South Dakota House Passes Legislation to Remove an <br/>Outdated Gun Control Provision

Please contact members of the Senate State Affairs Committee!

House Bill 1079, sponsored by state Representative Brian Gosch (R-32), passed in the state House on Tuesday, February 22, by a 69 to 0 vote.  This legislation has been assigned to the Senate State Affairs Committee.

The intent of HB 1079 is to clean up South Dakota’s firearm code and to remove a provision that became obsolete with the passage of the federal Firearms Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) in 1986.  Originally, the federal Gun Control Act banned interstate sales of firearms but contained an exception for long gun transactions occurring between federally licensed dealers (FFLs) and residents of contiguous states.  Such sales could occur, moreover, only if “the purchaser’s State of residence permit[ted] such sale or delivery by law.” Thus, states around the country passed provisions specifically allowing their residents to buy long guns from FFLs in contiguous states. 

FOPA, however, removed both the contiguous states limitation and the requirement that the purchaser’s state of residence specifically authorize the purchase of long guns.  Now, interstate sales of rifles and shotguns can occur between FFLs and residents of any state, as long as “the sale, delivery, and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of sale in both such States.”  Thus, the relevant question isn’t whether a state specifically permits interstate long gun sales, but whether the state has enacted any laws that would prevent them.  The NRA supports repealing this old contiguous state provision because it is unnecessary, the “contiguous state” language can be misleading, and because such provisions create the false impression that the right to acquire arms is merely a privilege granted by the state, not a right that some states have taken away from their citizens.

South Dakota has enacted no barriers to interstate sales, so HB 1079 would not change the current law, under which South Dakota FFLs can sell long guns to residents of other states that do not limit their residents' right to purchase, and South Dakota residents can buy long guns from FFLs in other states that do not discriminate against non-residents.

Please contact members of the Senate State Affairs Committee today and respectfully urge them to support HB 1079.  Committee members can be reached by calling the Senate switchboard and leaving a message at (605) 773-3821 or by e-mail as listed below.

Senate State Affairs Committee:

Senator Larry Rhoden (R-29), Chairman
[email protected]

Senator Russell Olson (R-8), Vice Chairman
[email protected]

Senator Stanford Adelstein (R-32)
[email protected]

Senator Joni Cutler (R-14)
[email protected]

Senator Jason Frerichs (D-1)
[email protected]

Senator Cooper Garnos (R-21)
[email protected]

Senator Bob Gray (R-24)
[email protected]

Senator Mark J. Johnston (R-12)
[email protected]

Senator Craig Tieszen (R-34)
[email protected]