South Dakota Statute on legislators’ ethical conduct on their duties: http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=0N-3-8
During the SD House Judiciary Committee hearing on HB 1015 a true Constitutional gun carry bill brought by Rep. Don Kopp (and a bill Rep. Gosch previously promised to support) Gosch and Rep. Gene Abdallah helped kill that bill even though they admitted they supported the merits of the bill.
Abdallah and Gosch voted to kill the bill in committee because they opposed the “South Dakota Gun Owners” organization which was backing the bill. Here is a link to HB 1015: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2012/Bill.aspx?Bill=1015 (Click on SDPB icon lower right corner for audio of the full hearing)
Rep Gosch was later reportedly confronted by Mr. Ed Randazzo about killing the most significant 2nd Amendment rights bill in SD’s legislative history.
Rep. Gosch allegedly bragged to Mr. Randazzo that he and Rep. Abdallah killed the bill at the request of the NRA lobbyist and bragged that he would be bringing the exact same bill during the 2013 session as the Speaker of the House, with NRA sponsorship!
Fact: Rep. Gosch admits in the hearing recording that he supports the merits of HB1015 and previously promised Rep. Kopp that he would support the bill, before he voted to kill it.
Fact: Reps. Gosch, Abdallah, Rausch, and several others had a private meeting with the NRA lobbyist before HB1015 came to hearing.
Fact: Even though Rep. Gosch helped kill one of the most significant 2nd Amendment bills in legislative history, the NRA Political Victory Fund gave him a perfect grade of A+ and gave his campaign support during the 2012 primary !
QUESTION: Did Representatives Gosch & Abdallah agree to help kill HB 1015 for the NRA with a promises they would receive a PASS from normal NRA grading for doing so, as well as A+ endorsements, and campaign support?**
QUESTION: Is anyone so naive as to believe they killed HB1015 because they were doing so in protest of South Dakota Gun Owners sending postcards to their constituents about their past votes AGAINST gun bills? (Although, that begs the question –How can they have NRA A+ ratings if they have been voting against pro-gun bills in the past?)
QUESTION: If questioning the voting records of dishonest politicians is ‘TERRORISM” as one deluded District 8 senator called it, then when exactly did our First Amendment rights cease to exist ?
**NOTE: In addition to voting AGAINST 2012’s HB1015, Rep. Abdallah voted differently than Rep Gosch on overturning the governor’s veto on 2012’s HB-1248, and helped kill 2011’s HB1204 which was identical to 2012’s HB1132 which he was a co-signer with the the others that killed 2011’s HB 1204! 2012’s HB1132 was “sponsored by the NRA.” Even though he voted AGAINST gun rights 3 of the 4 times, Rep. Abdallah was still given the same perfect A+ in 2012 as Gosch by NRA PVF, AND received campaign support during the 2012 primaries! Somehow his past appropriate NRA grades of “F” disappeared despite his continued poor voting record on gun rights. |
