By: Teresa Mull

Constitutional Carry is now officially the law of the land in South Dakota.

KTIV reports:

Until July 1 of this year, South Dakota was a “shall issue” state for concealed carry. That meant citizens of the state were required to have a license to carry a concealed weapon.

But now it’s legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

“I think our laws are pretty well in place the way they are now and were, and I think that we have the background checks done,” Union County Sheriff Dan Limoges told KTIV. “I don’t really agree with the law. I had no problem with the South Dakota residents having a concealed weapons permit, but they’ve opened it up to anybody.”

Chief Deputy Jeff Gromer, from the Minnehaha Sheriff’s Office, noted the problem with Sheriff Limoges’ statement.

“If a person was prohibited from obtaining a permit, they’re still prohibited from carrying concealed with some of those certain criteria,” Gromer told KDLT TV.

“Before Constitutional Carry, South Dakota law allowed any law-abiding citizen to openly carry a handgun without a license, so to infer that decriminalizing the act of concealing a handgun is somehow radical, just buys into the fallacy being pushed by the gun control lobby that concealed carry is inherently more dangerous than open carry, when in reality they want to ban both,” Brenden Boudreau, Director of Field Operations for the National Association for Gun Rights, told GPM.

“It’s a disingenuous objection used by gun control advocates when they really don’t have ground to stand on,” Boudreau continued. “And unfortunately, Sheriff Limoges seems to buy into their argument, even with evidence to the contrary showing that Constitutional Carry states consistently have lower crime rates than states that prohibit carry without a government-issued license.”

GPM reported in January of this year:

The following is a press release from South Dakota Gun Owners:

PIERRE, SD (Jan. 29, 2019) – Today South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed Constitutional Carry into law, eliminating the need for law-abiding citizens to obtain a concealed carry permit to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense.

National Association for Gun Rights Vice President Zach Lautenschlager, who has been advocating for Constitutional Carry in South Dakota for over 20 years, was in attendance at today’s signing event at the Pierre Capitol.

“The National Association for Gun Rights and our 18,000 South Dakota members applaud Governor Noem for her stand for our Second Amendment rights,” said Lautenschlager. “This is a major step in restoring our rights.”

Lautenschlager was joined at the ceremony by South Dakota Gun Owner’s Political Director and lobbyist Jordan Mason, along with several other gun owners and enthusiasts at today’s signing event.

South Dakota will be the 13th state to enact such legislation, joining a dozen other states nationwide who have already enacted similar legislation.

Gunpowder Magazine reported earlier this week:

“Constitutional Carry legislation,” according to South Dakota Gun Owners (SDGO), “recognizes law-abiding citizens’ right to carry concealed firearms for self-defense, without obtaining a permit, but retains the concealed carry permitting system for out-of-state reciprocity.”

“It looks like South Dakota may soon be the thirteenth state to pass full Constitutional Carry,” said Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights. “Congratulations to all the South Dakotans who have worked for this over the past 20 years. And a special thanks to Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield for shepherding the bill through the process this year.”

Three of the four safest states in the U.S. — Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire — honor Constitutional Carry. South Dakota would join 12 others — Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming — as Constituional Carry States.

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].