Date: March 7, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(North Salem, NY): The official seal of the University of South Dakota proclaims VERITAS (truth), with the image of a lamp lighting the way balanced upon a book. The seal indicates learning requires light and education can only be illuminated if it is founded upon the values and principles of truth. The university’s seal and its proclaimed values, as well as those across every South Dakota university, college and tech campus, were subverted in another of rash bills sweeping states across the nation permitting guns into environments that have been historically firearm-free and demonstrably safe for decades. Veritas is a bothersome virtue when political expedience, founded on falsehoods and firearm fealty, dominates. Campus communities are being called to yield to this new veritas.
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus issued the following statement in response to passage of SB 100 in South Dakota earlier yesterday:
“KGOC opposes passage of Senate Bill 100 which widely permits concealed guns on college campuses across South Dakota. KGOC joins voices from law enforcement and the medical/healthcare community as well as faculty, staff, students and university leadership asking you, sir, to deeply consider the truth and consequences should the bill go into effect,
Despite strong opposition, the South Dakota measure forces college campuses to allow people to carry concealed, loaded firearms in buildings, including student dormitories, despite evidence that such “protections’ are unwarranted in the assessment of true campus-crime data, as well as statistics proving the introduction of firearms into any youth environment greatly escalates the probability of tragedy. Suicide is the leading cause of death among college-aged students and South Dakota’s suicide rate is 12 times the national average. South Dakota ranks in the bottom five on the strength of gun safety laws nationally, with 77-percent of gun deaths in the state by gun suicide. While the loss of any life to gun violence takes an immeasurable toll, worth noting is direct cost of gun violence in South Dakota is $1.7 billion each year. Passage of this bill will certainly up the costs in the investment and enhancement of widespread firearm-security measures required at the schools.
The rationale for guns to protect against violent crime on campuses does not correlate with truth. Colleges continue to be far safer than off-campus or general-community environments. According to the most recent data provided by College Factual, the University of South Dakota reported in a given year a total of 271 behavioral and safety-related incidents but 261 of these were for minor disciplinary or possession reasons. Important to note is the vast majority of these incidents and behaviors happened in residence halls among students (229). Introducing a flow of guns to this equation will have its own predictable outcome and truth.
“It is, sadly, inescapable and inevitable that if we allow guns in places and at an age when alcohol, overconsumption, impulsivity and poor choices are still commonplace, some of those guns will be misused, often by the gun owner themselves,” Mary Garrigan of South Dakota Searchlight stated. “Easy access to a gun is the common denominator in so many gun violence injuries and tragic deaths, whether it be a suicide, an unintentional shooting or an act of simple negligence.”
Veritas was distorted on the highest order as the bill’s sponsor, State Representative Spencer Gosch, successfully urged his fellow members to give the guns-everywhere idea the momentum required for passage. When reasonable arguments, social studies and crime data are inconvenient to the guns-everywhere cause, political leadership often resorts to divine intervention. “It’s a great bill for the citizens of South Dakota to be able to protect themselves,” Gosch said. “The way God intended.”
God provided a different truth for fellow Republican Representative Jim Halverson who rose in opposition to SB 100. “I slept very little last night because I couldn’t make peace with my God if I didn’t stand up and speak against this bill today,” the former State Highway Patrolman confessed in regard to a late compromise requiring guns in dorms to be secured. “A locked box in a dorm room just doesn’t seem like a good plan.”
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus joined student-led organizations in the effort to stem the rapid momentum of SB 100, a mounting challenge in the new national climate where haste is central to strategy. As KGOC absorbs the news of this bill’s passage, hope that change and long-term appreciation for truth will turn toward reason and common sense in due time. Keeping guns off campus is not beholden to whims of the most recent legislation. Education, violence intervention, behavioral awareness as well as creative cultural shifts will be elements required amongst the new norm of expanded firearm access – up to and beyond the next cycle of introduced bills in South Dakota. Veritas is not just a slogan on a university seal, it is a value to behold. One truth is irrefutable today: obtaining a college education in South Dakota is one step closer to be much more dangerous.”
Founded in 2008, The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus works with K-12 schools, colleges and universities across the country to oppose legislative policies that would force loaded, concealed guns to be carried on campuses. Through education, outreach, coalition-building, and legal action, The Campaign works to foster a safe learning environment for all and is the only national organization of its kind tasked with protecting higher educational institutions and the communities they serve.Follow us on Facebook, BlueSky, X and Instagram.
Contact: John McKenna, Executive Director, The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus ([email protected])
