According to Firearm Chronicles
In a state like South Dakota, you’d expect to find pro-gun people at all levels of government. While no state is immune to anti-gun sentiment, a state like South Dakota is probably going to have fewer folks like that no matter what level you want to take a gander at.
However, it seems that while you’d expect them to be pro-gun, they’re willing to throw a hissy fit over a law change they don’t particularly like. At least, that’s what’s happening in one South Dakota county.
A new ordinance allowing guns in the Custer County Courthouse has judges taking their hearings elsewhere.
This week the Custer County Commission passed an ordinance allowing anyone to carry guns inside the courthouse, but not the courtroom. Commission Chairman Jim Lintz says it was effort to follow state law.
“This is hitting close to home to the people that really feel strongly about the gun rights because this is sort of on a local level where they feel they’re infringing on the rights of the gun owners,” Jim Lintz, Chairman of Custer County Commission, said.
However, this ordinance did not sit well with the county judges. Causing them to carryon with their hearings here in Pennington County instead.
“It’s going to affect the general public who have to appear in court, they’re going to have to provide transportation to Pennington County. We’re going to have to probably shutdown our state’s attorney’s office that day because they’ll all be in Pennington County,” Lintz said.
Honestly, that’s just absolutely pathetic.
Now, look, I get that judges make enemies. I get them feeling a bit more threatened than the average citizen would. However, I don’t think this is about that. This is an attempt to punish the county and its citizens for not bending the knee over the judges’ fears. The county passed an ordinance the judges aren’t thrilled with so they got their knickers in a twist.
Custer County is about 1,559 square miles. That means moving cases to a nearby county will create an undue burden on people with court cases. Plus, someone’s going to have to pay the other county for their facilities and any personnel they have to provide as well.
And the most annoying part is that judges usually have so much discretion on how their courtrooms operate that this is perfectly legal. That means it’s up to state officials to crack down on this kind of stupid.
Make no mistake, either, this is weapons-grade stupid. There’s no real reason to do this except to throw a temper tantrum, which is all this really is.
With luck, though, this will prove to be such a pain for the judges that it doesn’t keep going on for very long. The people of Custer County deserve better than to be subjected to this kind of nonsense, and they’re the ones who are likely to bear the brunt of this particular hissy fit.
At least, that’s the hope until someone in the legislature decides it’s time to smack these judges upside the head (metaphorically) for their stupidity and put an end to it.