A Liberal Visits South Dakota and Freaks Out at the Sight of Guns [Updated]

Via Twitchy, the hilarious story of a lefty who–for reasons unknown–ventured into South Dakota and saw firearms. The lefty is Samuel Sinyangwe, who describes himself this way on Twitter, where he has more than 96,000 followers:

Black Activist. Data Scientist & Policy Analyst. Stanford Alum. Co-Founder, Campaign Zero | Mapping Police Violence | OurStates.

This was his tweet, which was retweeted enthusiastically by fellow liberals–3,777 times and counting, along with 4,842 likes:

Any person of normal acumen can probably surmise that they don’t sell guns at the Sioux Falls airport, and a number of better-informed people tried to set Mr. Sinyangwe straight. In the meantime, though, libs went crazy, as documented on Twitchy. For example:

Somehow, I don’t think that will cause the people of South Dakota to wail and gnash their teeth. This one is my favorite:

White privilege! Why? I guess because everything in the world is white privilege. Liberals aren’t big on specifics.

In the photos that Mr. Sinyangwe tweeted, you can see that the airport booth belongs to Last Chance Auction Company. I googled the company and dialed Last Chance’s phone number. Even though it was after 7 p.m., the owner, Rich Larson, answered the phone. He is the guy you can see in the lefty’s photos and, of course, he knew about the Twitter storm. He confirmed what anyone with the barest knowledge of guns and gun laws would have predicted:

* They weren’t “selling guns at the airport.” Pheasant season opens tomorrow, and out of state hunters are flocking into Sioux Falls, many via airplane. So Larson wanted to promote an upcoming auction of items from a private collection that includes guns, knives and other items. His idea was that when the auction opens online tomorrow, hunters with little to do in the evening can go online and bid on firearms. The auction concludes October 26.

* Whoever wins the auction as to a particular firearm, some days from now, will have the gun sent to a federally registered firearms dealer in his area, per federal law. A background check will be conducted before he can possess the firearm.

* In South Dakota, as in many other states, there is a law that governs how guns must be displayed at gun shows. Last Chance Auction Company complied with South Dakota’s gun show law by securing the triggers of all of the firearms that were displayed. No one could have stolen a gun (let alone bought one), loaded it with ammo and started firing it.

* The airport arrangement was particularly secure, since Last Chance’s booth was within ten feet of one manned by the Sioux Falls Police Department.

Part of what is going on here is that coastal liberals think that people in places like South Dakota are both dumber than they are, and more prone to violence. Actually, that is the opposite of the truth, in both respects. In South Dakota, where I grew up, most people are familiar with shotguns and rifles, know how to use them, and don’t irrationally freak out if they encounter a few, even at an airport. And the violent crime rate is vanishingly low.

At some point during the day, a reporter from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, South Dakota’s dominant and liberal newspaper, asked Rich Larson whether he knew that his modest auction booth was all over Twitter. The Argus Leader ran a story headlined: No, firearms weren’t for sale at Sioux Falls Regional Airport on Friday.

As it happens, Rich Larson not only runs an auction company, he also has a radio show on Saturday morning on the big Sioux Falls station, KELO, AM 1320. Rich’s show is called The Chant. It runs from 8 to 9 a.m., Central time, and Rich invited me to come on as a guest tomorrow, some time after 8:30. I think we are going to have some fun at the expense of lefties who–as usual–have no idea what they are talking about. You can listen at the link.

UPDATE: Poor Mr. Sinyangwe still hasn’t figured it out. Consider this exchange with one of his left-wing Twitter followers from just a few minutes ago, and try to wrap your head around the cosmic stupidity on display:

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