SDGO Defeats Anti-Gun Leaders

 

By Ray Lautenschlager  

Executive Director South Dakota Gun Owners

 

Nothing embodies the phrase ‘out-of-touch’ like a politician from South Dakota who votes against gun ownership.

For elected officials in this state, opposing the Second Amendment is a good way to get fired.

But the voters must know how their lawmakers voted before they can hold them accountable. Arming voters with this vital information is at the very center of the battle for the right to keep and bear arms. That’s why South Dakota Gun Owners has taken the lead for over twenty years to inform voters on the gun rights issue. Your organization is the leading voice of the gun rights community in this state.

During the 2010 Election cycle, SDGO members and supporters once again played a key role in defeating anti-gun politicians and electing gun rights leaders.

SDGO helps defeat Sandlin despite NRA endorsement

Many gun owners were appalled when the National Rifle Association endorsed Democrat Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin just a few weeks before the November 2nd Election.

For years, Congresswoman Sandlin supported Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, empowering her to push everything from the Clinton Gun Ban to the Blair Holt Gun Registration Bill. Sandlin also supported the anti-gun ObamaCare bill and voted for backdoor funding for the Obama/Clinton UN Gun Ban. But the NRA endorsed her anyway.

South Dakota Gun Owners was the only gun rights organization willing to question the NRA and call out Rep. Sandlin for voting against the right to arms. SDGO aggressively published Sandlin’s anti-gun record with thousands of flyers and emails.

This proved to be a vital part of the race. Pro-gun Republican challenger Kristi Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin by just two percentage points.

Anti-gun state Legislators defeated

SDGO also played a key role in throwing out a bunch of anti-gun state-level politicians. We published the Gun Rights Voter Guide and mailed thousands upon thousands of letters, postcards, mailers and flyers. Through this effort, SDGO members and supporters all over the state played a key role in defeating numerous anti-gun Legislators like Nancy Turbak Berry, Sandy Jerstad, Allan Hoerth, Oran Sorenson, Dave Knudson and JP Duniphan.

Duniphan and Knudson were among the most notorious anti-gunners defeated this year. Both had emerged as leaders of the anti-gun crowd in Pierre for sponsoring and voting for numerous anti-gun bills. Duniphan was running for the state Senate and Knudson was a front-runner in the race for the Governor’s office. SDGO was the only gun rights organization to oppose them and is widely recognized as one of the major elements in their defeats.

Numerous pro-gun leaders elected

 

South Dakota Gun Owners also played a major role in re-electing proven gun rights leaders to the state Legislature, including Representatives Don Kopp, Lance Russell, Mike Verchio, Phil Jensen, and Tom Brunner and Senator Tim Begalka. We also played a part in electing pro-gun newcomers Stace Nelson and Lora Hubbel to the state House and in re-electing Rep. Betty Olson, Sen. Dan Lederman and Sen. Ryan Maher.

Congratulations to all SDGO members!

Editors Note: Thanks SDGO for being there for us!!!

Visit the SDGO website at www.sdgo.org