gun rights

The Pennington County Courthouse and jail complex in Rapid City, in June 2023. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Bar fights, neighbor disputes, playground justice: How ‘stand your ground’ plays out in court

BY: - June 16, 2023

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 […]

A collage of photos of Acey Morrison at a younger age. Morrison was killed on Aug. 21, 2022 by a man who claimed self defense. (Photos courtesy of Cheryse Hawkins, illustration by Josh Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Nine months and counting: Slain transgender woman’s family frustrated by wait for justice

BY: - May 26, 2023

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 […]

COMMENTARY
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Guns have changed everything, especially childhood

BY: - May 16, 2023

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 […]

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks to guests at the 2023 NRA-ILA Leadership Forum on April 13, 2023, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The forum is part of the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings & Exhibits. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Noem signs order, gets standing ovation amid presidential speculation at NRA event

BY: - April 14, 2023

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 […]

South Dakota Chief Justice Steven Jensen gestures as he participates in oral arguments with other state Supreme Court justices on March 23, 2023, in Brookings. (David Bordewyk/South Dakota Newspaper Association)

Limits, application of South Dakota ‘stand your ground’ law debated before Supreme Court

BY: - March 24, 2023

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 […]

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic National Committee summer meeting at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Sept. 8, 2022. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden renews a call for action on gun control following Michigan State mass shooting

BY: - February 14, 2023

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 […]

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U.S. Senate Democrats unveil legislation to ban high-capacity gun magazines

BY: - February 7, 2023

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 […]

Matthew Haynes, the owner of Club Q, hugs Michael Anderson, a survivor of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, after speaking at the House Oversight Committee hearing titled "The Rise of Anti-LGBTQI+ Extremism and Violence in the United States" at the Rayburn House Office Building on Dec. 14, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

BY: - December 15, 2022

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 […]

A person tries out a semi-automatic pistol at The Gun Store in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Voters approve constitutional amendment on gun rights

BY: - November 9, 2022

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 […]