The South Dakota House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday intended to abolish the need to acquire a concealed carry permit in order to carry for self-defense.
The NRA reported the House vote 47-23, in favor of doing away with the permit requirement. The measure had already passed in the Senate.
The measure faced opposition from Democrats, some of whom contended that removing a concealed carry permit requirement would somehow boost suicides. The Argus Leader reports that the Democrat opposition was joined by State Rep. Doug Barthel (R-Sioux Falls), who indicated he opposed the bill because his constituents opposed the bill.
But State Rep. Tim Goodwin (R-Rapid City) told his Republican colleagues that the bill should be supported on the grounds that they all took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, which says nothing about requiring a permit to exercise Second Amendment rights.
On November 27, 2018, Breitbart News reported that South Dakota was on the cusp of repealing their concealed carry permit requirement. Then Gov.-elect Kristi Noem (R) had already signaled support for ending the requirement and now the legislation to do so sits on her desk.
Noem has five business days to act on the legislation.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.