Rep. Betty Olson (R-28A/Prairie City) exposed her own ignorance and irresponsibility when it comes to her pet gun proposals and her own gun-carrying habits.
Rep. Olson testified before House State Affairs this morning in support of her House Bill 1117, an ill-advised proposal to force schools and courthouses to pay for metal detectors and extra staff whenever they post "gun-free zone" signs. The brevity of her testimony suggested she knew her silly little bill was going nowhere.
The hypocrisy of imposing an unfunded mandate on local governments to notify citizens of state law forbidding guns from their premises is obvious to everyone but Rep. Olson. Committee member Rep. Brian Gosch asked whether Rep. Olson cared to address the conflict between her bill and SDCL 22-14-26, which requires counties to post notices that guns are prohibited in courthouses. Rep. Olson played the cute but clueless grandma, saying the lawyers on the committee knew more about the law than she and claiming that she thought her bill would automatically remove any conflicting statutes. HB 1117 consists of one sentence. It does not repeal or even mention any other statutes. Her bill would thus mandate that counties spend thousands of dollars on metal detectors and gun-check staff.
Perhaps feeling sorry for the poor woman, Rep. Brian Gosch attempted to shift the blame to the Legislative Research Council for not informing Rep. Olson of the conflicts in state law. But it's hard to blame the LRC, which is busy dealing with the extra work caused by SB 70 to prepare real legislation, for simply passing along Rep. Olson's latest gun-but time-waster. Rep. Olson is not a lawyer, but liek every legislator, she crafts laws, and she has as much obligation as anyone else in Pierre to understand the ramifications of the words she tries to write into South Dakota Codified Law.
Rep. Olson then demonstrated that we can't trust her with a gun, let alone gun laws. She told the committee, with what sounded annoyingly like pride ("I would love to answer that one," she purred) that she has "accidentally" brought her concealed weapon in the Capitol a couple of times. She says she knows of a few other legislators who have "accidentally" forgotten the guns in their pockets and brought their guns into the Capitol. She admitted that that forgetfulness, if caught, could have cost her a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Forget the law; let's just talk responsible gun ownership. If you carry a deadly weapon, you have a heightened obligation to be constantly aware of the presence of that deadly weapon. You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings, constantly watching for threats and the possibility of attacks or accidents that could result in your weapon firing. Rep. Olson fails to show that awareness.
Concealed-carry advocates like Rep. Olson insist that they are law-abiding, responsible gun handlers. Her testimony to House State Affairs proves she is neither law-abiding nor responsible. Her concealed weapons permit should be revoked immediately; her seat in the Legislature should be revoked in November.
House State Affairs killed HB 1117 on a 13–0 vote.
Land of Infinite Venality.
I would be willing to bet she has her stupid gun with her all the time. That is my problem with gun owners. You hear so many of them that think they know everything and carry their stupid guns all the time. There is a time and place to carry guns and it isn't any place in the public.
"Rep. Olson played the cute but clueless grandma"? Excuse me? I was not fond of that remark. Some of us are old women, but...........
Yes, and I am probably the oldest one here.
Indeed, Ms. Brown, yet you seem as spry as a spring chicken. Speaking as an old person, there is a point where much like a car society may need to start taking those tools away. It may not be driven by age, for I still have most of my wits, but I fear young Ms. Olson is approaching that stage. Is there a law about taking guns away from those who are insaner than most?
Dear Prairie Lady, I intend no offense to you or to grandmas in general. I like grandmas. My daughter has a couple of them herself, and they are far from clueless.
But in Rep. Olson's response, I heard a certain disingenuousness, like a woman being pulled over by the cops for speeding and pretending she's just a harmless little old lady playing for sympathy. Wrapped in her response was also a little passive-aggressive snideness toward those fancy-pants lawyers trying to pick on her for not having all the answers.
Betty's bill went down today, but not without a little fun along the way. Pat's pissing in Stace's pool and there was an NRA representative in the audience to make sure that the toady's went along...and lost anyway. Sounds like Hickey was the adult in the room.
I think I may have to listen to the replay on SDPB to see how much taxpayer money was wasted on people trying to earn their merit badges in ideology at the expense of actual policy.
Yeah Jana, I heard Stace was missing in action!
Of course Powers is skewering Stace for running to the outhouse so he wouldn't have to vote.
Mr. Cornelius, it is a bit like that Cassius Clay fellow bellering how good he will be and then failing to climb into the ring, is it not? Mr. Nelson was in the arena for 10 hours and was not allowed to go to the restroom before this. I blame the RINOs for dragging it out until Mr. Nelson's bowels got the best of him. Or maybe somebody else got the best of him and he couldn't handle it any more.
grudz,
If Stace was in the arena for 10 hours, why was he not "allowed" a little boys room break.
I've always found that in similar situations all it took was an "please excuse me for a few minutes, I gotta poop".
Yes sir, Mr. C. I think some pre-planning is all it takes. Poop before you get on the big stage. But if it turns out he was not allowed to leave, and they duressed him to the point of pain, this will go down badly for those fellows that run the House. You need to allow appropriate bathroom breaks.
grudz,
Just who is it that allows or doesn't poop breaks? I'm surprised Stace would give away his freedom "not to vote".
It could get pretty messy for a Senator if he can't control his bowels in the senate chamber.