S.D. Codified Laws § 22-14-6

Possession of controlled weapon--Felony--Exceptions

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Birdshead (2015)

Most recently applied in State v. Birdshead (October 2015)

Source: SL 1976, ch 158, § 14-2; SL 1977, ch 189, § 27; SL 2005, ch 120, § 244

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Any person who knowingly possesses a controlled weapon is guilty of a Class 6 felony. However, the provisions of this section do not apply to any person who:

(1) Is a law enforcement officer or member of the armed forces of the United States or South Dakota National Guard acting in the lawful discharge of duties;

(2) Has a valid state or federal license issued pursuant to law for such weapon or has registered such weapon with the proper state or federal authority pursuant to law;

(3) Possesses a controlled weapon briefly after having found it or taken it from an offender; or

(4) Possesses a controlled weapon, except a machine gun or short shotgun, under circumstances which negate any purpose or likelihood that the weapon would be used unlawfully.

Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.