South Dakota House supports guns on college campuses

By CHET BROKAW
Associated Press Writer
Sioux City Journal
Feb 4, 9:07 PM EST



PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A measure allowing law-abiding people to carry guns on the campuses of South Dakota's public universities was approved Monday by the state House of Representatives.

The House voted 63-3 to send the measure to the Senate after supporters said allowing students, faculty members and others to carry guns would help deter mass shootings.

"The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Rep. Thomas Brunner, R-Nisland, the main sponsor of the bill.

HB1261 would prevent colleges and technical schools from restricting the right to carry or possess a firearm. Schools could require that guns kept in dormitories be stored in a locked gun safe.

The state Board of Regents, which governs South Dakota's six public universities, has opposed the measure, arguing that allowing students and faculty members to carry guns could make campuses more dangerous. If armed students or teachers exchange gunfire with a madman in a classroom or sports arena, more bystanders could be killed or injured in the crossfire, university officials said.

Only one other state, Utah, authorizes weapons on college campuses, university officials told lawmakers last week.

Brunner said he has two daughters in college, and one who just turned 18 wants a permit to carry a concealed weapon because she has to walk a half mile to her dormitory after parking her car. If criminals know law-abiding citizens might be armed, they will be less likely to consider attacking someone, he said.

Brunner said most mass shootings in recent years have occurred in areas where guns are prohibited. Murderers, such as the disturbed student at Virginia Tech last year, were able to kill many people because no one else was armed, he said.

One of lawmakers to vote against the bill, Rep. Larry Lucas, D-Mission, said he believes encouraging students to carry guns on campus could result in more people getting hurt or killed.

And Rep. Bill Thompson, D-Sioux Falls, said he is worried that encouraging guns on campus could lead to more murders, accidental shootings and suicides.

However, House Republican Leader Larry Rhoden of Union Center said the bill does not encourage students to carry guns. It merely confirms that students have the same constitutional rights as anyone else to bear arms, he said.

Rep. Manny Steele, R-Sioux Falls, said the guard who shot and wounded a gunman at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs in December helped save lives.

"I would certainly feel considerably safer knowing that law-abiding citizens could carry guns," Steele said.