John Thune

Posted: July 22nd 2009

From The Argus Leader:

An amendment sponsored by Sen. John Thune has touched off a political brawl pitting gun control groups against gun supporters.

Thune's amendment would let anyone with a concealed weapon permit carry a firearm across state lines in states that also issue permits. Individuals would be required to follow the laws of the state they're visiting, a stipulation that Thune said balances states' rights with individual rights.

With the exception of Wisconsin and Illinois, the other states all have a mechanism for allowing concealed weapons. But some states are more restrictive than others in who can obtain a permit.

The amendment is attached to the Defense Authorization bill, and the Senate could vote on it today.

The amendment has elicited full-page ads in newspapers from gun control groups and protests from some Democratic senators who have vowed to defeat the measure. They worry that residents with permits from states that are less restrictive will endanger people in states that have tougher permitting rules.

Thune, saying the "Second Amendment should not stop at the state line," argues the measure allows law-abiding people to defend themselves from criminals.

"We hear from folks like truck drivers who take interstate drives and want to be able to defend themselves," he said.

South Dakota already recognizes concealed carry permits issued by other states, which allows residents of those states to legally carry weapons here, Secretary of State Chris Nelson said. South Dakota has reciprocity agreements with 26 states, which allow residents here to carry firearms in those states.

Some states have not signed reciprocity agreements with South Dakota, including Minnesota, Nelson said.

"They have very strict rules for getting concealed weapons permits, so they don't recognize ours," Nelson said. Some states require fingerprinting or a training requirement that South Dakota doesn't require.

In a full-page ad in Tuesday's USA Today, a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns asked readers to tell their senators to vote against the Thune amendment. The ad had the names of 450 mayors, including Sioux Falls Mayor Dave Munson.

Munson said he didn't know about the ad before it ran.

He also said he was disappointed with the group, because its intent was to stop the trafficking of illegal firearms, not to stop lawful residents from carrying concealed weapons.

"That was an organization against illegal guns," Munson said. "To me, what we're talking about here is legal. I think it's a different set of circumstances."

The case illustrates the ferocity with which gun opponents have attacked the measure. Thune said he wasn't surprised by the reaction, and he said it had gotten the "fur flying" among some Senate Democrats.
"It's got a lot of folks fired up," Thune said.

Many of those "folks" are from the East and West coasts. Stuart Rothenberg, Editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan review of American politics, said different parts of the country react differently to gun issues.

"It's like we're on different planets and not in different parts of the country," he said. ...

The vote could prove to be a tough one for Demo-crats who represent rural districts, he said, where guns are more accepted. "When Democrats fight this, they put themselves in an awkward position," Rothenberg said.

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the vote would put more conservative Democrats on record.

"It's about the 2010 election, and Republicans are hoping to eliminate some of the new Democrats that represent more conservative districts," Sabato said.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Tim Johnson said in an e-mail that "we'll know more tomorrow," when asked how Johnson would vote.

Thune said a number of Democrats plan to support the measure. Some Democrats have vowed to filibuster the amendment, meaning Thune would need 60 votes.

"If you represent a rural state and a state with a lot of gun owners, this probably is a tough vote for them," Thune said. "We have to make a lot of tough votes on both sides."