South Dakota – SB 2 has been introduced in the South Dakota legislature. It removes silencers from the list of “controlled weapons” in the state statutes. This bill effectively removes state regulation of silencers, but not federal regulation. From sdlegislature.gov:

Introduced by: Senator Crabtree: An Act to provide that a firearm silencer is not a controlled weapon. The Bill removes silencers from the definition of “Controlled weapon”. The definition is Section 1. § 22-1-2 (8). 

The bill creates a new definition which removes silencers. Here is how the new definition would read:

(8) “Controlled weapon” includes machine gun and short shotgun as those terms are defined in subdivisions (17), (23), and (46) of this section but does not include a firearm silencer;

As you can see, South Dakota does not include short barreled rifles in their definition of “controlled weapons”. The definition of what a silencer is still exists in Section 1.§22-1-2 (17).

(17) “Firearm silencer,” any instrument, attachment, weapon or appliance for causing the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol, or other firearm to be silent, or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any such weapon;

Because silencers are removed from the list of “controlled weapons”, they would no longer be banned from possession by most of the people in South Dakota. In effect, the law removes the state ban on the possession of silencers for everyone who may legally posses firearms in South Dakota. In the current law, an exemption exists for people who have a federal tax stamp for a particular silencer. The ban on short barreled rifles has already been removed from the statute.

For whatever reason, the bill keeps short barreled shotguns on the list of “controlled weapons”.

Senate Bill 2 still has a long way to go to be enacted into law, even though it has a very strong start. The bill has 18 Senators as sponsors: Crabtree (prime), Blanc, Carley, Davis, Deibert, Grove, Howard, Hulse, Jensen (Kevin), Miskimins, Nelson, Pischke, Reed, Rohl, Voight, Voita, Wipf, and Zikmund . It has 29 Representatives as sponsors: Peterson (Drew) (prime), Aylward, Bahmuller, Baxter, Emery, Fosness, Goodwin, Hughes, Jordan, Jorgenson, Kull, Moore, Mortenson, Mulder, Novstrup, Overweg, Pourier, Reimer, Reisch, Rice, Roe, Schaefbauer, Schwans, Shorma, Shubeck, Sjaarda, Van Diepen, Walburg, and Weems.

There are 35 senators in the South Dakota legislature and 70 representatives. Bill 2 already has a majority of Senators as sponsors, but needs seven more representatives to have a majority of representatives as sponsors.

Governor  Larry Rhoden has already said he supports the effort to deregulate suppressors in South Dakota.

The Big Beautiful Bill removed the $200 tax from the Federal National Firearms Act for silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any other weapons (AOW). States need to remove state impediments to owning these weapons. The Second Amendment should presumptively protect weapons. Removing the potential for state prosecution is prudent. The Supreme Court may remove these items from the NFA in the near future. Until then, removing state laws prevents state agencies from prosecuting possession of these items.  Federal law enforcement is spread thin. Without the aid of state agencies, the likelihood of being prosecuted for failing to obtain a federal tax stamp is very small.

Arizona introduced a similar bill, SB 1014, in 2024. It was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs (D). Governor Hobbs holds the record for the most vetoes by an Arizona governor in one session:

In her first term as governor, Hobbs set the record for the most vetoes by an Arizona governor in a single legislative session, vetoing more than 100 bills passed by the Republican-controlled legislature.^[15][16] 

Governor Hobbs is up for re-election in 2027.

The odds are SB2 will become law in South Dakota in 2026. It may take some time.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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