Gov. Kristi Noem to sign ‘constitutional carry’ legislation

Gov. Kristi Noem said Wednesday that she will sign into law a measure allowing people to carry concealed pistols without a permit in South Dakota. The Republican governor tweeted that the she would sign the bill Thursday, saying it would further protect the "Second Amendment rights of law-abiding South Dakotans." The move is a win for conservatives who have long supported the plan, which languished under former GOP Gov. Dennis Daugaard. "Our Founding Fathers believed so firmly in our right to bear arms that they enshrined it into the Constitution," Noem wrote in her tweet announcing that she would sign the so-called constitutional carry bill. It's currently a misdemeanor for someone to carry a concealed pistol or to have one concealed in a vehicle without a permit, while openly carrying a firearm in is legal. South Dakota will join at least 13 states — including neighboring North Dakota — that allow people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit, according to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Data from the Secretary of State's office showed there were roughly 107,000 pistol permits in South Dakota at the end of November. The South Dakota Sheriffs' Association opposes the bill, arguing that the current limitations under the permit process are reasonable. The association's greatest concern is that the proposal wouldn't apply just to state residents, but also to anyone who comes to South Dakota, lobbyist Richard Tieszen told a Senate panel earlier this month. House lawmakers voted Tuesday to send the bill to Noem. Shannon Hoime, volunteer leader of the state's chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, called Noem's decision "an embarrassment." "You would think the governor would take more than a

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