Staff, students can carry on campus with enhanced permit
Beginning July 1, South Dakota’s 10 public colleges will have to allow students to carry concealed firearms and weapons on campus.
Neither the South Dakota Board of Regents, Board of Technical Education, nor any institution under their control “may restrict or limit the lawful carrying, possession, storage, or transportation of … A concealed pistol, A stun gun,” or chemical irritants such as pepper spray, Senate Bill 100 reads.
However, the law stipulates that the Board of Regents or its institutions may limit weapons in areas with hazardous materials, in research facilities, or during special events with heightened security measures.
Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the bill into law earlier this year, making “South Dakota the 12th state to allow concealed carry on college campuses,” the Madison Daily Leader reported.
University students and staff can carry a gun on campus with “an enhanced permit that requires the person to take a handgun safety course and abide by other requirements,” the outlet reported.
Since 2019, South Dakota has been a constitutional carry state, allowing individuals over 18 who are legally eligible to possess a firearm to carry it concealed without a permit.
Before the enactment of SB 100, each college independently determined its policy on concealed carry on campus. All 10 of the public colleges prohibited firearms.
Now, the governing boards of these schools are developing policies to align with a new state law. A draft policy of campus-specific rules will be presented at the Board of Regents meeting on July 16 and 17.
“The safety and well-being of students, employees and guests will always be our top priority,” Shuree Mortenson, director of communications for the Board of Regents, told South Dakota News Watch. “We have been in communication with all our universities to navigate this change.”
She also said campuses are actively determining restricted areas for guns and creating appropriate notifications.
“I think we have lots of folks in our communities and already on our campuses that maybe had an interest in concealed carrying,” the state’s Board of Technical Education Executive Director Nick Wendell said. “This just ensures that everybody is aware of what the parameters are on concealed carry.”
Republican Rep. Marty Overweg supported the bill to protect university staff and students “God-given” rights.
“I don’t think taking a person’s God-given right as an American citizen, because I’m worried some accident might happen … that’s not up to me,” Overweg said. “That’s not my job here as a legislator.”
“Our rights were given to us by our forefathers,” he said. “Think back how many people in the history of the United States have died protecting every one of those rights. They didn’t die so we could sit here as a legislature and take rights away from law abiding citizens.”
However, a national gun expert voiced concerns about suicide on campus.
“When you’re feeling very suicidal, you’re not thinking about, ‘How do I take a pause and get through this?’ It’s, ‘Oh my God, I need to deal with it right now,'” Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium Director Jaclyn Schildkraut said.
Additionally, she said the academic atmosphere may be compromised if students focus on the presence of armed individuals rather than the topics being explored in the classroom.
MORE: Florida lawmaker wants to allow concealed carry on campus
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Man pulling concealed gun from pants; Maksym Dykha/Shutterstock