South Carolina House Concurs on Open Carry and More; H3094 Goes to Governor

South Carolina State House, Christmas 2006, Brandon Davis, public domain, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten

The South Carolina Open Carry with Permit bill, HB 3094, was amended in the Senate. The House has now concurred in an 83 to 34 vote. The bill will now be sent to Governor McMaster, who has indicated he will sign the bill.

South Carolina has been one of only five states which ban the open carry of loaded handguns in most public places. The other four states are: California, Illinois, New York, and Florida. 

There have been several serious efforts, including court cases, to restore open carry to Florida. The right to open carry handguns in Florida was lost during the Jim Crow era, in order to disarm black people. In 1941, a judge opined about the passage of an 1893 Florida law:

[T]he Act was passed for the purpose of disarming the negro laborers and to thereby reduce the unlawful homicides that were prevalent in turpentine and saw-mill camps and to give the white .citizens in sparsely settled areas a better feeling of security. The statute was never intended to be applied to the white population. . . .

HB 3094 is likely to be signed into law in the next week or two. If that happens, only four states will ban the open carry of handguns in most public places.

HB 3094 had amendments added in the Senate to incrementally move toward Constitutional Carry in South Carolina. One of the more important amendments eliminated the $50 fee for a carry permit in South Carolina. When Constitutional Carry bills are considered in the future, the impact on funding will no longer be a consideration.

Another amendment to the bill made South Carolina a Second Amendment sanctuary state.  Here is the H3094  provision:

SECTION    9.    A.    Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 23-31-250.    (A)    The State of South Carolina, and its political subdivisions, cannot be compelled by the federal government to take any legislative or executive action to implement or enforce a federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation related to an individual's right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that limits or proscribes carrying concealable weapons, whether concealed or openly carried, as provided in this chapter.

(B)    Any federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation related to limiting or proscribing the carry of concealable weapons must be evaluated by the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall issue a written opinion of whether the law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation purports to compel legislative or executive action prohibited pursuant to subsection (A).

(C)    If the Attorney General renders an opinion that a federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation purports to compel legislative or executive action prohibited pursuant to subsection (A), then:

(1)    no public funds of this State, or any political subdivision of this State, shall be allocated for the implementation or enforcement of that federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation;

(2)    no personnel or property of this State, or any political subdivision of this State, shall be allocated to the implementation or enforcement of that federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation; and

(3)    no official, agent, or employee of the State of South Carolina, or any political subdivision of it, shall implement, attempt to implement, enforce, or attempt to enforce that federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation."

B.    This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

A third amendment changed the wording of Section 16-23-420. The amendment extends the legal right to store firearms in locked vehicles in secured containers, such as the glove compartment, closed console, trunk, or separately secured closed container on college or university property.  The section formerly only applied to people with permits. When HB3094 becomes law, the section will apply to everyone, gaining the right to have a firearm in a vehicle without a permit. 

This is a significant step toward Constitutional Carry in South Carolina. 

According to sources in the legislature, Governor McMaster may sign the bill into law by 21 May. 

©2021 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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