Rounds Introduces Pair of Bills Strengthening Second Amendment Rights for Military Families, Full-Time Travelers 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today introduced a pair of bills that would strengthen Second Amendment rights for military families and full-time travelers. Both pieces of legislation, the Traveler’s Gun Rights Act and the Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act, would amend sections of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) to make exceptions for Americans with unique living situations. This includes spouses of military members and full-time travelers whose permanent residence is a private mailbox or post office box.

“As a hunter, a lawful gun owner and a supporter of the Second Amendment, I am committed to protecting the rights of lawful gun owners,” said Rounds. “The laws currently on the books do not go far enough in acknowledging the unique living situations of many Americans, including military families and full-time travelers. These bills would amend the law to remove roadblocks for law-abiding citizens trying to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

The Traveler’s Gun Rights Act would amend the GCA by explicitly defining “state of resident” and “residence” to include private mailboxes and post office boxes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) requires that licensed federal firearms dealers and individuals purchasing a firearm must jointly fill out a firearms transaction record. While private mailbox and post office box addresses are able to be listed on driver’s licenses, the ATF has determined that they do not qualify as residences on ATF paperwork.

The Traveler’s Gun Rights Act is cosponsored by Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and James Risch (R-Idaho), with Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) leading Rounds’ companion legislation in the House. Rounds first introduced the Traveler’s Gun Rights Act in April 2022, followed by reintroduction in the 118th Congress in March 2023.

“Many servicemembers and military spouses haven’t been able to obtain a firearm due to gaps in the address verification process,” said Johnson. “This is a commonsense bill to ensure these individuals can practice their Second Amendment rights.”

The Traveler’s Gun Rights Act is endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

“For many Americans, traveling full-time is a way of life,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of NRA-ILA. “Whether someone is active duty military and moving for their duties, or traveling this beautiful nation full time, they should not be denied their Second Amendment rights due to a bureaucratic ATF form. While other government agencies like the IRS allow this practice, the ATF lags woefully behind. The NRA applauds Senator Mike Rounds for working to close this loophole where the ATF refuses to recognize P.O. Boxes as a legal point of residence.”

“Americans, especially our active-duty military members, should never be denied the full spectrum of their Second Amendment rights simply because they use a post office box address instead of a physical address,” said Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Firearm Industry Trade Association. “This legislation is a simple fix to an overlooked problem that unfortunately disenfranchises law-abiding citizens of their ability to lawfully purchase a firearm. It still requires all the safeguards to ensure firearms remain out of the hands of those who should never possess them. Senator Rounds’ leadership on the Traveler’s Gun Rights Act to ensure those with unique living situations are not denied their rights is commendable.”

The Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act would amend the current federal criminal code, allowing a licensed gun dealer, importer or manufacturer to sell or ship a firearm to the spouse of a member of the U.S. armed forces on active duty. Under the GCA, citizens can only purchase a handgun in the state where they are considered residents. While exceptions have been made for active duty military members, exceptions have not been made for military spouses.

The Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act is cosponsored by Senators Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), James Risch (R-Idaho) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Rounds first introduced this legislation in the 114th Congress in 2015, followed by reintroductions in the 115th Congress and the 116th Congress.

Click HERE to read full text of the Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act. Click HERE to read full text of the Traveler’s Gun Rights Act.

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Attorney General Jackley and Transportation Secretary Jundt Caution Consumers About Toll Road Scam

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Joel Jundt caution consumers about a text message scam being reported in South Dakota where people are being ordered to pay a tax for traveling on the state’s roads.

“This scam informs the recipient they have an outstanding toll amount and to be resolved by a certain date or jeopardize their legal ability to drive and threatens future penalties,” said Attorney General Jackley. “The message also includes a link to an E-Z Pass account that poses as an overdue payment portal.”

Other states also have reported this scam, but DOT Secretary Jundt said South Dakota does not levy such taxes. “All South Dakota state-owned roads and bridges are toll-free,” he said.

The South Dakota Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division recommends these tips to consumers:

*** Do not click onto suspicious links or accept downloads.

*** Do not give into high pressured tactics to resolve “the issue.”Stop, take a moment, and review all information.

*** Don’t trust your caller ID.  If you don’t know the number, DON’T answer the call. Hang up on robocalls. 

*** Find the official number of the agency that supposedly called you and call to confirm the information.

*** Don’t provide money or personal information via telephone or internet to an individual or organization that you don’t know or haven’t verified.

*** Be wary of any caller who tells you not to tell anyone else about the call.

*** Talk to someone you trust before you provide money or personal information to someone who contacts you.

Consumers who believe they may have been a victim of any type of scam should contact the Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or at https://consumer.sd.gov/, You may be helping someone else out by reporting what you’ve encountered.

To learn more about SDDOT programs and services, please view https://dot.sd.gov.

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Just for your clarification, in case you’re wondering if your State Senator voted to pass a bill that would throw librarians in the county jail if someone checked out a book that someone else thought had naughty words in them, the vote to amend the measure, stripping out the language that would have sent your local librarian arrested & fingerprinted, and instead created an appeal process for obscenity determinations and placing it under civil jurisdiction, as opposed to a criminal court of law. Here’s how it shook out:

And the roll being called: Yeas 18, Nays 16, Excused 1, Absent 0

Yeas: Crabtree, Davis, Deibert, Duhamel, Hulse, Kolbeck (Steve), Larson, Mehlhaff, Miskimins, Otten, Reed, Rohl, Sauder, Schoenfish, Smith, Vilhauer, Wheeler, and Zikmund

Nays: Beal, Blanc, Carley, Grove, Hohn, Howard, Jensen (Kevin), Karr, Lapka, Marty, Nelson, Perry, Peterson (Sue), Pischke, Voight, and Voita

Excused: Foster

You can read that here. (page 16)

The send the librarians to jail list included President Pro Temp Carr, Assistant Majority Leader Carl Perry, And Majority Whips Kevin Jensen, Sue Peterson & Tom Pischke. You can also add California Carley, Taffy Howard, Lauren Nelson, and End-time army member Mykala Voita, among others who joined the attack on people just trying to do their job.

Not a good sign when Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff and Majority Whip Randy Deibert were the only members of leadership who wanted to bring sanity back into the discussion.

What do you do with a legislature when so many people assume evil intent and want to brand their local librarians as criminals, guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor? And want them to suffer the same penalties as simple assault, stalking or first-degree petty theft. Just for doing the job they were hired to do, checking out books.

This has not been a legislative session to celebrate or to cheer about. It has literally been a non-stop parade of some of the worst legislation in years, and the only victories have been trying to keep as much raw sewage dammed up as possible. This should really be a wake up call for people to get involved and engaged in politics.

Because if you don’t, this is what you get.

A former Intern for State Rep. Will Mortensen is winding his way through the process to be confirmed as South Dakota’s next Student Regent, succeeding Student Regent Brock Brown who is currently attending USD Law School.

In addition to being a legislative Intern, Onida native Griffin has interned for Senator Mike Rounds, and currently attends USD where he is an Undergraduate Admissions Ambassador.

(Miles Beacom also had his hearing to join the board of Regents this AM, and he very deservedly receives plenty of accolades already).

 

I had noticed this during the debate on House Bill 1239, the Librarian Lock-Up Bill,  but in the debate over people objecting to books that they wanted declared as obscene, there was once again a reference to violence against librarians for checking out books.

First off, when this bill was first discussed on the House side in Committee debate, White History Month’s Rep. Travis Ismay:

Rep. Travis Ismay, R-Newell, suggested an arrest might be insufficient punishment.

“If a librarian rented this out to my son or daughter, you’d be lucky if you got hauled out of there in handcuffs,” Ismay said. 

Read that here.

Those aren’t the words of a stable person.

And yesterday, we had the utterly awful (and now Senator) Taffy Howard actually call for librarians to be killed by hanging:

If somebody had knowingly given that to my children when they were little, I’d want them strung up from the nearest tree.

– Taffy Howard

Read that here.

They are calling for violence against Librarians because they don’t like words?  (Literally.)   Who does that?

Most of us would say “Ugh, where did you get that trash,” or “that’s not appropriate,” and send it back, with a note or a call to the person in charge not to allow my kid to check that sort of thing out.

But, you have idiots like Ismay or Laffy-Taffy elected to office, representing a segment of our population, calling for violence, or in Taffy’s case, death to librarians?

If someone had suggested those acts against either of these two boobs, they might be getting a call from the Division of Criminal Investigation. But when they call for violence against Librarians as part of committee discussion or debate? Nothing.

And we wonder why politics have gotten so toxic.

House Commemoration 8024, recognizing the City of Mitchell as the Governor’s Office of Economic Development 2025 Community of the Year, was just killed in the State Senate by Senator Tom Pischke, objecting to it under Senate rules.

One person can object, so it’s done.   That’s what the legislature is now.

An amended version of House Bill 1239, Bethany Soye’s Librarian lock-up bill was passed in the Senate after State Senator David Wheeler proposed that sanity be brought back into the discussion, and Rep. Ismay’s desired image of librarians being hauled off in handcuffs was taken off the table.

Senator Wheeler proposed an amendment which brings discussions over naughty books back into the civil arena, versus frog-walking librarians off to jail..

No more jail for Librarians amendment HB1239 by Pat Powers on Scribd

And thankfully, after an amazing amount of pearl clutching, the amendment passed 18-16, with the bill passing handily after that.

Opponents mentioned changing the bill in the concurrence process.. so this may not be over.

From the Daily Mail, President Trump has been urged to action after the ‘Vape King’ from Gaza has infiltrated the US with illegal Chinese Vapes:

Safa Goods is one of the top vape distributors in the country carrying popular brands like ‘Lost Mary,’ ‘Mr. Fog’ and ‘RAZ,’ all of which are illegal yet widely popular around the country.

He has been dubbed the ‘Vape King’ for his many smoke shop locations named ‘The King of Vape.’

His company has expanded rapidly, building out operations in over 40 states as U.S. consumers increasingly turned to disposable flavored vaping products.

and..

Most of the illegal flavored vape products offered at corner stores and smoke shops across the country are these types of disposables – and almost all originate in China.

Read the entire story here.

But, In South Dakota, too many legislators think it’s ok to distribute illegal Chinese vape products, so it’s apparently OK.

Attorney General Jackley and DCI Release Cause of Death for Person Found Dead at Scene of Feb. 12 Brandon Standoff, House Fire

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) announce that an investigation has determined that Abe Joseph Boushee, 43, died of smoke inhalation and methamphetamine toxicity Feb. 12 following a standoff with law enforcement and a subsequent fire at his Brandon home.

“While the deceased had fired shots at law enforcement during the standoff, law enforcement did not return fire,” said Attorney General Jackley. “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continues to investigate the origin of the fire.”

The United States Marshals Service and the Brandon Police Department were at the home, located at 113 W. Confier Street, to arrest Boushee, 43. He was wanted on five outstanding warrants from Lincoln County, including felony drug offenses and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number. The remaining three warrants were two felony warrants for bond violations and a misdemeanor traffic warrant.

After the fire was extinguished, Boushee’s body was found in the basement of the house.

Attorney General Jackley said information on the fire’s origin will be released when the investigation is complete and in accordance with ATF policies.

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A member of the House wanted to remind me what the HB 1239, Bethany Soye’s Lock up Librarians bill actually does – nothing but that – it lock up librarians for doing their job:

I see you’re posting on the library bill. Thank you. One thing to remember when these people talk about the books in the libraries, the bill does nothing to remove ANY material from the library. When people say they don’t want this harmful material in their libraries, etc. Fine. But the bill today does nothing to stop ANY materials. It only goes after librarians.

It only goes after librarians. All it is and all it does is to punch down on public employees. 

Call your Senator at 605-773-3821, and tell them to kill the Lock Up Librarians bill (HB 1239.)