senator Abdallah was inappropriately attacked as being anti-gun. This same duo from Rapid City is now using similar deceptive tactics to attack a Senator from District 33 as being anti-gun and anti-NRA. They manipulate and distort facts, play on words, and ask for more money. Here are the true facts;

Since 2002 Senator Duniphan has voted FOR ALL NRA and SDSSA endorsed bills and every one of these bills was passed. This amounts to 12 Second Amendment related bills of assorted nature. 6 of those bills she gladly cosponsored. I know, as I personally asked her for her signature on every one of them. During this same time period she has willingly assisted in the defeat of anti-gun bills (more on this below). She has always been receptive and helpful to our cause.

In 2003 a bill was brought forward which would have put pictures on our CCW Permits. The bill was the result of misinformation thus many Legislators signed on to it thinking it was requested by NRA and SDSSA. When I approached the cosponsors with the truth, they gladly removed their support for the bill and the prime sponsor pulled it. Senator Duniphan was one of the first to remove her name.

In 2001 she is accused of supporting a state-level Lautenberg gun ban, SB85. Duniphan never signed on to the bill as a cosponsor.

In 2005 she is accused of supporting another Lautenberg ban, SB43, which she also never signed on to. Truth of the matter is, SB43 was a Criminal Code Revision bill which encompassed the overhaul of our entire criminal justice penalty guidelines. Depending on which version you had, it ran almost 70 pages and was the result of almost a years work by the committee appointed to do it. The section being referenced is less than a page. Besides, it was not a Lautenberg ban in SD, it was relief for those improperly trapped by the Lautenberg ban and it was researched and supported by the NRA and SDSSA. Our organizations jointly asked Legislators for their support for this section.

In 2005 the facts are once again being distorted by this Rapid City duo to make it appear that Senator Duniphan is again supporting a registry, HB1209. This bill did not even come close to being a registry. Just the opposite, it strengthens the privacy rights of gun owners to a level we never had before. It was also researched and supported by the NRA and SDSSA. It passed through the House and the Senate with a 100% YES vote. Does that make our entire Legislative body anti-gun? No, just the ones that can be turned into a cash cow for those who are good at manipulating facts to suite their fund raising needs.

Senator Duniphan is an NRA "A" rated candidate, which is a direct result of her voting record and her willingness to protect our Second Amendment rights. What is happening to her and other innocent Legislators is despicable. The strongest NRA candidates are the ones targeted by this Rapid City duo. They are the ones who are anti-NRA. They randomly move from one candidate to another. They spend no time at the Capital acquainting themselves with Legislators, nor do they attempt to communicate view points with our elected officials. Once again, please do not buy into the distortions of facts. If you live in District 33 and value your gun rights, vote for Senator Duniphan. If you live elsewhere in SD, you too may find a postcard in your mailbox before November condemning a pro-gun candidate. Anyone who wants the true facts about any incumbent candidate can contact me directly. Not every candidate is our friend, but every candidate deserves an honest assessment based on fact. Not one based on personal dislikes.

As always; please forward this message to every gun owner you know. If this message was forwarded to you and you would prefer to become a member of the SDSSA Alert E-mail list, register at http://sdshootingsports.org/legislative_affairs_signup.htm and you will be added to the largest pro-firearms e-mail network in state of South Dakota. Our unduplicated legislative success rate stands at 100% without ever having solicited funds from anyone.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

12708 Robinson Road

Black Hawk, SD 57718-9325

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #15

2006-03-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

March 3, 2006

ALERT E-MAIL #15

Hello To All,

Governor Rounds signed our last bill today, HB 1199 (introduced by Rep. Gillespie). This is the bill which prohibits access to the list of "applicants" who apply for a Concealed Carry Permit. Now with this law in place the Sioux Falls Argus Leader has run out of loopholes to exploit, in their never ending quest to publish names of permit holders. This newspaper was totally out of line in doing this and they knew it. It was obvious when every year as we would pass laws restricting access to the CCW list, they would blatantly find ways to back door our attempts at maintaining our privacy. Well, hopefully we have now removed every weak point they, or any other newspaper, could inappropriately exploit to try and intimidate someone from getting a permit. This bill was a fight and the media had no problem with sending their lobbyists to try and defeat our attempts. What they forget is, many of our Legislators also have permits and they also have no desire to see their names in print for just exercising their rights.

Once again, we had a successful Legislative Session, with all 4 of our bills being signed into law. I had the privilege of attending the Game, Fish and Parks Commission meeting this past Thursday in Chamberlain. This was when the GF&P's rule change to allow concealed carry with a permit on state lands controlled by them was finalized. Thank you to all of you who e-mailed your support for this change to the committee. I did not hear the actual count of e-mails but it was in the hundreds. The committee spokesman declined from reading them all, he just waved them in the air and stated they were ALL IN FAVOR of the rules change. This brought a laugh from everyone in the room. Technically, this is just a formality because HB 1173 (introduced by Rep. Buckingham) was passed this session. This law now restricts ALL state agencies from promulgating, or adopting, any rule that conflicts with our concealed carry laws. The nice thing about GF&P adopting this rule change now is we do not have to wait until July 1st when new state laws take effect. It is also a very positive message from GF&P and Secretary John Cooper, that they respect our rights. When I brought this problem to Mr. Cooper's attention last October, he was very cooperative and understanding and moved this change forward with no hesitation.

Another bill successfully passed was HB 1134 (introduced by Rep. Hanks), our Castle Doctrine/No Retreat law. We now have a lawful right to meet criminal violence with justifiable force without the necessity of retreat. This law is more involved than what I could print here, so I would suggest that everyone reads it at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/bills/HB1134enr.htm

so there are no misunderstandings. It does not give anyone the right to shoot someone for just trespassing.

The last bill to mention is HB 1075 (introduced by Rep. Buckingham). This law now gives DCI and the Forensics Lab the ability to sell confiscated firearms at public auction, rather than the option of destroying them. The only change to this bill while it navigated the legislative process was the collected monies will go to the law enforcement officers training fund rather than to the general fund.

So, as you can see, we had another great session and I owe every one of you a huge THANK YOU for all the e-mails, phone calls, and written messages to our Legislators. In all honesty, I could not do it without everyone else's help. The letters, e-mails, and phone calls to Legislators are what makes all this possible. I am merely a lobbyist, a mouth piece for the gun owners. I bring your message to our law makers. If firearm owners remain silent, I am nothing but a lone voice. What impresses the Legislators the most is how fast and uniform the gun owner's voices are heard. As Alert E-Mails went out, your responses were over whelming. So, keep up the good work and together we can accomplish our goals. I have no idea what the 2007 Legislative Session will bring us, but we will be ready when the time is right. If anyone has ideas or comments between now and then, send them to me at sdssala@cs.com. Many of our past bills started out that way.

Check the SD Shooting Sports Assoc. web site regularly for updates. Many of you have asked me for Legislator's voting records on our bills for this session. Sometime in the near future I will be posting it. As always, I encourage everyone's input if there is something you would like to see posted on our web site. This will probably be the final Alert E-mail for the 2006 Legislative Session, so once again,

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!!!

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

12708 Robinson Road

Black Hawk, SD 57718-9325

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #14

2006-02-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Feb. 21, 2006

ALERT E-MAIL #14

Hello To All,

Great news from the Capital. Governor Rounds signed HB 1134 on Friday, our No Retreat/ Self Defense bill and HB 1173 today, our bill which prohibits any state agency from adopting or promulgating rules that are contrary to our present Concealed Carry laws. Read these bills carefully because as of July 1st, 2006 they become law. HB 1075 was delivered to the Governor today. That is the bill which would give the Division of Criminal Investigation the additional option to sell confiscated firearms intact. The collected monies would go into the Law Enforcement Training fund.

So now we are down to our last bill which caused a bit of a ruckus at the last hearing. It is HB 1199 which adds CCW permit "applicants" to the list of restricted items that are not public knowledge. As you remember, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader has a policy of printing the names of permit "applicants" since we already restricted them from access to the CCW data base. So this bill this year is in response to them "back dooring" the system again. The newspaper lobby hit us with heated opposition at the last hearing and as a result an amendment was added to the bill. But the amendment actually strengthens our legislation and avoids a possible legal challenge by the Argus Leader. Senator Lee Schoenbeck, who is an attorney, helped us punch holes in what the newspaper lobby would have liked to have seen the hearing outcome be. I was very thankful for his quick thinking and slight bending of the rules to gain the positive results for our bill. It raised some eyebrows in the room, but after the dust settled it was obviously a good move. So now this bill returns to the House for a vote of concurrence. This will probably be the last time I ask you to contact anyone, but the concurrence vote will happen very soon. Please e-mail both of your Representatives and ask them to vote for passage of HB 1199 as amended by the Senate. This will be an important message. For help determining what District you live in, go to this link. Remember, all Representatives can be contacted by using the e-mail address --- rep.*****@state.sd.us --- and substituting their last name for the *****'s. Or contact me and I can help you. Even though presently this is a local Sioux Falls dilemma, without passage of this bill any newspaper anywhere in SD could adopt the same policy at any time and start publishing your name when you apply for or renew your permit. This information is no one's business and must always be protected as private.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail #13

2006-02-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

2-16-06

ALERT E-MAIL #13

Hello To All,

It has been a very busy and very productive week at the Capital. Many Legislators complimented the politeness and brevity of your e-mails and your messages that came into the Capital. I want to thank everyone who responded this way. It helped catapult two of our bills to passage when they fell on somewhat rocky ground. My apologizes for not sending out an Alert E-Mail sooner, but this week proved to be our biggest challenge so I was not able to leave the Capital much. An update is in order for all of our bills. Remember, you can still access past information on all of our bills on my Blog Site at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/

This is where the past Alert E-Mails are permanently archived.

HB 1075, which grants authority to the Division of Criminal Investigation to sell confiscated firearms as an additional option for their disposition, passed today (2/16/06) from the House. It had to return there for a concurrence vote because of an amendment attached to it in the Senate. The amendment stipulated that funds collected shall be deposited in the law enforcement officers training fund rather than the general fund. This bill is now on to the Governor for his signature. You can review its history at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/1075.htm and search the numerous links at your leisure.

HB 1173, which restricts any state agency from adopting any rule that restricts the right or privilege to carry or possess a pistol in contradiction to our concealed carry laws, passed its final hurdle on 2/14/06 and is now on the Governors desk awaiting his signature. A history can be reviewed at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/1173.htm

HB 1134, the No Retreat/Self Defense bill passed out of the Senate on 2/10/06 and passed a House concurrence vote on 2/14/06. This was our biggest challenge this year. It was amended many times with some amendments being removed in subsequent hearings. The final House vote was a very close one at 43 to 27. Much closer than any bills we have ever run in the past. This bill is now on to the Governor. The history is at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/1134.htm

HB 1199 is our final challenge for this session. This is the bill which was brought out in response to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader printing the names of CCW Permit "applicants". We passed a law in 2002 and strengthened it again in 2005 which stipulated that no one could have access to, or compile a list of permit holders. We never considered applicants in the restrictions. Well, the Argus Leader took advantage of that and started printing the names of applicants. Yesterday's hearing was very heated as the SD Newspaper Assoc. lobbyist did his best to unsuccessfully kill the bill. The final vote was 5 to 2 in favor of passage, but the newspapers will not give up, they will just turn up the pressure on the Legislators. The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate floor tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest. Because it was amended, it will have to return to the House for them to concur. Please contact your Senator immediately and ask him or her to pass HB 1199. As soon as I receive the floor vote results, I will pass it on to you. We will still have the final House vote to contend with. This problem extends further than just the Sioux Falls area. If the Argus Leader is allowed to continue printing names, other newspapers will follow. We need to head this problem off before it goes any further. If you are unsure who your Senator is, we have the info at http://sdshootingsports.org/contacting_legislators.htm If you need additional help, feel free to contact me. I will be going back to the Capital on Monday.

One last item is our Quick Polls which are still posted at http://sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm If you have not voted in them, please do. If you have voted, you can still go back and submit additional comments without voting. The final step with all of our bills is a visit with the Governor. I will be bringing the results of the polls with me when I visit with him. Governor Rounds has always been very receptive to the concerns of firearms owners in the state. From visiting with members of his staff, I feel confident that Governor Rounds will be very receptive to our bills. We still need his signature before they can become law. It has been a tough session, but we are almost there. Our successes this year will be something you can be very proud of. The correspondence you sent to the legislature was welcomed by all of them. Even Legislators that will always vote for our causes complimented the ever growing gun owner voice in South Dakota. Those who needed some convincing were definitely moved in that direction, so keep it up.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail #12

2006-02-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

2-10-06

ALERT E-MAIL #12

Hello To All,

HB 1134, our Self Defense bill received an excellent Senate floor vote this afternoon of 30 to 1, with 4 absentees. This is what happens when you make your wishes known to your Legislators. This bill was amended in the House and amended again in the Senate to return it to its original intent and language. The commendable vote in the Senate was a direct result of all the correspondence from everyone. This bill actually came very close to being tabled because it strayed so far away from our original intent. Now it is back on an excellent course for passage. Because it was amended again by the Senate, it must now go back to the House for concurrence. There will be no further committee action, just floor debate. Now is the time to contact both of your Representatives from your District and ask them to support HB 1134 when it comes up for further debate. We have taken this bill a long way, now is the time to give it one last push. Contact information can be found on our web site at http://sdshootingsports.org/contacting_legislators.htm

Or you can e-mail me if you cannot find your Representative's name and contact info. I will be glad to help you. E-mail is always best and quickest. Put "Please Support HB 1134 with Senate Amendments" in your subject box and in your message.

In other action, HB 1173 is scheduled to be heard at 7:45AM Monday morning by the Senate State Affairs committee. This bill requests all state agencies go through the Legislative process before restricting your right to concealed carry. They cannot block this right using the rule making authority granted to them. This bill appears to be in good shape, but if you would like to contact the committee members, please do. All of them can be addressed by using the e-mail address "sen.*****@state.sd.us" . Substitute their last name for the *****'s. Remember the "period" after "sen".

HB 1199, the permit applicant privacy bill has no date set yet but it will be heard by the Senate Judiciary committee. I will send info out as I get it.

Once again, thank you to everyone for helping get the messages out. These bills cannot pass without your input. If you have not sent out an e-mail yet, please do. My lobbying effectiveness at the Capital is a direct result of your messages.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

Alert E-mail #11

2006-02-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

Feb. 6th, 2006

ALERT E-MAIL #11

Hello To All,

Thank you to everyone who contacted the Senate Judiciary committee members. HB 1134, the "no retreat, self defense" bill, passed out of committee today with only one NO vote. For some reason, Senator Koetzle (Dist. 15 - Sioux Falls) did not like the bill. The good news is, the bill has been amended back to its original version as it was first introduced in the House. As you may remember from past Alert E-Mails, a House Judiciary committee member requested and was granted an amendment to the original bill which substantially weakened it. Senator Schoenbeck (Dist. 5 - Watertown) and Senator Knudson (Dist. 14 - Sioux Falls), did an excellent job diagnosing the bill from the legal standpoint and conveyed a need to reinstate the previously amended out language. So now the bill goes to the full Senate with the original language intact. Please, now send a short e-mail to your Senator asking him or her to support HB 1134 when it comes to the Senate floor vote. If you are unsure who your Senator is, the information can be found on our web site at: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2005/senrost.htm and your Legislative District can be found at: http://sdshootingsports.org/Documents/CitiesDistricts.pdf

We knew all along that this bill would prove to be a challenge but we have taken it quite a way thanks to everyone's help and messages. Now is not the time to ease away from it. Being amended again, back to its original form, now means it must return to the House floor for a vote to concur or not to concur, after the full Senate hopefully approves it. There will be no further committee hearings, just floor debates from this point on. If you have not already contacted your Senator, now is the time. If your Senator was one of the committee members, thank them for their vote of support. They will undoubtedly vote for it on the Senate floor.

In other activity, HB 1075 was again deferred to another day. No reason for concern, the committee just ran out of time. That bill is in great shape.

HB 1173 and HB 1199 are still waiting for a date to be heard. I will send information to you as soon as it becomes available. If you missed any past Alert E-Mails containing facts about these bills, they are archived on my blog site at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/

The four SDSSA Quick Polls are still running at http://sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm if you have not already voted. The optional comments have proven to be very helpful and informative. Please vote only once per poll, but you can go back and submit a comment at any time. Many of these comments I have been sharing with Legislators, so keep them coming in.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #10

2006-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

February 3, 2006

ALERT E-MAIL #10

Hyper-links in blue

Hello To All,

Now is the time to act and send messages to Senate Judiciary committee members. HB 1134 is scheduled for a hearing this Monday morning, the 6th. This is the "stand your ground" self defense enhancement bill that has passed out of the House 48 to 19. Not a tremendously strong yes vote. If this is a matter for concern for you, please convey this to the below listed committee members. A background for this bill has been published in past Alert E-Mails which are posted at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ I plan on being there to testify in favor of this bill and could sure use your correspondence as a back up. This will be our temperamental bill for 2006.

HB 1075 is also scheduled for a hearing in the same committee, but this bill seems to be on very good ground. This is the bill which would give DCI the extra option to sell confiscated firearms. Additional Alert E-Mail information is also posted on my blog site at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/

Our other two bills are scheduled to be heard by the Senate State Affairs committee, but no date has been set as of yet. I will notify you as I hear more.

E-mail committee members at:

Sen. Abdallah -- sen.abdallah@state.sd.us

Sen. Schoenbeck -- sen.schoenbeck@state.sd.us

Sen. Gray -- sen.gray@state.sd.us

Sen. Knudson -- sen.knudson@state.sd.us

Sen. Koetzle -- sen.koetzle@state.sd.us

Sen. Koskan -- sen.koskan@state.sd.us

Sen. Moore -- sen.moore@state.sd.us

Or you can call the Senate lobby at 605-773-3821 and leave a message for two Senators at a time. The last option is, if you would like to fax them a letter asking for their support. The fax number is 605-773-6806. Faxes must be preceded by a cover letter and each fax must be individually addressed to each Senator. Whatever method you use, please send them out as soon as possible. If one of these Senators is from your District, you may want to call them while they are home this weekend and talk to them about why you want this legislation passed. All of these Senators are very fair and civic minded and would enjoy talking to a constituent.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #9

2006-02-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

2-1-06

ALERT E-MAIL #9

Hello To All,

More good news from the capital. HB 1134, the No Retreat - Self Defense Bill, passed out of the House on a 48 to 19 vote. Many thanks to everyone who contacted their Representatives and asked for this bill to be passed. I doubt this bill would have survived without this contact. This bill has become our most controversial bill this year and if you want to see it passed, we will need your help when it now gets into the Senate. I will notify you when it is assigned to a committee. This bill is controversial enough that if Senators do not hear from constituents, it would not surprise me to see them vote against it due to lack of grassroots support. If you were ever forced into a situation that dictated using justified force or violence to defend yourself or a loved one, you will be served well by this bill being passed into law now. If you have not read through the bill, please take the time to do it at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/bills/HB1134H.htm and form an opinion to follow up on. The bill's prime sponsor (Rep. Hanks) made a very insignificant amendment to it before passage from the House floor, so the above version is the newest one. The key 'stand your ground factor' of "no retreat" is still left intact.

HB 1199, the CCW Applicants Privacy Bill, passed off the House floor with a 65 to 2 vote. This bill also heads to the Senate and I will notify you when it is assigned to a committee. I am expecting additional opposition from some newspapers in the state as they feel they have the right to publish your name when you apply for a CCW permit. Our Quick Poll on this issue shows 100% in favor of maintaining privacy for applicants. The newspapers claim to have their own poll showing just the opposite. (HMMM)! If you have not already voted in our polls, this would be a good time to do so. http://sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm I will be bringing the results with me to the Senate hearings.

HB 1173, the No Agency CCW Rules Bill, passed the House with a unanimous 67 to 0 vote. It does not get any better than that. Thank you for your correspondence to your Representatives. Even though this bill is on a good roll, Legislators look to their constituents for input. Once again, I will follow up when this bill gets to the Senate.

HB 1075, the bill which would allow Dept. of Criminal Investigations to sell confiscated firearms intact instead of destroying them, has been deferred until Monday the 6th. It is presently being heard by the Senate Judiciary committee. This may just be a procedural move due to time constraints. I will once again pass information on to you as I find out.

Remember that all past Alert E-Mails are posted on my blog site at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ should you need additional information on any of our bills this year. Or you can contact me at one of the below addresses. If I am at the capital, it may take some time to respond, but I try to answer every e-mail.

One last item, people in the state have asked me who Darin Goens is. He is our new NRA-ILA State and Local Affairs liaison. He worked 8 years for the Colorado Senate and was born and raised in Watertown, SD. So in addition to his professional interest, he has a personal interest in our firearms affairs. Darin graduated from the University Of SD and has a masters in political science from the University of Kansas. He was with me at the capital for the hearings on our bills last week. You can reach him at dgoens@nrahq.org.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #8

2006-01-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

1-28-06

ALERT E-MAIL #8

Hello To All,

Good news from the capital. HB 1134, the No Retreat - Self Defense Bill, passed out of the House Judiciary committee on an 11 to 2 vote. HB 1199, the CCW Applicants Privacy Bill, passed out of the House State Affairs committee on a 13 to 0 unanimous vote and was additionally put on the consent calendar. HB 1173, the No Agency CCW Rules Bill, passed out of the House State Affairs committee on a 13 to 0 unanimous vote and was also put on the consent calendar. Being put on the consent calendar means these two bills will bypass the normal floor debate and go directly to a House floor vote. This allows the other members of the House to know that the committee feels they should be passed without further debate. HB 1134 was amended in committee. It weakens it slightly, but not significantly. The key 'stand your ground factor' of "no retreat" was left intact. This bill will definitely need everyone's support if we are to expect it to pass. It will be heard by the entire House of Representatives by Tuesday. Please e-mail, call, or fax both of your Representatives and ask them to support HB 1134 with NO ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS. Once we get this bill into the Senate, I believe we can successfully finish its path to passage.

If you are in doubt as to who your two Representatives are, you can find this information on our web site at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2005/hourost.htm .

If you are unsure what District you are in, you can cross reference your town to District at http://sdshootingsports.org/Documents/CitiesDistricts.pdf .

You can also contact your Representatives at:

http://legis.state.sd.us/email/index.aspx?FuseAction=Member

select them from the drop down box and e-mail them.

If you prefer to call them on Monday, dial 605-773-3851 to reach the House lobby. You can leave a message for both of them by name with one phone call.

Whatever method you use, be sure to ask them to SUPPORT HB-1134. This is perhaps the most critical point in the passage of this bill. Once over this hurdle, we have the momentum to push this bill to passage. So please take a few moments to contact them. If you were ever forced into a situation that dictated using justified force or violence to defend yourself or a loved one, you will be served well by this bill being passed into law now.

If you still have not answered our Quick Polls, they are posted on our web site at http://sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm . Your comments are important as we proceed with various legislation. These polls will remain up while the legislation is still pending. There are 4 polls posted. Please only take each one once.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #7

2006-01-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

1-25-06 ALERT E-MAIL #7

Hello To All,

As Murphy's law would have it, our remaining 3 bills are all being heard in committee on this Friday morning, 1-27-06. Now is the time to contact the Representatives on the respective committee and ask them to support the bill you are referencing. I have posted the information on our web site to assist you in contacting these Representatives and linked to it below. Be sure to put "Please Vote Yes on (bill number)" in your subject box. A brief message will suffice but is actually not necessary. Your message in the subject box is sufficient. You can contact any, or all of the committee members. They do not have to be from your Legislative District.

Two of our bills will be heard by the House State Affairs committee. They are HB 1173 which asks for no state agency to be able to restrict our Concealed Carry laws by adopting a rule to do such. More info is in Alert E-Mail #6.

The other bill being heard by this committee is HB 1199 which asks for additional privacy consideration for our CCW permit applicants list. Things have been happening so rapidly at the Capital that we have not made much mention of this bill yet. This bill is in reaction to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader printing names of CCW permit applicants in their newspaper. Apparently, they found a loop hole in SD law which they are taking advantage of to do this, so we will be tightening the noose around our privacy concerns even tighter yet with HB 1199. If you have fallen victim to this inappropriate list, please contact me. I would like to talk to some of you about this bad experience. SDSSA will do everything possible to put an end to this policy by the Argus Leader and any other media outlet who tries a similar stunt. Presently, this is just localized in the Sioux Falls area but if we do not put a stop to it, it could happen anywhere in the future.

The third bill is being heard by the House Judiciary committee. It is HB 1134 which strengthens our right to self defense laws. This will be a controversial issue and if you contact no one else, please contact these committee members and ask for their support. More info for this bill is included in Alert E-mail #4.

The above highlighted links should make it easier for you to contact folks at the Capital, just click on the Representatives name and choose "Contact Representative -------" which appears at the lower right of the profile page. Plus you get to see background info on that specific Legislator which makes it feel a little more personal. Or if you would prefer to call the switchboard and leave a voice message, the numbers are:

Senate Lobby 605-773-3821

House Lobby 605-773-3851

Fax a message 605-773-6806

If the links are not supported by your ISP, go to http://sdshootingsports.org/contacting_legislators.htm

and scroll down.

Please, do not forget our Quick Polls at http://www.sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm regarding Legislation we are lobbying on your behalf. This has proven to be an exceptional supplemental tool, especially the comments coming in at the bottom of each poll. I enjoy reading them and they have provided some excellent talking points. As we lobby at the capital, we represent you and your views, so this is a good method to pass them on to us. I have passed many of your comments on to our Legislators.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-Mail #6

2006-01-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

1-25-06

ALERT E-MAIL #6

Hyper-links in blue

Hello To All,

Our next bill of interest is HB 1173. This is the replacement bill for HB 1083 which had improper language in the first line. I never made a big issue out of this bill in the beginning because I did not want people to be confused, so a brief explanation is in order. This is the bill which seeks to prohibit "any state agency" from restricting your legal right to carry a concealed pistol. Presently, any state agency that has been granted firearms rule making authority by the state Legislature can (by rule) prohibit your right to carry within their designated areas. An example of this is the Game, Fish and Parks Dept. which had a rule restricting this right in all state parks, state recreation areas, state nature areas, state lakeside use areas, and the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills. I would like to emphasize my use of the word HAD. Mr. John Cooper, the Secretary for GF&P, has addressed this situation internally. He drafted an amendment to their rules and presented it for approval to their commissioners. By a slight oversight, the original draft did not include out of state permit holders, so Mr. Cooper revised his first draft to also include those folks. This rule change has been agreeably accepted by the Commission with finalization expected in March. This brings me back to our bill. Even though GF&P was so amiable with this correction to their rules, SD Shooting Sports Assoc. feels the need to bind this into statute (law), so this problem never arises again in the future. A state wide patch work of gun laws serves no good purpose. If laws concerning our right to carry are to be passed, this should only be done by the Legislature, which is the voice of the people. This gives the gun owners an equal voice in the process. The original draft (HB 1083) specifically addressed GF&P which was not our intent and we planned on having it deferred to the 36th legislative day (killed) at the first hearing which was today. We already had the replacement version (HB 1173) ready to go which addresses "any state agency". To view these and all of our other bills in their entirety, go to '06 Legislative Session

When HB 1173 is assigned to a committee, we will let you know. It could be as soon as this Friday. Some of you have already responded to the wrong bill due to misinformation by the SD Gun Owners group so I must again caution everyone, this group is not involved with the mechanics of any of the 4 gun bills this year. SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mails will be going out on a regular basis and keeping you up to date as we proceed. All past Alert E-mails are posted on my Blog Site at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ for your convenience. Please go back and review them occasionally as this will be their permanent archive spot. SDSSA and NRA have a total of 4 gun bills this year so I will be referring to past Alert E-Mails occasionally, as I update you.

UPDATE: HB 1075, the bill which would allow DCI the additional option to sell confiscated firearms, has passed the House floor on a 66 to 2 vote. Now it moves to the Senate. Senator McCracken will introduce it there.

UPDATE: HB 1083 has now been replaced with HB 1173. HB 1083 was deferred to the 36th legislative day. This is the "No Rules" bill.

UPDATE: HB 1134, the Self Defense bill and HB 1199, the Permit Privacy bill have yet to be assigned a committee. Both could be heard as early as this Friday the 27th.

One last item, if you have not already voted in our Quick Polls, please take this opportunity to do so. The comments section at the bottom of each poll has produced some excellent remarks for discussion when I visit with Legislators. Feel free to post your feelings on all of these issues and thank you for your input.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

Alert E-mail #5

2006-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

January 21, 2006

ALERT E-MAIL #5

Hello To All,
Our first bill to receive a hearing (HB 1075) went very well. It passed out of committee with only one "NO" vote. Next stop for this bill is the House Floor. This bill would allow confiscated firearms which were used in a crime, to be sold intact rather than destroyed. More info is posted on our 1-16-06 Alert E-mail #3. Now would be a good time to contact both of your State Representatives from your Legislative District and ask them to vote for passage of HB 1075 when it comes to a floor vote. This will be some time early this week. To find your Representatives contact info, go to our web site http://www.sdshootingsports.org/contacting_legislators.htm A phone call this weekend would be great, or you can contact them when they return to the capital by the below method. You can fax or call the House Lobby number and leave a message for both of them by name.
House Lobby 605-773-3851
Fax a message 605-773-6806
E-mail: http://legis.state.sd.us/email/index.aspx?FuseAction=Member
( select legislator's name from drop down box)

(If any of these links are not supported by your ISP, let me know and I can e-mail you the actual addresses.)

There is little action presently on our other bills, so I will send subsequent messages as things unfold. We have another bill pending which is in reaction to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader printing names of CCW permit holders in their newspaper. Apparently, they found a loop hole in SD law which they are taking advantage of to do this, so we will be tightening the noose around our privacy tighter yet with upcoming legislation. If you have fallen victim to this inappropriate list, please contact me. I would like to talk to some of you about this bad experience. SDSSA will do everything possible to put an end to this policy by the Argus Leader.

Please, do not forget our polls at http://www.sdshootingsports.org/quick_polls.htm regarding Legislation we are lobbying. This has proven to be an exceptional tool, especially the comments coming in at the bottom of each poll. I enjoy reading them and they have provided some excellent talking points. As we lobby at the capital, we represent you and your views, so this is a good method to pass them on to us. I have passed many of your comments on to our Legislators.

Some have brought it to my attention that they did not receive Alert E-mail #4. All of the Alert E-mails are posted on my Blog Spot at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ . My apologies if you were missed.

The final item I hesitantly bring to you but it sadly must be presented. Since 1998 there has been no organization in SD that has authored and lobbied to completion any firearms legislation other than the SD Shooting Sports Association in conjunction with the National Rifle Association since we are their state affiliate. Our record is 100% with never having lost a bill yet, whether it has been to pass good bills or defeat bad bills. Most of our bills pass with a strong majority or unanimous vote. We work year round researching SD gun laws in order to bring you the best legislation possible. Our record is posted at http://sdshootingsports.org/accomplishments.htm Bear in mind this does not include the SD Wildlife Federation who deals very effectively with hunting issues. I am not sure of their record, but it is exemplary in this area.
For the last few years there has been a duo from Rapid City that has no shame when it comes to taking credit for what SDSSA and NRA has accomplished on your behalf and with your assistance. They have never successfully completed anything legislatively at the capital and hardly ever show up there. When they do, they are greeted with justified criticism because of their constant attacks on our solidly pro-gun Legislators. Their latest scam is to have people sign a petition asking GF&Ps to repeal a rule which governs concealed carry. This is a mute issue presently. I have been working with the Secretary of GF&P (John Cooper) for over 2 months now to exempt permit holders from that rule and it was successfully accomplished with the sincere efforts of Mr. Cooper. I wrote about this in Alert E-mail # 1. The duo that represents SD Gun Owners never contributed any effort to this venture and only found out about it after I published the facts, but now they would have you think they are the main catalyst. They have continually deceived gun owners by circulating lies, propaganda, and fear tactics aimed at making you think the worse of every scenario. All the while, soliciting funds from unsuspecting gun owners. The record speaks for itself. SDSSA has NEVER solicited funds from anyone yet remains the strongest, largest, most influential, and most successful Second Amendment lobbying group in South Dakota. Keep your money in your pocket, it will do you more good there. We will continue to protect and expand your firearms rights at the capital and keep you informed as we always have. You know what is about to happen at the capital before anyone else does and we will continue to be your voice to the legislative body.

As always; please forward this message to every gun owner you know. If this message was forwarded to you and you would prefer to become a member of the SDSSA Alert E-mail list, register at http://sdshootingsports.org/legislative_affairs_signup.htm and you will be added to the largest pro-firearms e-mail network in state of South Dakota.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,
SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs
NRA-ILA State EVC
P.O. Box 402
Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402
Phone: 605-787-5713
Fax: 605-786-0339
E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com
www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail #4

2006-01-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2006

Alert E-mail #4

Hello To All,

The next bill SDSSA is lobbying for is one molded around the Florida "Castle Doctrine" law just recently passed. It is being introduced by Rep. Hanks (Dist. 32).

South Dakota presently has very explicit self defense laws which define the justifiable use of force while protecting yourself, or others, from threatened bodily injury. One of these laws, 20-9-8 dates back to 1877. To read the exact statute language for all of our self defense laws, go to http://sdshootingsports.org/sd_laws.htm A weakness we find in SD law states, "the force or violence used cannot be more than that sufficient to prevent such offense". As you can see, this is left open to interpretation. If you were to confront someone on your property who intended to inflict bodily harm on you or a member of your family and you stopped the situation by regrettably shooting this individual, who would decide if your actions were "beyond sufficient" resulting in you being charged with a criminal offense for protecting your family. Rep. Hanks bill (Draft 301) will remedy this situation by rewriting 22-18-4 to eliminate this possibility and to establish a person's right to lawfully resist by force or violence any threat of bodily injury. It also establishes that a person does NOT have to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be. This goes beyond your home. The full text of this bill is posted at http://sdshootingsports.org/81st_legislative_session.htm . (Remember as you read bills that ask for changes to existing law, the proposed omitted parts are ~~overstricken~~, and the new wording is underscored). SDSSA has hosted another Quick Poll concerning this bill at http://sdshootingsports.org/ila.htm for your input. Please answer this one and any other polls you may have previously missed. Answer each poll only once. Many people are expressing additional views in the poll comment boxes. This is proving to be a very beneficial tool and we thank you for your input. As we lobby at the State Capital, it is always imperative that we know where the firearms' owner's concerns resonate from. We represent you!

--------------------------------------------------------------

As our bills move forward I will keep you updated for any changes. In the previous Alert E-mail #3 we addressed Draft 049. It has now been assigned a number, HB 1075, and is having it's first hearing in House Judiciary on Friday morning January 20th at 7:45AM. Now would be the time to contact Committee Members and voice your support for this legislation. In your Subject box, be sure to print "Support HB 1075". Due to time constraints, e-mail will be the best way to communicate with them. Their names and e-mail addresses are below.

Joni Cutler --- rep.cutler@state.sd.us

Margaret Gillespie --- rep.gillespie@state.sd.us

Pat Haley --- rep.haley@state.sd.us

Thomas Hennies --- rep.hennies@state.sd.us

Roger Hunt --- rep.hunt@state.sd.us

Barry Jensen --- rep.jensen@state.sd.us

Matthew Michels --- rep.michels@state.sd.us

Casey Murschel --- rep.murschel@state.sd.us

Sean O'Bien --- rep.obrien@state.sd.us

Elaine Roberts --- rep.roberts@state.sd.us

Lou Sebert --- rep.sebert@state.sd.us

Shawn Tornow --- rep.tornow@state.sd.us

Thomas Van Norman --- rep.vannorman@state.sd.us

All past Alert E-mails are posted at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ for your convenience. Please go back and review them occasionally. This will be their permanent archive spot. There is quite a bit of gun bill related activity at the capital this session and I will be referring to past Alert E-mails occasionally as I update you.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail #3

2006-01-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2006

Alert E-mail #3

Hello To All,

The next bill of interest is being introduced in the State House by Rep. Buckingham (Dist. 33). I am unsure at this point who will be carrying it in the Senate. Additional information will be sent out as I receive it. Although this is not a SDSSA requested bill, we support it and will be assisting in it's passage.

The facts which lead up to this legislation are as follows;

Under South Dakota law, firearms which are used in the commission of a crime, when no longer needed to be held as evidence, are disposed of in the following manner;

(1) If it is stolen, it is returned to the lawful owner upon proof of ownership

(2) If it is illegal (such as sawed off shotguns, etc..), it is destroyed pursuant to law

(3) If it is neither stolen nor illegal, it is delivered to the arresting agency or, at the direction of the attorney general, to the SD Forensic Laboratory for scientific examination purposes, for lawful use, or disposal.

The legislation that is pending is Draft 049 and is posted at http://sdshootingsports.org/81st_legislative_session.htm . (Remember as you read bills that ask for changes to existing law, the proposed omitted parts are ~~overstricken~~, and the new wording is underscored). It would allow the Attorney General's office, which includes the SD Forensic Lab, to sell the firearm intact as an additional option to #3 above. This would put additional funds into our SD budget and save many firearms from destruction, including collectables. This legislation is being supported by Larry Long, the Attorney General who is extremely pro-gun and would rather not see good firearms destroyed. In most other states, agencies cannot wait to destroy firearms. We are lucky to have good people in the right places in SD.

SDSSA has posted a poll concerning this legislation on our web site at http://sdshootingsports.org/ila.htm and once again encourage everyone to voice your opinion. If you have not already answered the other poll, this would be a good time to answer both of them. Please, answer each poll question only once. The results will be tabulated and presented at the appropriate hearings. Remember, we lobby on your behalf and it is your voice that makes it all happen.

All past Alert E-mails are posted at http://sdssala.blogspot.com/ for your convenience. Please go back and review them occasionally. Cracker-barrel sessions are starting up in various places around the state. This gives you a tremendous opportunity to listen to, and visit with your local Legislators to voice your opinion on our issues. We encourage everyone to attend these sessions if possible.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail #2

2006-01-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2006

Hello To All,

The next item of interest is the only bill requested by SD Shooting Sports Association. Although we will be assisting others in passage of their bills, and information will follow in subsequent Alert E-mails, this is the only bill we are running at this point. The text of the bill will be posted very shortly at; http://sdshootingsports.org/81st_legislative_session.htm or you can read it below. Rep. Buckingham (Dist. 33) will be our prime sponsor and Sen. McCracken (Dist. 34) will carry it in the Senate

A little back ground is in order. Presently, SD has 3 separate laws which prohibit a county, a township, or a municipality from passing any ordinances that restrict firearms possession, sales, ownership, etc. They are respectively, 7-18A-36, 8-5-13, and 9-19-20 and we have them posted on our web site at http://www.sdshootingsports.org/sd_laws.htm

These are our present preemption laws which protect our "right to keep and bear arms" from unjustified encroachment. These laws establish that our state legislative body is the only political entity that should be enacting laws governing firearms. This allows the residents of SD an equal voice in the process through their elected officials. Some state agencies have been granted rule making authority by our state legislature, to include rules pertaining to various areas of firearms possession and usage. While the bulk of these agency adopted rules fall into acceptable guidelines for the agencies to conduct normal activities, we felt a need to protect our concealed carry rights as established by chapter 23-7 of SD law. Thus the formation of our bill which reads as follows;

No state agency may adopt or promulgate any rule that restricts any right or privilege to carry or possess a pistol in contravention to authority being exercised in accordance with being licensed to carry a concealed pistol pursuant to chapter 23-7

We have already gathered a tremendous volume of cosponsors in both the House and the Senate so we will inform you in subsequent Alert E-mails which Legislators still need to be contacted for their support. For now, we have a survey concerning this bill posted on our web site at www.sdshootingsports-ila.org and encourage everyone to take the time to voice your opinion. Your input is valuable to us. We represent you as we lobby in Pierre. These numbers will be used at capital hearings to show the level of support for this legislation.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Association

Legislative Affairs Director

NRA-ILA State EVC

12708 Robinson Road

Black Hawk, SD 57718-9325

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@cs.com

www.sdshootingsports-ila.org

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

SD Shooting Sports Assoc. Alert E-mail

2006-01-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

Hello To All,

The 2006 Legislative Session began today and gun owners will have several "hot button" issues to deal with between now and March. Rather than pack everything into this one message, I will try to assign just one issue per Alert E-mail for the time being.

Last year I was made aware of the fact that the SD Game, Fish and Parks Dept. had a rule that made it illegal to carry a concealed pistol (with a permit) on the Mickelson Trail, anywhere in state campgrounds, and all other areas under their supervision. These rules have the same effect as state law because GF&P was granted this rule making authority by our state legislature many years ago. I had a bill prepared to rectify this situation and brought it to John Cooper's attention. Mr. Cooper is the secretary for GF&P. Some of these GF&P's rules date back to the days before we had such lenient concealed carry laws as we do today. As you know, over the course of the last several years as your lobbyist for SD Shooting Sports Assoc., we have drastically improved and moved our CCW laws forward to the point where we are second to no other state. [For a complete list of accomplishments, visit our web site at http://sdshootingsports.org/accomplishments.htm].

Mr. Cooper decided it was time to revise the GF&P's rules to better coincide with our expanded right to carry laws. He had the GF&P's attorneys draft an exemption for those with a legal permit. He then presented it at the monthly Commission Meeting in Pierre last week, where with his endorsement it was accepted for review. The "rules change" now moves into the 30 day public review period. This is when GF&P looks forward to your input on this issue. The last phase in this process is the public hearing and acceptance during the March 2nd and 3rd Commission Meeting in Chamberlain. Below is the exemption language which was drafted for approval and when approved will become a permanent part of GF&P's

USES OF PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS

Chapter 41:03:01

(5) An Individual who possesses a valid concealed pistol permit pursuant to SDCL 23-7-7 may carry a concealed pistol at any time.

If you would like to see this proposal accepted, please contact Chuck Schlueter at "chuck.schlueter@state.sd.us" and let him know. Chuck compiles all the e-mail messages and summarizes the comments for the Commission before their final ruling in March. He then brings all of your comments to the Commission meeting and presents them. Please inform every gun owner you know to do the same. Bear in mind, without this exemption to GF&P's rules, you cannot carry a concealed pistol in any state campground, on the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills, or in any state park, any state recreation area, any state nature area, or any state lakeside use area. Try to find one fellow gun owner every week to send an e-mail to Chuck. With that kind of input, this is sure to pass.

If you would like to send a "thank-you" e-mail to Mr. Cooper for his efforts to this point, he can be reached at "john.cooper@state.sd.us". It is a pleasure to work with him on this project and it is his conviction to make this happen that resulted in it moving forward so quickly. It also eliminates the need to run one of our bills this session which in turn frees me up to concentrate on other legislative issues. I will address our other bills and strategies in subsequent e-mails. As they say, Stay Tuned.

Thank You,

David F. Conway,

SD Shooting Sports Assoc.-Legislative Affairs

NRA-ILA State EVC

P.O. Box 402

Black Hawk, SD 57718-0402

Phone: 605-787-5713

Fax: 605-786-0339

E-mail: sdssala@rushmore.com

http://www.sdshootingsports.org/ila.htm

If you have received this message in error, (and this does happen occasionally), forward this message to the e-mail address "sdssa@cs.com", and your e-mail address will be deleted. If this is the case, please accept our apologies.

Alert E-mail Update

2006-01-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Alert E-mails should begin the week of Jan. 9th.

Welcome to the SD Shooting Sports Association Legislative Alerts Weblog

2005-12-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your interest in SD Shooting Sports Legislative Affairs. Please check this site often for the newest news relating to 2nd Amendment rights for South Dakotan's, and our nation.

Also, please visit the SD Shooting Sports website at:

www.sdshootingsports.org

Our website now has a website that gives you lots’ of goodies, news, legislative info, membership forms, match forms, links galore, match results, schedules and so many other tidbits that the only way to believe it is to log on and see for yourself.

SD Shooting Sports is working to make our organization the best it can be for you. If you shoot or hunt in South Dakota then SD Shooting Sports has helped you in the past few years. We pushed the Range Protection Legislation passed by the SD Legislature. We championed the Conceled Carry Legislation passed in our state. We work to keep your ranges open and your 2nd Ammendment rights intact. We also sponsor shooting matches and many other shooting activities in South Dakota.

So log on to our site at www.sdshootingsports.com and read why you, your Club, Shooting Range, or business needs to become a member of SDSSA. It’s an investment in your shooting sports future.

What can I do on the website?

You can click on an order form for to get your 2006 M1 Raffle tickets.
You can get a membership application on line.
You can hook up to your Elected Officials in Washington, DC or in Pierre with just a click or two.
You can log on to SD Shooting Sports News to read recalls, hunting news, equipment reviews or hunting and shooting topics of all kinds.
We have a for sale page if you need to buy or sell.
You can read info pages from our NRA Field Rep, Bruce Plate and from myself, SDSSA Legislative Affairs Director David Conway.
We have phone numbers and email address for Officers and Board members, we have CMP info and range info.
You can also sign up for SDSSA E-News and my Legislative E-Mail Alerts. These emails will keep you up to date on the very latest in shooting sports news. My Alert Email is geared toward all things legislative, and the E-News Email is for everything else! (recall notices, shoot information, CMP news, etc.)

Here’s your chance to put a couple of new sites on your web favorites list!

Log on and start enjoying what will be the premier website for the shooting sports in South Dakota.

SDSSA Home – Click here to enter the site
About SDSSA – clicking here gets you info about our organization
News – The latest and greatest in all things firearm related
Matches & Results – scores, schedules, forms and info for shooting events in SD
Our Programs – info about Youth Shooting, CMP, Eddie Eagle, YHEC and more
SD NRA Field Rep – takes you to NRA Rep Bruce Plate’s info page chuck full of great info
Legislative Affairs – gets you to info from Pierre and Washington as well as my Legislative Pages
SD Shooting Clubs – Take you to info on Clubs, Shooting Ranges and Organizations in South Dakota

We also want you to help us by logging on to www.sdshootingsports.com and telling us what you think about our website and what you would like to see on the site. You can email us by clicking the info@sdshootingsports.org link on the website and sending us your comments, news stories or photos and we will do our best to include them on the website.

Thanks again, and Welcome!