House Panel Kills Bill on Guns in Parking Lots
by Associated Press
January 28, 2013 1:10 PM
A South Dakota legislative panel has decided that businesses should keep the right to ban guns in vehicles in their parking lots.
The House Commerce Committee voted 8-4 to reject a bill that would have prohibited businesses from preventing employees or customers from having guns in their vehicles parked on those businesses' property.
Opponents say the bill would have interfered with the right of a business to determine what happens on its property.
But supporters say a ban on guns in parking lots is a violation of a person's constitutional right to bear arms.
Similar bills have been rejected by the South Dakota Legislature in past years.
But the measure's main sponsor, Rep. Lance Russell of Hot Springs, says 14 other states have passed similar laws.
