The Custer County Commission apparently has run out of real problems to solve. The commission voted 3–1 last month to allow county employees and the general public to tote guns in the courthouse. The commission is able to adopt this reckless ordinance thanks to two recent actions of our gun-nutty South Dakota Legislature:
- 2019 Senate Bill 115 amended state law to allow county commissions to pass ordinances to waive state restrictions on guns in courthouses.
- 2020 Senate Bill 169 allows county employees to carry their own guns at work in the courthouse.
These laws and the Custer County ordinance are of vital importance, due to the hundreds of South Dakotans dying this year due to armed assaults on courthouses.
These laws and the Custer County ordinance are of vital importance, due to the proven effectiveness of pistolistas in shooting coronavirus out of the air.
These laws and the Custer County ordinance are of vital importance, because the rigging of the election and the cheating defeat of Donald Trump (who carried 70% of Custer County on November 3) shows that patriots must be allowed to bring their guns to the polls to drive away the Antifa riggers and force county officials to let them observe the count.
…pause… breathe…
These laws and the Custer County ordinance are not of vital importance to public safety or other real policy issues. Seventh Circuit Judge Craig Pfeifle told the commission again at a special meeting Monday night that their pro-personal-ordnance ordinance does the opposite of protecting him and other courthouse users:
At the previous meeting of the commission, Seventh Circuit Court judges Craig Pfeifle and Matt Brown spoke out against allowing the public to carry into the building, saying while they had no problem with employees carrying (which is now allowed under state law in areas not being used by the court system), they were opposed to the general public being allowed to carry, citing safety and liability concerns.
Pfeifle hinted there were things he could do as presiding judge to “protect court personnel” should Custer County continue with the ordinance to allow the public to carry in the courthouse, and had previously told the commission refusing to have court in the county is an option he has under state statute [Jason Ferguson, “Commission Sticks to Its Guns on Guns,” Custer County Chronicle, 2020.12.03].
Judge Pfeifle has indeed penned a proposed order that would declare that the Custer County Commission’s bang-bang ordinance has rendered the courthouse “unsuitable and insufficient due to safety concerns for court proceedings.” Under Judge Pfeifle’s order, all Custer County court proceedings would take place either by teleconference or in Pennington County.
Judge Pfeifle doesn’t have unilateral power to declare the Custer County courthouse a danger zone; he has sent his proposed order to the South Dakota Supreme Court for review; the high court will approve or reject the order in January. Still, it appears the judge has the power to hold all hearings remotely.
I’d suggest His Honor avoid Custer completely and let residents see how many of their disputes they can solve with their guns… but I worry that’s exactly the world the Trumpistas in Custer would like to create.
At least they don’t have to track down where the judge lives. Makes life easier.
This is partly the product of stupid laws.
Bob, This is . . . the product of stupid legislators and a governor. There, fixed it for you.
The legislative morons and commissioners have no idea how many threats judges and public officials receive. Corey is right, let Custer County settle their disputes with their guns. See how that works.
Judge Pfeifle’s proposed order is reasonable and should be allowed by the state supreme court unless Custer County agrees to provide suitable security for all court staff and their work areas. That could conceivably include armed deputy sheriffs in the courtroom, clerk of courts office, and judge’s chambers. From my perspective, it seems like a high cost to pay in taxpayer dollars for allowing citizens to pack firearms in and around the courthouse. However, if the citizens of Custer County want to pay extra taxes for that privilege, so be it.
When these gun-toting fellows go to the courthouse to pay their fines for speeding and toking while driving and such and find it closed, they will all go to the Skogen Kitchen where gun toting is frowned upon. And if breakfast is still being served, those fellows who check their guns at the door are in for a treat.
The ole’ and unexamined ‘if there’s a rogue shooter we can take him down,’ argument promoted by fearless and stupid gun toters.
Ban Kung Fu!
Boys are still worried about Russell Means and AIM coming back. It ain’t 1973 and Russell has passed. Someone ought to give these spooks an update. AIM came to the Custer County Courthouse on February 6, 1973, to call attention to the murder of an Indian man. The incident ended with the arrest of Russell Means. There spooks, put away those smoke wagons and go back to being worthless.
If there are people that don’t think SD has a gun fetish…..
Jenny, most of these morons think a gun is a phallic symbol and people look at them carrying as being virulent, masculine hunks of humanity protecting them from danger! Too bad, their brains are smaller than a lizard.
correction LIZARD’S!
Custer County just defunded the police. Who needs them when you can settle issues with pistols at high noon. Barking dog, main street at noon. Old debt? main street at high noon.