I suppose I should take heart that eight out of nine of my fellow South Dakotans haven’t been scared into thinking they need to carry a pistol. But after issuing a record number of concealed-weapon permits in December, Secretary of State Shantel Krebs says 96,000 South Dakotans—one in nine—hold active permits for hidden heat. Interestingly, Secretary Krebs says a big reason for this record is violence that zero in nine South Dakotans have experienced:
Krebs says her office saw an increase in permit applications following tragedies that get national attention…
“We really have heard, from our Sheriff’s offices to our constituents, that the reason this past year we had such an all-time high is truly in response to national events and tragedies such as the San Bernadino shooting,” Krebs says. “As soon as that happened, the next three months, our office literally issued over 10,000 permits for the fact in response to that shooting” [Lee Strubinger, “Forget Texas… Don’t Mess with South Dakota,” SDPB, 2016.12.30].
In 2015, 29,242 individuals were victims of “Group A” offenses in South Dakota. Group A includes all of the violent crimes, plus major offenses like gambling, illegal porn, bribery, fraud, embezzelement. Assuming individual citizens aren’t going to respond to things like credit card skimmers, wire fraud, and shoplifting with gunfire, and recognizing that some of those victims may be duplicates (for instance, unlucky folks subject to both theft and assault), maybe 25,000 South Dakotans were victims of some sort of nasty crime in 2015 that might justify drawing a firearm. That’s about one in 33.
Now sure, in 2015, Harrisburg High School experienced a shooting. But no one died, one man was injured, and no one needed a gun to neutralize the shooter. The man who took a bullet, principal Kevin Lien, said having a gun in the office wouldn’t have prevented the shooting.
And remember: you are far more likely to be killed by things shooting won’t fix, like cancer, prescription drugs, and contaminated food.
So you one in nine with your concealed-weapon permits, if you really want to invest your time and money and constant vigilance, well, that’s your misprioritized choice. But more guns don’t mean less crime. You could do more to assuage your fears (for far less cost!) by moving your trembling fingers away from your triggers and toward your remotes to turn down the TV news noise. Instead of putting everyone around you at greater risk of a gunshot wound, try reading about the less sensationalistic but more significant health and policy problems facing your state and country.
Tangentially Related: More U.S. soldiers in the Middle East have died from suicide than from ISIS attacks.
Krebs says her office saw an increase in permit applications following tragedies that get national attention…
Millions of South Dakotans (past, present and future)should have applied after the cluster squawk of an election we just had duped on America.
Mike from Iowa,
I think you have hit on what will be the next big marketing effort of the gun industry. I even came up with the slogan a few years ago, “Armed and Progressive.”
The 2nd Amendment isn’t a right or a left thing. It’s meant to be a check on tyranny. Trump has every indication of becoming a Putin-like tyrant. We must resist.
I prefer to address tyranny the way Martin Luther King did. I’m a pacifist, and my skills against tyranny are better suited to pen and voice. Still, the fight against DAPL demonstrated how far down the road to thuggish behavior the state will travel to try to crush people who protest or resist, especially those folks engaging in civil disobedience.
Trump won’t hesitate to unleash state violence against those who stand up against him and his policies. And at that point, after the bodies start to pile up, it might be we will have to all consider whether we should be “armed and progressive.”
Very well stated, Mr Pay.
But, you can’t have any weapons at Drumpf’s coronation.
Aerosols
Ammunition
Animals other than service/guide animals
Backpacks and bags exceeding size restrictions (18” by 13” by 7”)
Bicycles
Balloons
Coolers
Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems
Explosives
Firearms
Glass, thermal, or metal containers
Laser pointers
Mace/Pepper spray
Packages
Selfie sticks
Signs exceeding the size restrictions (20” x 3” x 1/4”)
Structures
Supports for signs and placards
Toy guns
Weapons of any kind
Any other items determined to be potential safety hazards.
NRA backed this guy and they can’t attend with their guns because – freedumb.
The hottest conversation starters on DFPress in 2016 were guns (three posts). Cory knows which side of his buttered toast is likely to land face down on the kitchen floor, when dropped. “Gun Huggers Unite. Trump Wants Your Lead!”
My permit expired in December. Time to renew it.
I suspect most with a concealed weapon permit don’t actually carry. Like me, they value their rights and have a permit because they can. It costs $10 and lasts 5 years. But if I choose to carry I’m legal (when renewed).
A basic SD permit allows South Dakotans to carry concealed in, I believe, 31 states. Our neighbors Minnesota and Nebraska have higher requirements, so a South Dakotan who wants to carry concealed there needs an enhanced permit which costs more and requires an FBI fingerprint check and a training course.
So, you are in a crowded bar and someone shouts “gun”! Then what? How do you know who is who? Are ya gonna look for Santa Claus or some guy with a turban? What if it is a clean cut dude like Timothy Mcveigh? Are ya gonna pop a pill towards the blonde dude? Best thing is to stay home, read a book, tie some flies, reload some ammo, buy online and let the rookies blast themselves.
@Jerry: FYI, carrying a concealed weapon in a “crowded bar” would be a violation of South Dakota law 23-7-8.1.
“The holder of a permit may carry a concealed pistol anywhere in South Dakota except in any licensed on-sale malt beverage or alcoholic beverage establishment that derives over one-half of its total income from the sale of malt or alcoholic beverages.”
http://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=23-7-8.1
It has never been safer to be a human being on this planet than it is at this moment. We do not have an epidemic of violence requiring personal action. During some of the most violent times of our recent history, police carried small revolvers if anything. Then air conditioning, cable TV, and video games came along and reduced our rate of violent crime dramatically. If we look at history and statistics, one would wonder why on earth our police departments now require tanks and assault weapons.
This is media fear mongering, but make no mistake most it comes from conservatives. It is nearly without fail that the headlines on the Fox News site will be some sort of violent outbreak somewhere in the world. BE AFRAID, is a constant message. I somehow doubt that message will change, even with their new “favored” administration.
The cold hard facts tell us that more people carrying deadly weapons to church and the grocery store make us, and especially our children, less safe. Even the old cowboy towns were smart enough to ban guns or have strict regulations, and those were some dangerous times.
@coyote, right, so all bar patrons follow the rules of the Codified Law. They of course ask the beertender if the place derives over half of its total income from alcoholic beverages. The beertender says nope, we just get a little more than a third as we also serve pizza and gizzards. The gender neutral patron then is legally okay to carry that precious piece in the crowded place. Someone then tosses in some Zebra’s as they pop the loudest and then what? Is the gender neutral patron who pulls that gun going to shoot the other gender neutral patrons who are also within the limits of law that pull their guns as an act of self defense among those shooters? How will that be judged in matters of Codified Law and their consequences? Who will the police target when they step into the kill zone? One thing is for certain, the dead will now be safe.
You’d think with the influx of larger caliber guns and cop killer bullets, gawd would have made puny humans more impervious to bullets.
I bought my 1st gun in my life after Trump was elected. I think trouble could be coming. Yes I have a conceal-carry permit.
I thought the reason for all the gun madness was because the Black guy was gonna take the guns, be scared. Turns out that is not the case. I am thinking some kind of sexual melodrama playing out. Now that the blue pills take care of some issues, there is always that feeling of dominance that must be played out in other arenas and ways. Nothing says that clearer than that lump in your pocket, you are danger man!
Damn well said, Chuck-Z. Back in dangerous times people weren’t freaking out over whether they could or could not carry where ever they went. Most people had a healthier respect for the law and law enforcement officers back then. Today’s bunch of Jehus are determined to push their 2nd amendment claims about having all the guns everywhere all the time.
Scalia opened this can of worms and paid the ultimate price- Obama and HRC smothered him with a pillow to open a vacancy on the court to be filled with a flaming liberal. Didn’t work as planned. Wingnuts trashed the constitution to prevent themselves from allowing Obama’s constitutional right to pick a successor for dead Scalia.
Mr. reitzel, I agree with you. There are many compelling reasons now for sure. http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Conference/IsAnUnholyAmericanTheocracyHere.html
jerry, the Yurica speech was fascinating – thanks.
you are very welcome bcb, it is an eye opener on where we have been and where they want to take us. I still have an old cassette of Pat Robertson: “What I Will Do As President”, pretty much follows suit. I was struck, at the time that this was impossible, so I kept it for all of these years to prove myself correct. Turns out, I was wrong to think about the impossibility of basically evangelical Sharia Law being jammed down our throats. There is no doubt about the direction money changer evangelical leaders choose when they gave their complete support to Don, now it is for us to decide if that is the way we want government to look like.
Mike! Trump banned bicycles from the Inauguration? That’s the last straw! No more Mister Nice Guy!
Ror, I value my rights, too. One of these days, when I get fed up enough, I’ll open-carry. Imagine how the locals and the press will react to an openly armed liberal. Armed and progressive, indeed.
Actually, it’s likely the only time you’ll see me carrying a gun in public is when there is a real danger, when I feel there is a strong possibility that I will draw and fire. I hope my assessment of the risk outside my door never reaches the level that it outweighs my understanding of the risk I create by carrying a firearm.
Let us be fair here. He banned structures too. But dragoons on elephants appear to be allowed.
If Drumpf bans bikes he must be expecting to use carrier pigeons instead of couriers to replace emails. The clewlessness of this pissant is truly impressive.
Yawn, again.
New Year’s Prediction:
Some emotionally frustrated, Latent Ammosexual, like Cory or alter ego Mike, will be the one to open fire at a Trump protest and El Trumpe´ will declare Marshall Law to end any more protests, Then he will outlaw gun possession to keep us safe from the “losers and idiots”.*
* (anyone who disagrees with Him)
YOU WIN!; won’t it be ‘GREAT”?
(The correct answer to stop your at-home bathtub waterboarding would be: “Yes, King El Trumpe’ is GREAT, (blub, blub) my CCP pistol is in the drawer, thank you very much, Sir”!
blub, blub, bluuuuuuubbbbb… blub-blub
Barry, didn’t yer Mother tell you not to try to talk with an NRA dick in your mouth? Bad form, Barry, bad!
Only a nut can’t imagine how one could live their lives in South Dakota without the security of strapping one on every time they leave the house.
The Black Hills and Rapid City sure feel safe to me. Sorry for all you folks living in the more rural dangerous parts of South Dakota; clearly, you guys really have it rough and tumble out there.
Today I stopped at Shel’s C-Store in Pierre for coffee . The guy behind the counter who took my money had a pistol in a holster on his hip. I had to think why would you go to work in a C-store as a clerk carrying a gun….
When you have a gun on your hip and another guy comes in with his gun pointing at you, what will you do? Here is a clue on how that all works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHBOfM9CFQ
Ray Barboni shows how that is done.
Jerry, that video is fantastic! LOL Your gun in a holster while a man is already pointing his gun at you – does nothing to help your situation. In fact, it could actually ensure that you end up dead.