Seth Tupper and Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
A list of donors to a state-owned shooting range under construction north of Rapid City includes $2 million from gun-industry companies or organizations.
The $20 million, 400-acre complex will be one of the largest public shooting ranges in the nation when it opens this fall, according to the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks. The complex will host recreational shooters, safety programs, marksmanship competitions and law enforcement training. It will include rifle, pistol, shotgun and archery ranges.
About $6 million of the project’s funding has been given or pledged by donors. The rest is from the state’s Future Fund for economic development.
The department announced last month in a news release that the range will be named the Pete Lien & Sons Shooting Sports Complex, but the release did not disclose the amount of the company’s donation, or include a full list of donations.
“We are extremely pleased with all of the support and excitement for the shooting sports complex and our Second Amendment rights in South Dakota,” Department Secretary Kevin Robling said in the press release.
List initially withheld
South Dakota Searchlight requested a list of donors with names and amounts. The department’s initial response said only that donors gave more than $6 million, including $2 million for naming rights from Pete Lien & Sons, a mining, concrete and construction aggregate company based in Rapid City.
When Searchlight asked again for a full list of donors, a spokesman for the department directed the request to the state’s online records request portal. Searchlight submitted a letter including a legal argument that the donation list is a public record. A lawyer for the department provided the list 15 days later.
Three donors on the list who gave or pledged a combined $6,100 are referenced only as “private donation”; Searchlight asked for those names or a justification for withholding them. The department’s lawyer replied that the names are covered by exceptions in the state open records law to protect personal privacy and to prevent the “unreasonable release of personal information.”
The project has been controversial with state legislators, who refused to fund it. Some were angered last year when they learned that then-Gov. Kristi Noem gave the project $13.5 million from the governor-controlled Future Fund for economic development.
The donations from the gun industry are another concern for Rep. Erik Muckey, D-Sioux Falls. He said that as a gun owner and hunter himself, he wants to ensure South Dakota’s sporting and hunting traditions continue. But he is uneasy about the Legislature being successfully lobbied for fewer restrictions on firearms while some of the entities connected to those lobbyists — including the National Rifle Association — are helping to fund a state-owned shooting range.
“Private funding for state-owned facilities is not a new concept; in fact, several examples of public-private partnerships make this state better each day, like the combination of public and private funds to support the Build Dakota scholarship,” Muckey said, referencing a full-tuition program for technical college students. “But this case should give South Dakotans pause.”
The Republican-dominated Legislature routinely considers and passes pro-gun legislation. Last winter, lawmakers and Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden lifted concealed-handgun bans on college campuses and in bars.
The shooting-range donor list includes $6.3 million from 43 sources, with nearly half of the money in hand and the rest pledged. Donations from the gun industry account for nearly one-third of the total:
- Smith & Wesson, a Tennessee-based gun manufacturer, donated $150,000 and pledged $600,000, for a total of $750,000.
- Glock, an Austrian gun manufacturer, donated $150,000 and pledged $600,000, for a total of $750,000.
- Aimpoint, a Swedish gun optics manufacturer that bills itself as the inventor of the red dot sight, donated $50,000 and pledged $200,000, for a total of $250,000.
- Luth-AR, a Minnesota company that sells custom stocks and other components for AR-15 rifles, donated $25,000 and pledged $100,000, for a total of $125,000.
- The National Rifle Association donated $50,000.
- Federal Ammunition, a Minnesota ammo manufacturer, donated $25,000.
- H-S Precision, a Rapid City weapons parts manufacturer, donated $5,000 and pledged $20,000, for a total of $25,000.
- Mack Bros, a Sturgis company that manufactures suppressors (silencers) and other gun components, donated $3,000.
- First Stop Gun Shop in Rapid City donated $3,000.
- Lane Silencers, a Rapid City manufacturer, donated $3,000.
- Sturgis Guns, a seller of firearms and accessories, donated $3,000.
Some other donations came from companies that sell shooting-related accessories, but not guns or gun parts. Donations also came from various other individuals, businesses and hunting and conservation groups.
Bitter feelings among lawmakers
Some legislators on both sides of the political aisle remain upset about Noem’s unilateral decision to provide state funding for the project.
“Unfortunately, her actions have severely damaged trust in otherwise effective institutions, which may cost much-needed projects funding and support in the future,” said Muckey.
In response, the Legislature passed and new Gov. Larry Rhoden signed into law a bill from Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, that says Game, Fish and Parks projects over $2.5 million must receive legislative approval.
“The shooting complex is the reason I brought that bill,” Karr said. “The appropriations process was circumvented.”
House Assistant Majority Leader Marty Overweg, R-New Holland, said lawmakers feel their will was ignored.
“Now, the government has to be the one that ensures this shooting range continues to run,” he said. “We voted no, but now we have to run it. Without any choice.”
Robling, the head of GF&P, said in November that the complex will require three full-time employees who will be reallocated internally, as well as seasonal staff and volunteers. Robling said the range will not be profitable and will require help from federal firearm tax revenue allocated to the department.
Department spokesperson Nick Harrington told South Dakota Searchlight recently that the shooting range will cost an estimated $355,000 annually to operate and maintain, including the three full-time employees.