HB 1257: Guns on Campus Again!

The House Education committee takes up HB 1257 today, another attempt by Rep Thomas Brunner (R-29/Nisland) to impose on the world his crazy view that the best way to improve security on our university campuses is to create crossfire zones with dozens of untrained 18-year-old shooters. Brunner saw a similar House bill defeated last year and another Senate Bill just last month. Rep. Brunner, can't you get the message? And don't you have a budget to be working on?

Update 12:30 CST: House Education does the right thing and kills HB 1257 11-3. Hooray for Mitch Fargen and the rest of the level heads on the committee. Rep. Brunner, you're 0 for 3. Sit down and budget.

By the way, I'm put on the trail of this latest gun bill by the latest addition to KELO's "Issues Blogs," the most vomitous mass of bigoted ignorance currently engaging in pajamas media in South Dakota, Rutland public school teacher and long-time beneficiary of your tax dollars John Walker. After threatening to shoot the editors of Newsweek and all Democrats (at least that's all I can divine from his oh-so-macho "Lock and Load!"), Walker gets confused and talks about the 2008 bill.

And KELO picks that yahoo over Sibby?!?

Update 2009.02.22: Walker very quietly deletes the original post. No correction, no apology.

Guns on Campus Bill Fails; Olson Ignores Constituents

Sure enough, Rep. Thomas Brunner (R-29/Nisland) decided to waste the South Dakota Legislature's time with a retread guns-on-campus bill. Fortunately for us, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted it down yesterday. Voting to kill SB 82 were both the majority and minority leaders, Senators Knudson and Heidepriem, along with Sens. Dempster, Turbak Berry, and Gary Hanson.

Voting against the sensible advice of Vermillion police chief Art Mabry and for 18-year-old packing heat in chem lab: Senators Abdallah, Rhoden, Gray, and our own Russell Olson. Yes, once again, Olson has ignored the opinion of his constituents here in Dakota State university country, who turned out in force at a crackerbarrel last year to say guns on campus are a bad idea.

How short some memories. Perhaps Senator Olson requires a reminder of the general will (and common sense) at Saturday's crackerbarrels (Flandreau City Building, 9 a.m.; Madison City Hall, 12 p.m.).

Russ Olson: I Want My Pistol Now!

We have District 8 Senator Russell Olson's first meathead sponsorship of the session: our senator's name appears (along with GOP yahoos like Reps. Brunner and Howie and apparent sponsor Sen. Rhoden) on Senate Bill 70, a measure that would repeal the 48-hour waiting period to buy a pistol.

Bill text isn't up as of this posting, so I eagerly await the chance to read the bill. I even more eagerly await Senator Olson's explanation of how this bit of deregulation serves any greater purpose than keeping his NRA rating up.

So I already have crackerbarrel question #1: Is it really wise to facilitate buying pistols on impulse? If someone runs into Wal-Mart and says, "I've got to have a pistol RIGHT NOW!" that's exactly the kind of person I should direct toward law enforcement, either for their protection or for ours.

If you want to pack heat, I don't think it's too much to ask that you plan ahead a couple days.

Oh, and crackerbarrel question #2: what happened to the issues Olson actually campaigned on, like the wind energy or Chester superintendent Mark Greguson's capital-outlay-for-fuel plan? Olson has posted no bills on those issues yet. Is repealing the pistol purchase waiting period really a higher priority than energy and education?

Well, for some Republicans, the answer appears to be yes.

Unruh on Board for Political and Fiscal Reality; How About Brunner?

Another possible upside to the recession: maybe the legislature will focus on real bread-and-butter issues. Hope on this score comes from none other than abortion crusader Leslee Unruh (hat tip to Dakota Women!), who tells that Sioux Falls paper that she has no plans to push an abortion ban in the 2009 Legislature. Says Unruh, "I think legislators have some major budget issues to take care of."

For perhaps the first time in Madville Times history, I say, right on, Leslee.

Now, what about Representative Tom Brunner (R-29/Nisland)? A source with an ear to Pierre says Brunner may be ready to revive the 2008 guns on campus bill. That idea is worth a little pre-emptive blogging:

Rep. Brunner, before you introduce any guns legislation, please ask yourself these questions:

1. How many students have been injured or killed in the past year due to their lack of firearms?
2. How many students, professors, and other campus denizens list packing heat as their main legislative priority?
3. How will allowing guns on campus help create jobs, pave roads, pay teachers, cover Medicaid costs, or address any other serious practical policy issue we face during this recession?
   

Recession, budget shortfall, rising unemployment: even Leslee Unruh recognizes we have bigger fish to fry than rehashing the culture war. Rep. Brunner, I hope you will show similar common sense.

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Update 2009.01.13 17:36 CST: Just heard Charles Michael Ray on South Dakota Public Broadcasting confirm that Rep. Brunner is looking to revisit the guns-on-campus issue. The budget outlook gets worse, and Brunner still wants to fritter away legislative time on irrelevant pet issues? Arrrggghhh!