The South Dakota governor signed a new bill on Thursday, making it the 14th state to remove permit requirements for concealed carry.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who just took office in January, signed SB47 which authorizes residents to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, as long as they are legally allowed to possess a gun, according to the Free Beacon.
South Dakota’s state senate passed the bill with a vote of 23-11, and the state house with a vote of 47-23, CNN reported.
The governor tweeted, “Our Founding Fathers believed so firmly in our right to bear arms that they enshrined it into the Constitution. This constitutional carry legislation will further protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding South Dakotans.”
Our Founding Fathers believed so firmly in our right to bear arms that they enshrined it into the Constitution. Tomorrow, I will sign SB47 into law. This constitutional carry legislation will further protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding South Dakotans.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) January 30, 2019
While the National Rifle Association calls this a “common sense measure,” Everytown for Gun Safety said it is “dangerous and will lead to devastating effects.”
Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA-ILA said, “On behalf of the NRA’s five-million members, we would like to thank Governor Noem for her leadership on this critical issue. This law is a common-sense measure that allows law-abiding South Dakotans to exercise their fundamental right to self-protection in the manner that best suits their needs.”
The new law goes into effect on July 1.
“More than 230 years ago, the Founding Fathers of our country penned the Constitution that has since laid the framework for centuries of policies. They so firmly believed in the importance of the freedom to bear arms that they enshrined it into the Constitution’s Second Amendment,” Noem said.
South Dakota Becomes Latest Permitless Gun-Carry State https://t.co/fRZ8962dBl via @StephenGutowski
— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) January 31, 2019
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming are the 13 other states before South Dakota that passed similar permitless carry laws.
Currently, 28 states and the District of Columbia utilize a “shall-issue” system, which requires that even residents who have attained a gun permit must still get a permit to carry a concealed weapon, for which they could still be denied by the government.
Noem said there was a “great deal of debate about passing the new law and that there are still a number of restrictions placed on the bill,” The Argus Leader reported.
Everytown for Gun Safety said “84% of South Dakota voters, including 85% of South Dakota gun owners, back a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public,” according to CNN.
Everytown press secretary Adam Sege said, “Not a single state passed permitless carry legislation last year to allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public without a permit. By contrast, 21 states rejected permitless carry bills.”
