SC Senate will debate open carry gun bill next week with 6 days left on the calendar
A state Senate often resistant to loosening South Carolina’s gun regulations could next week pass legislation that would further expand those rules by allowing legal gun owners to carry their weapon out in the open.
In a 3-2 vote down party lines Thursday morning, a Senate Judiciary Committee panel advanced a House-sponsored bill — H. 3904 — that would still restrict where someone could carry their gun, but allow permitted gun owners with the required training to carry their gun out in the open in the public if they so choose.
But hours later, and minutes before the Senate adjourned for the week, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey successfully pulled the bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, placing the bill on the chamber’s priority list when senators return Tuesday.
The Legislature only has six days left on its regular work calendar, and Republicans have called for the measure to be a priority before the legislative session ends.
“That’s the only way we’re going to have an opportunity to have a full debate on it before the session ends is to do that,” said Massey, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee. “There’s significant interest among our caucus to try to move forward with it, so we made it an issue that we want to try and address this year.”
But it is still unclear whether proponents of expanding the Second Amendment to allow open carry will have the votes necessary in the Senate, a chamber that has so far avoided and killed legislation that would loosen gun rules in the state.
Testifying virtually, part of a two-day hearing schedule this week, opponents asked lawmakers why the rush on the legislation.
In the bill, gun owners could not carry on school or State House property, or in any business, for example, that prohibits guns.
Local governments also through the bill could ban open carry at permitted events, such as parades, festivals and carnivals.
Doctors asked senators Thursday to picture a child, riddled with bullet holes. A Lancaster County school teacher shared the names of students affected by gun violence. A University of South Carolina student asked senators to heed concerns from law enforcement who oppose the measure, including from the chief of the State Law Enforcement Division.
Chief Mark Keel did not testify, but former longtime SLED chief Robert Stewart, who oversaw the state’s permit roll out, did.
The general public, he said, is safer with the concealed weapons permit required to own a gun than the open carry bill.
“There’s a lot of safety factors built into the current law,” Stewart said.
Unlike the House’s 124 members, the Senate is not up for reelection in 2022. With 30 Republican senators now total, however, the Senate could send the bill quickly to Gov. Henry McMaster, who faces his own reelection bid in November.
McMaster will sign the bill should it reach his desk, saying he’s committed to sign any bill that would “protect and enhance” peoples’ Second Amendment rights.
Rumored himself to challenge McMaster in a GOP primary, Senate GOP Leader Massey also supports the bill. The Edgefield Republican carries significant power over his party in the chamber.
State Rep. Bobby Cox, the bill’s sponsor, told senators this week that his “ultimate goal” is to pass legislation that would vastly change the state’s gun landscape by removing the state’s permit requirement entirely. But open carry, he said, is a “great step restoring our Second Amendment freedom.” The state, by not explicitly naming it in law, allows the open carry of long rifles, and Cox told senators on Tuesday that there has been no negative impact of that.
“It’s not the wild, wild West when this policy passes,” the Greenville Republican said.
Joseph Bustos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 11:01 AM with the headline "SC Senate will debate open carry gun bill next week with 6 days left on the calendar."
