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Hidey-Holster Permits Down in 2017; Rural Counties Have Higher Carry Rates

By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2018-01-06
Grandma gun
What do you think of my hotdish?

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs reports that the Trump gun slump continues in South Dakota. Her office issued 18,664 new and regular concealed-pistol permits in 2017, down from the 2016 peak of 30,029.

According to the Secretary’s data, the gunniest counties in South Dakota are Harding, Custer, and Sully, while the least secret-packing counties are Todd, Buffalo, and Oglala Lakota:

County Active Concealed-Weapon Permits as of 12/31/2017 Pop (2016 est) Permits per 100 people
Regular Gold Card Enhanced Total
Aurora 406 1 2 409 2,736 14.9
Beadle 2,008 15 38 2,061 18,101 11.4
Bennett 337 0 7 344 3,460 9.9
Bon Homme 774 2 18 794 6,984 11.4
Brookings 3,004 12 191 3,207 34,135 9.4
Brown 4,308 20 143 4,471 39,128 11.4
Brule 738 6 34 778 5,238 14.9
Buffalo 83 0 0 83 2,043 4.1
Butte 1,763 5 16 1,784 10,205 17.5
Campbell 269 0 2 271 1,378 19.7
Charles Mix 966 0 42 1,008 9,396 10.7
Clark 579 2 54 635 3,656 17.4
Clay 940 0 70 1,010 14,086 7.2
Codington 3,003 7 186 3,196 28,063 11.4
Corson 299 2 2 303 4,132 7.3
Custer 2,074 4 83 2,161 8,596 25.1
Davison 2,225 6 44 2,275 19,903 11.4
Day 725 2 28 755 5,571 13.6
Deuel 580 1 29 610 4,231 14.4
Dewey 423 1 0 424 5,742 7.4
Douglas 396 1 8 405 2,932 13.8
Edmunds 609 2 8 619 3,952 15.7
Fall River 1,261 1 37 1,299 6,849 19.0
Faulk 358 0 2 360 2,354 15.3
Grant 851 0 40 891 7,148 12.5
Gregory 623 2 55 680 4,171 16.3
Haakon 334 1 3 338 1,892 17.9
Hamlin 873 2 39 914 6,028 15.2
Hand 601 2 9 612 3,319 18.4
Hanson 418 3 25 446 3,374 13.2
Harding 376 1 2 379 1,278 29.7
Hughes 2,106 8 95 2,209 17,600 12.6
Hutchinson 784 0 13 797 7,368 10.8
Hyde 247 0 3 250 1,352 18.5
Jackson 278 1 1 280 3,326 8.4
Jerauld 255 1 4 260 2,004 13.0
Jones 162 0 14 176 927 19.0
Kingsbury 803 1 11 815 5,001 16.3
Lake 1,249 9 68 1,326 12,909 10.3
Lawrence 3,588 21 63 3,672 25,281 14.5
Lincoln 5,867 5 276 6,148 54,469 11.3
Lyman 452 1 4 457 3,894 11.7
Marshall 499 4 16 519 4,801 10.8
McCook 778 1 9 788 5,625 14.0
McPherson 316 0 6 322 2,438 13.2
Meade 4,996 7 90 5,093 27,693 18.4
Mellette 179 0 1 180 2,102 8.6
Miner 285 0 1 286 2,281 12.5
Minnehaha 14,730 29 714 15,473 187,318 8.3
Moody 681 0 55 736 6,505 11.3
Oglala Lakota 437 1 14 452 14,415 3.1
Pennington 14,710 16 288 15,014 109,372 13.7
Perkins 584 1 1 586 2,983 19.6
Potter 393 0 0 393 2,299 17.1
Roberts 776 5 47 828 10,255 8.1
Sanborn 399 2 2 403 2,396 16.8
Spink 887 10 25 922 6,420 14.4
Stanley 485 0 9 494 2,993 16.5
Sully 304 0 15 319 1,421 22.4
Todd 427 9 10 446 10,155 4.4
Tripp 996 4 32 1,032 5,492 18.8
Turner 1,148 1 28 1,177 8,317 14.2
Union 2,041 1 85 2,127 14,934 14.2
Walworth 747 1 4 752 5,610 13.4
Yankton 2,178 4 65 2,247 22,616 9.9
Ziebach 226 0 1 227 2,801 8.1
Statewide Total 97,197 244 3,287 100,728 865,454 11.6

Among our ten most populous counties, the most pistol-packingest are Meade, Lawrence, and Pennington, all in the Black Hills metroplex. Minnehahanians are the least likely of our “urbanites” to hide guns on their persons, with 8.3 permits per 100 residents, while 11.3 out of every 100 of their supposedly safer suburbanite neighbors in Lincoln carry concealed. Here in Brown County, we’re about as nervous as our Lincoln counterparts at 11.4 per 100, just a snudge below the state average of 11.6.

The twelve most populous counties have just over two thirds of South Dakota’s population. Those somewhat urban centers have a concealed-carry permit rate of 11.1 per 100 residents. In the other 54 counties, the CCP rate is 12.7.

Funny—I thought country living was supposed to make folks feel safer.

Published in South Dakota

13 Comments

  1. Nick Nemec 2018-01-06 09:11

    What is a “gold card” or “enhanced” permit?

  3. Bob Newland 2018-01-06 12:17

    Everyone in Todd, Buffalo and Oglala Lakota Counties has a pistol, and they carry when they feel like it. They just don’t bother with the stupid permits.

  4. Rorschach 2018-01-06 12:51

    I have a permit just because I can. Don’t feel the need to carry though.

  5. jerry 2018-01-06 12:52

    I think that the good folks in Todd, Buffalo and Oglala Lakota Counties have Platinum cards. This card overrides all other cards including the jokers who scared people into buying into this crap in the first place.

  6. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-01-06 12:52

    Oh, those anarchists on the reservation. Libertarians need to do some registration and GOTV there.

  7. o 2018-01-06 17:21

    Is this the natural result to two things:
    1) Saturation – isn’t there a point after years of record highs the “market” has to settle?
    2) No “enemy” of the 2nd Amendment for the NRA to fear monger against to drive the “market?” Supportive executive and judicial branches mean less clamoring for permits.

    Gun sales are also tracking lower rates since the Trump election.

  8. Roger Cornelius 2018-01-06 17:36

    I doubt that all Indians on the reservations hide their guns, at least the ones I know don’t, but there are probably a significant number of those that do.
    Bob Newland is right, there are quite a few tribal members that don’t comply with state gun laws or state laws in general.
    Most likely the permit holders on the reservation are white farmers and ranchers.

  9. grudznick 2018-01-06 17:43

    The law abiding bastards.

  10. leslie 2018-01-07 19:16

    good to know one in 8 south Dakota residents are carrying. 210,000 South Dakotans are under twenty. So really, figure ONE in SIX adults you run into everyday are carrying.

    I can see why Liz May (R.) ect want to carry in the state house.

  11. grudznick 2018-01-07 19:30

    Ms. leslie, 1 in 8 are carrying legally. Probably 4 of 8 are really carrying. Ms. May is not as worrisome as that 16 year old kid behind you in line at McDonalds who is grown anxious at the wait.

  12. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-01-08 06:16

    Good point about the adult population, Leslie. Lots of Nervous Nellies out there.

  13. Nick Nemec 2018-01-08 06:56

    Something else to consider about the adult population is that demographic information indicates all counties do not have the same proportion of adult residents and children. Sully and Harding have a much higher average age than Native majority counties like Oglala Lakota.

Comments are closed.