|
hicle. He happened to put his gun in his pocket prior to going to the door. In the course of events that transpired, he was brutally beaten. Ultimately, he decided that if he didn't use his weapon, he may lose his life. He shot one of the three assailants in the shoulder, after which they fled. Upon learning the details of the "pizza delivery" his employer dismissed him from his employment because they had a strict "no weapons" policy on their premises, and they surmised that he had defied their policy. Opponents to the bill prevailed as they argued that property rights were paramount in the situation. The committee voted 9-4 to shoot down the bill. I was on the losing end of the vote, as I felt the arguments presented by the pro-2nd-Amendment side were stronger. Nonetheless, it was a good and healthy debate, and will undoubtedly be back in the future. This was the fourth time in five years that a similar bill has been brought. Last year, the bill passed out of the House 49-15, before being killed on the Senate side.
• We have taken up two bills on the issue of mislabeling of gasoline products. Many of you have heard of the situation in which a few gas stations (none in our immediate area that I am aware of) were selling 85-octane gas from their pumps that were labeled 87-octane. This has been litigated by the Attorney General's office over the past year, and the Legislature is being asked to pass legislation to clarify the matter in statute. Under the proposed legislation, out West in nine high-elevation counties, 85-octane would be allowed, but it would be explicitly banned everywhere else in SD. One bill has passed the House. The second seeks to increase the penalties for selling mislabeled gas. The state's attorney who testified in Commerce & Energy said that he could have sought fraud or theft charges against the gas stations who sold 85-octane gas in Eastern SD, but he chose not to seek a lower, misde (Continued on page 13)
|
|
