Constitutional Carry Considered in South Carolina

Photo courtesy of thegreenvillepost.com

In 2012 a constitutional carry bill died in a subcommittee in South Carolina.  In 2013, constitutional carry was taken on the road, and received major grassroots support.   That bill, S115, made it to the full committee, and is still alive.  In 2014, constitutional carry is bottled up in the South Carolina Senate Judiciary committee meeting.    WLTX reports:

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - A bill that would allow South Carolinian's to carry guns without a concealed weapons permit did not make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

South Carolina is one of five states that does not allow open carry.  This bill would restore legal open carry and concealed carry without a permit. 

Bright put forward the bill he says because requiring citizens to pay to carry a gun is an infringement on the second amendment of the constitution.

A move was made to kill the bill by tabling it, but that was defeated.

The committee voted in favor of a motion to carry the bill, meaning it will get further discussion in a future meeting.

Senator Bright, the sponsor of the bill, is reported to have said that he expects the bill to pass this year.   If it does, South Caroline would become the sixth state to restore constitutional carry.    Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, Vermont and Wyoming current have constitutional carry.  Wyoming limits permitless carry to residents, but it is unlikely that the restriction would hold up to a court challenge.  Arkansas decriminalized concealed carry in 2013, but some jurisdictions are resisting the new law, citing a peculiar interpretation of the law by the Democrat Attorney General, Dustin McDaniel.

Constitutional carry is being considered by a number of state legislatures, including Ohio and Colorado.   South Dakota, Utah, Georgia, Montana, and Nevada all had constitutional, or permitless, carry bills pending in 2013.

 Senator Larry Martin is credited with killing S115 in South Carolina last year.  He had this to say, according to WLTX:

 "You can carry a weapon openly if this bill is adopted and I'm offended by that," said committee chair Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens). 

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