Free Republic

PIERRE | South Dakota's Republican governor on Friday vetoed a pair of bills that would have loosened restrictions on carrying concealed guns in the conservative state. Gov. Dennis Daugaard had warned he would veto the bills — one to let people carry concealed handguns without a permit, the other to allow concealed weapons in the Capitol building. Daugaard has said the state's current gun laws are reasonable. "As a longtime member of the NRA, I support the right to bear arms," Daugaard said in his veto letter for the permitless carry bill. "It is paramount that our state protect the...

PIERRE | The state House approved a bill Thursday that would allow people who can legally carry a concealed handgun in South Dakota to do so without a permit. South Dakota representatives voted 37-30 to send the bill to the Senate. It's currently a misdemeanor for someone to carry a concealed pistol or to have one concealed in a vehicle without a permit. Republican Rep. Lynne DiSanto, the main sponsor, said her measure is about freedom, adding that requiring a permit penalizes only legal and rightful gun owners.

The South Dakota House has passed a bill to allow people who have a South Dakota enhanced Concealed carry permit to carry in the Capitol building.  To do so will require registering with the Capitol security 24 hour previously.  The permit would then be effective for carrying in the capitol for 90 days. At the end of 90 days, the person will have to register again. From argusleader.com: On a 46-20 vote, legislators approved House Bill 1156, which would let law enforcement officers and enhanced concealed pistol permit holders to legally possess a firearm in the Capitol building. The...

The Native American tribe at the center of the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has vowed to take legal action against a presidential memorandum by President Trump pushing pipeline construction. After several months of protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux, the Army announced in early December that it would not approve an easement to let construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline proceed along its planned route. In a statement then, Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said alternate routes needed to be explored. Members of the tribe argue that the pipeline, which would carry...

President Donald Trump is planning to nominate Heather Wilson as secretary of the Air Force. A White House statement said Monday that Wilson, a former New Mexico congresswoman and president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, would be the first Air Force Academy graduate to hold the position, if confirmed. Wilson served in Congress from 1998 to 2009, where she was a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and chaired the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence.

President Trump has announced his pick for Secretary of the Air Force — former Rep. Heather Wilson. If confirmed, Wilson would be the first Air Force Academy graduate to hold the position, according to the White House. Wilson currently leads the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, a public college focused on engineering and science. She represented New Mexico in Congress from 1998 to 2009. "She served as an Air Force officer in Europe during the Cold War and on the National Security Council Staff under President George H.W. Bush during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the...

The last time there was a new president elected for the United States, attendance at Rapid City’s annual gun show spiked. This time, attitudes in the community are much more relaxed. “Over the past year, sales and attendance at gun shows has been down a little bit, but that comes after a giant increase we had since 2008. In 2008 and 2012 for this show, we had like 22,000 people come through here in a weekend,” said Lee Rohrer, one of the event organizers and member of the Rapid City Rifle Club.

A refugee newly arrived from Somalia has been tried and convicted for attempting to sexually assault a special-needs woman while she was sitting outside of a home for the disabled in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Liban Mohamed, 39, was in the United States for only about a week when he tried to force himself on a 31-year-old woman with severe disabilities. He is not a U.S. citizen, but whether he will be deported in the wake of his conviction remains unclear.

A refugee newly arrived from Somalia has been tried and convicted for attempting to sexually assault a special-needs woman while she was sitting outside of a home for the disabled in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Liban Mohamed, 39, was in the United States for only about a week when he tried to force himself on a 31-year-old woman with severe disabilities. He is not a U.S. citizen, but whether he will be deported in the wake of his conviction remains unclear. The trial for Mohamed was held just a few days before Christmas and not a word of the conviction has...

Remember the Keystone XL Pipeline project? Remember what a cause célèbre it was for both the left and right? What the heck ever happened to it? Have you wondered that?Well, in short it was killed pretty much for good, or at least the foreseeable future – both here in the USSA and now in Canada. As you are no doubt aware, it was Obama who, with the left in the federal and various state legislatures – and with some help from Choo-choo Warren Buffet who owns most of the rail cars now hauling crude down south, vetoed the pipeline. And...

In a nine-word per curiam decision, eight justices of the United States Supreme Court have revealed they are deadlocked in a 4 to 4 divide on the new immigration procedures of the Obama administration, with its executive decision to not deport the immigrant parents of children born in the United States (thus citizens) and give them legal status but less than citizenship in the process. The State of Texas, joined by 25 others states, filed a lawsuit to block this executive action, which affects between 4 and 5 million immigrants in the United States. The case was before the Supreme...

You know the deal. Every amendment that adds significant border security to the Gang of Eight bill threatens to scare Democratic votes away, and Rubio, McCain, Graham, and Flake have decided that they’d rather have the bad bill they wrote pass than no bill at all. Four votes against the fence, just as Conn Carroll predicted this morning: Senators on Tuesday rejected building the 700 miles of double-tier border fencing Congress authorized just seven years ago, with a majority of the Senate saying they didn’t want to delay granting illegal immigrants legal status while the fence was being built. The...

While attempting to attack an amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill that would require a fence be built along Mexico’s border with the U.S. before legalization, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) made a significant geographical gaffe. Landrieu, who represents Louisiana in the U.S. Senate, was trying to undermine the amendment Sen. John Thune (R-SD) offered. In doing so, she tried to argue Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was more qualified to talk about border issues than Thune because McCain represents Arizona. “A smart fence, which is what Senator McCain and I want to build--since he’s from Arizona, I think he...

Thursday during debate on the Senate floor about an amendment offered by Republican Senator John Thune requiring 350 miles of double-layer fencing along the southern border, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu called the fence "dumb" and claimed South Dakota is a border state. Thune's amendment backs up the 2006 Secure Fence Act (which Landrieu voted for) requiring 700 miles of double layer fence along the southwest border with Mexico, of which only 36 miles have been completed. I’m going to speak about this amendment for just a minute, but I’ld like to respond to Senator Thune, and I wish that we...

A former Republican senator is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president after the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., citing her support for gun control. Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) called for universal background checks on all gun sales and an assault weapons ban Monday in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. “I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am,” said Pressler, who spoke with The Hill on Monday after endorsing Clinton in a statement issued over the weekend. “This morning, I woke up and told my wife, ‘Did I really do that?’” he...

Just 712 Democratic officials will decide whether Clinton or Sanders wins the nomination. Documents show that's what the party planned all along. This post originally appeared at In These Times. Since its launch, a specter has haunted Bernie Sanders’ run for the Democratic nomination. It’s not his age, though at 74 he would be the oldest president in American history. And it’s not that he’s an avowed socialist, the label that a mere eight years ago was used to smear Barack Obama as a sinister, alien threat to the American way of life. Rather, it has been the so-called superdelegates...

On Tuesday Donald Trump closed the door on the Republican nomination for President by winning all five of the remaining primaries — New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and California. Trump won the last 16 Republican contests. Trump has 1,536 delegates and counting. Trump may also be the first candidate in the modern era to have funded his campaign by himself during the primary season. Although his results are much more impressive, he only spent a quarter the amount of money as Democrats Clinton and Sanders. He proved to be the real capitalist in the primary while Clinton and...

Trump closed out the primary election season with wins in South Dakota, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, and California. While Sen. Bernie Sanders remains actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump became the GOP’s presumptive nominee shortly after winning Indiana’s May 3 primary election. The American businessman surpassed 2012 nominee Mitt Romney’s and 2008 nominee John McCain’s primary election vote totals by late in April according to Politico calculations. Previous record holder George W. Bush received just 10.8 million votes in 2000, a number far surpassed by Trump’s over 13 million votes with...

Tuesday, June 7th primaries California – 546 delegates Montana – 27 delegates New Jersey – 142 delegates New Mexico – 43 delegates South Dakota – 25 delegates North Dakota – D Caucus – 25 D delegates

You are cordially invited to attend a post-election press conference with Donald J. Trump When: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 @ 9PM EDT Where: Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Westchester, NY Attire: PJs (Black Tie Optional) Dom Perignon and a selection of appetizers and French pastries with be served. R.S.V.P @ nikos1121