gun rights
Bar fights, neighbor disputes, playground justice: How ‘stand your ground’ plays out in court
This story is one of two exploring the impact of South Dakota’s “stand your ground” laws. The companion article explores the ways prosecutors, politicians and defense lawyers view the laws. — James Bialota Jr. believes he was defending himself when he took down a 12-year-old boy on a Rapid City playground. Thanks to two recent […]
Nine months and counting: Slain transgender woman’s family frustrated by wait for justice
Prosecutors in Rapid City know who shot and killed Acey Morrison. They’ve known since Aug. 21, 2022. That was the day the transgender member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe was shot in the mobile home of a man she’d met for an ill-fated hookup attempt that began on a dating app. What they don’t know […]
Guns have changed everything, especially childhood
I learned to shoot on the family ranch, as ranch kids are wont to do. My gun education was furthered at a Catholic summer camp, and I still have my paper target proving my marksmanship. Hunter safety classes, and calm, clear-eyed common sense. This was the rural approach to guns I grew up with. Then […]
Noem signs order, gets standing ovation amid presidential speculation at NRA event
Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order that she said will bolster gun rights as she spoke to a crowd Friday at the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum in Indianapolis, along with presidential candidates and potential candidates including former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Vice President Mike Pence. Noem is […]
Limits, application of South Dakota ‘stand your ground’ law debated before Supreme Court
BROOKINGS — In 2019, Minnesota native Ramon Deron Smith killed a man and wounded two others in a Sioux Falls parking lot during his first visit to the city. He kept shooting as his targets fled across a busy urban thoroughfare. After doing so, he drove back to Minneapolis, shaved his head, ditched the vehicle […]
Biden renews a call for action on gun control following Michigan State mass shooting
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden at an annual meeting with county leaders on Tuesday said there is much more work to be done on gun control legislation — such as banning assault-style weapons, which are typically used in most mass shootings. The call again for gun control came after a school shooting at Michigan State […]
U.S. Senate Democrats unveil legislation to ban high-capacity gun magazines
WASHINGTON — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, along with 27 of his U.S. Senate colleagues, introduced legislation Tuesday to ban high-capacity magazines, which can be used on the type of semi-automatic firearm that is typically used in most mass shootings. “High-capacity magazines were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — high-capacity killing […]
Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]
Voters approve constitutional amendment on gun rights
The constitutional amendment restricting infringement on gun ownership and use on Iowa voters’ ballots passed on Tuesday. The ballot question received 65.1% “yes” votes and 34.9% “no,” with 98% precincts reporting, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press projected just before 11 p.m. Tuesday that the amendment had been approved. Constitutional amendments need a simple […]