PIERRE — The push to prohibit public colleges and universities from restricting guns on campuses was defeated in the Senate on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 122, which would prohibit the Board of Regents and Board of Technical Education from adopting policies that would restrict or limit a person's ability to carry a firearm on campus, was defeated in the Senate on a 10-24 vote. The Senate's decision came after nearly 50 minutes of debate on whether allowing guns on campuses would give students more safety.

Republican Sens. V.J. Smith of Brookings, Bob Ewing of Spearfish, and Jordan Youngberg of Madison, who represent districts with universities, urged their fellow senators to oppose the bill.

Smith pointed out that the bill had one proponent, but a long line of university staff and students spoke in opposition during the committee hearing last week. Opponents cited concerns that included the safety of students in classrooms and dorms, complications for Title IX cases and the inability to host NCAA sports events. The state should be encouraging young people to come into the state, but the bill would likely cause parents to steer their children away from attending South Dakota's public universities, Smith said.

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"Do we listen to them, the people most affected by this, the students who want a safe environment to learn and grow, the school administrators who are entrusted with the health, safety and welfare of our sons, daughters and grandchildren? Or do we take the stance by simply saying 'We know better than you'?" Smith said.

However, Sen. Jeff Monroe, R-Pierre, said he doesn't believe university students unanimously oppose the bill because he has heard from students who say they would feel safer if they could carry a firearm on campus.

Bill sponsor Sen. Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs, argued that campuses are "target rich" areas for shootings because they prohibit firearms. Sen. Stace Nelson, R-Fulton, argued that while most South Dakotans are allowed to carry firearms, they allow firearms to be banned from "liberal campuses" because it offends liberals' "sensitivities."

"We come in here today, and we make these arguments about how we need to take a knee and bow down to the NCAA," Nelson said. "I don't work for the NCAA, I don't care what they think. I work for South Dakotans."

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The Senate's debate evolved into a discussion on whether the Second Amendment allows for restrictions. Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said he's offended by people who don't tell the truth about the Second Amendment because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there can be restricted in certain situations. The bill isn't about hypothetical situations of what people believe should happen on campus, when guns are currently used in real situations on campuses.

"If you're going to put them in a setting where this happens, you just understand that you're in favor of shooting kids," Schoenbeck said. "This isn't campus carry, this is killing kids on campus."

Russell took issue with Schoenbeck's comments, saying that he wasn't introducing the bill to be "silly," and he has two children currently attending college in South Dakota. Russell attempted earlier in the debate to amend his bill to allow for some restrictions of firearms on campuses to ameliorate the universities' concerns about his bill.

"This is a serious matter because if in the next year, between now and the legislative session, we have a shooting on one of these campuses in one of these large halls and there are 20 or 30 kids that are killed, my conscience is clear," Russell said. "I brought legislation to try and make sure that somebody could stop that incident if it gets started."

The bill narrowly passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The South Dakota Gun Owners Association was the sole supporter of the bill, saying that it would allow students to protect themselves on campus.