What concealed carry on campus means for South Dakota schools
The boards that oversee South Dakota’s 10 public colleges are drafting policies in accordance with a new state law that will allow students to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Starting July 1, the four-year and technical institutions will no longer be able to restrict the lawful concealed carry of firearms and weapons on campuses.
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Senate Bill 100 (SB 100), which Gov. Larry Rhoden signed into law on March 31, makes South Dakota the 12th state to allow concealed carry on college campuses. It applies to students 18 and older and staff members who have an enhanced permit that requires the person to take a handgun safety course and abide by other requirements.
South Dakota is a constitutional carry state as of 2019, meaning anyone over 18 who can legally possess a firearm does not need a permit to lawfully conceal carry. Prior to SB 100’s passage, individual schools set their own policy regarding concealed carry on campus. No regental or technical institution permitted weapons or firearms on campus.
“The safety and well-being of students, employees and guests will always be our top priority,” Shuree Mortenson, director of communications for the Board of Regents, said in an email to News Watch. “We have been in communication with all our universities to navigate this change.”
Campus-specific restrictions to comply with the new law are not yet in place, and a draft policy will be available at the Board of Regents meeting July 16-17.
Regental campuses are currently working on identifying spaces where guns will be restricted and developing the proper notifications, Mortenson said.
Those campuses are Black Hills State University in Spearfish, Dakota State University in Madison, Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota State University in Brookings and the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
How technical colleges are responding to the law
The new law also applies to the states’ four technical colleges: Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, Mitchell Technical College in Mitchell, Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls and Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City.
Prior to this bill, all four institutions banned firearms and weapons on campus.
The South Dakota Board of Technical Education, which oversees the four campuses, will implement a new system-wide policy to comply with the law. Executive Director Nick Wendell said the goal is to have a policy affirmed by July 1.
While the policy will be system-wide, Wendell said institutions will individually determine whether there are certain environments where they will provide secured storage.
Wendell doesn’t envision dramatic changes to the campus environment with this bill.
“I think we have lots of folks in our communities and already on our campuses that maybe had an interest in concealed carrying,” Wendell said. “This just ensures that everybody is aware of what the parameters are on concealed carry.”
Bill does not apply to private institutions
SB 100 does not apply to private institutions. All private schools in South Dakota have policies against allowing concealed carry on campus, and none plan to change in response to the new law.
Firearms and weapons of any kind are not permitted at Augustana University, located in Sioux Falls. The school provides secure storage for hunting weapons in the department of campus safety.
At Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, firearms and weapons are prohibited on campus. Students can have an unloaded hunting rifle or shotgun locked inside the trunk of their vehicle or in the school’s locked gun safe. Ammunition cannot be stored with the firearm.
Mount Marty University in Yankton also has a policy against firearms and weapons on campus.
No weapons or firearms are allowed at the University of Sioux Falls. Students are encouraged to find safe storage off campus.
Student perspectives on the law
Blake Gibney, a recent South Dakota State University graduate, supports SB 100. Gibney served as a senator on SDSU’s Students’ Association. He voted no on a Students’ Association resolution in February that opposed SB 100.
Gibney enjoys South Dakota’s constitutional carry law. He currently owns a gun and conceal carries without an enhanced permit. If he wasn’t moving out-of-state, he would have gotten his enhanced permit to carry on campus, he said.
Gibney thinks requiring an enhanced permit for on-campus carrying was important to include in the bill.
“I do enjoy constitutional carry,” Gibney said. “But the 18- to 21-year-old component of having that at a university, an educational-based institution, I think (the enhanced permit requirement was) appropriate.”
Hannah Meland, who was a junior at the University of South Dakota last school year, told USD student newspaper The Volante that she opposes the law.
“Statistically, college is one of the hardest times on mental health and by allowing guns on campus, I feel we are allowing more opportunities for unsafe situations involving a firearm to occur,” Meland said.
What the law allows
Under the new law, students and staff may only conceal carry with the required restricted enhanced permit or enhanced permit. Open carry is not authorized. When an individual is not concealed carrying a firearm or in possession of a self-defense item and remains on campus, the item must be stored in a locked case or safe.
Institutions may impose restrictions in specific high-risk areas, including:
1. Hazardous material areas, such as locations with large amounts of flammable liquids, toxic chemicals or gas cylinders.
2. Research and manufacturing rooms, where airborne particles must be controlled.
3. Secure areas, including facilities requiring federal security clearance.
4. Special events, if security measures like metal detectors and armed personnel are in place.
Expert concerned about increased suicides
College campuses have been relatively safe compared to other settings when it comes to gun violence, said Jaclyn Schildkraut, a national expert on school and mass shootings and executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.
“We know that they (colleges) are not immune to gun violence, whether that’s random incidents of gun violence or a mass shooting or things of that nature,” Schildkraut said. “Those things can happen anywhere. They happen in red states, blue states, they happen in big cities, they happen in rural areas, they happen all over the place. But by and large, our campuses are incredibly safe.”
The big question then, according to Schildkraut, is, “What is the benefit of allowing people to carry on campus versus what are the potential risks?”
One risk is the potential loss of open expression of ideas, Schildkraut said. What happens to the academic environment when students are worried about who is carrying a gun, rather than what is being discussed in class?
Another risk with increased firearms, particularly in dorms, is suicide. The part of the brain that handles impulse control is not fully developed until age 25.
Individuals are at a much greater likelihood to be the victim of suicide than the victim of homicide, Schildkraut said.
“When you’re feeling very suicidal, you’re not thinking about, ‘How do I take a pause and get through this?’ It’s, ‘Oh my God, I need to deal with it right now,’” Schildkraut said.
Recap of legislative journey
SB 100 was introduced into the Senate State Affairs Committee on Jan 27. The bill’s prime sponsor was Sen. Mykala Voita, a Republican from Bonesteel.
Proponents argued that no South Dakota law prohibits law-abiding residents from carrying onto a campus with a firearm because of constitutional carry. Voita said school policy is limiting students and staff from potentially defending themselves.
Sheila Gestring, president of the University of South Dakota, spoke in opposition to the bill on behalf of all six Board of Regents presidents. Gestring advocated for institutions to be able to place some restrictions on where concealed carry is allowed on campuses.
The bill passed through the committee to the Senate floor with a 7-2 vote.
On the Senate floor, Amendment 100E was adopted Feb. 12. The amendment provided institutions with some jurisdiction on where concealed carry can happen on campus. It also required firearms to be locked securely when not in use and made an enhanced permit necessary to carry on campus.
With the amendment, the bill passed 33-2 and moved onto the House State Affairs committee. Nathan Lukkes, executive director of the Board of Regents, spoke in opposition. Lukkes was appreciative that senators and the Board of Regents came to a compromise to adopt Amendment 100E.
However, Lukkes said the BOR had hoped to keep 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying on campus because “the potential consequences of an increased presence of firearms in the dorms” was a big safety concern for the regents.
Jenna Severyn, lobbyist for the South Dakota Police Chiefs’ Association, also spoke in opposition to the bill as amended. Severyn said individuals should not be expected or relied on to step in for law enforcement in the chance of a serious event. Another concern was that local law enforcement and campus police will not know who is carrying and who is not, should an altercation break out.
SB 100 passed the committee with a vote of 10-3 and moved onto the House floor.
On the House floor, Republican Rep. Marty Overweg, a New Holland resident, spoke in favor of the bill. He said 18-20 year olds that can drive, vote and go to war should be able to carry a gun.
“I don’t think taking a person’s God-given right as an American citizen, because I’m worried some accident might happen ... that’s not up to me,” Overweg said. “That’s not my job here as a legislator.”
“Our rights were given to us by our forefathers,” Overweg added. “Think back how many people in the history of the United States have died protecting every one of those rights. They didn’t die so we could sit here as a legislature and take rights away from law abiding citizens ... The fact of the matter is, we’re a concealed carry state.”
The South Dakota House of Representatives passed SB 100 with a vote of 55-17 on March 6. Rep. Gov. Rhoden signed the measure on March 31 and will go into effect July 1.
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This story was originally published by South Dakota News Watch and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.