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6/10/2006

South Dakota Gun Owners Members Flex Grassroots Muscle
Anti-gun politicians defeated

Friday, June 9, 2006

This week’s elections have once again proven the power of gun owners who vote.

The most decisive victory was scored against rabidly anti-gun Sen. JP Duniphan, who has long been part of the driving force behind a central registry for concealed pistol permit holders. Similar to the Sex Offender Registry, Sen. Duniphan’s anti-gun database profiles law-abiding gun owners as dangerous and encourages officers to treat you as a threat.

In fact, Sen. Duniphan is one of only two politicians in South Dakota to support every anti-gun bill to be introduced in the past 6 years. She has sponsored and voted for two different bills to register and profile gun owners, two versions of the hated Lautenberg gun ban and a bill to make it harder for you to get a pistol permit.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the SDGO staff and volunteers worked overtime to give gun owners in Duniphan’s Rapid City district the information they needed to hold her accountable. SDGO sent thousands of mail pieces and made hundreds upon hundreds of phone calls to expose her long-standing anti-gun record.

Thanks in no small part to SDGO’s accountability campaign, Duniphan was soundly defeated 61 percent to 39 percent by pro-gun candidate Dennis Schmidt.

SDGO also handed notorious anti-gun Senator Gene Abdallah the toughest race he’s ever faced. Sen. Abdallah is the only other state politician to support every piece of gun control introduced since he took office in 2001. He is one of the few legislators in South Dakota to earn an “F” rating from the NRA.

Early in this campaign, SDGO identified Sen. Abdallah as possibly the most anti-gun politician in the state and worked to inform the gun owners in his Sioux Falls district. In past years, Sen. Abdallah has either run unopposed or won by wide margins of up to 30 percent. This year he won by a narrow 4 percent, demonstrating that pushing gun control doesn’t pay.

Gun owners also replaced well-known anti-gun Senator Stan Adelstein with pro-gun candidate Elli Schwiesow in the race for state Senate District 32 (Rapid City). Long-time anti-gunner Rep. Tom Hennies was also defeated by a wide margin.

South Dakota Gun Owners E-mail Alert PO Box 3845, Rapid City, SD 57709 (605) 221-5766 LibertyTeeth@sdgo.org  http://www.SDGO.org