Permitless gun carry may soon be coming to SC. Here’s what legislators are debating as the pros and cons

Carrying a handgun publicly may soon be available without a Concealed Weapons Permit.

House bill 3594, known as Constitutional Carry, is being debated in the Senate. It passed in the House during the 2023 session. The bill is supported by most Republicans in the Senate, as well as Gov. Henry McMaster.

Under current law, anyone who can legally own a gun needs a concealed weapons permit, which requires training, to carry it publicly. This bill would allow all legal gun owners to carry publicly without a CWP.

Here are four of the issues from police, Democrats and other organizations the Senate is debating concerning the safety and well-being of South Carolinians:

People, without training, in public places with handguns

Along with basic training and safety issues, Senators shared stories of people misusing handguns, including simply not knowing the front from the back end of a gun.

A Concealed Weapons Permit requires training on how to fire weapons and other gun safety aspects. South Carolina passed a law in 2021 requiring a CWP to carry publicly. Under current law, anyone who is hunting or carrying long arms does not need a CWP.

Democrats not only questioned training and safety, but the public perception of people just walking around with guns.

“When you go into a Kroger you’re not expecting to see someone strapped like that, especially with the number of mass shootings we have today,” Sen. Mia McLeod, I-Richland, said. “Did you know that the public at large is not prepared or equipped to deal with seeing people just walk into stores?”

Republicans countered that people already walk around with guns, but Democrats pressed this bill would increase the number.

Sen. Tameika Isaac Divine, D-Richland, said she received her CWP and learned a lot from the program. If the law passes as is, there will be gun-carrying people with no idea how to carry a gun or use it. This may create dangerous situations.

Another major concern raised was the ability for a business to deny a patron with a concealed weapon. But Republican Sen. Shane Massey’s amendment to allow businesses to post signs prohibiting concealed weapons, passed 22-20 Wednesday, with four senators absent.

Law Enforcement can’t tell good and bad guys apart

If anyone can carry a gun without a Concealed Weapons Permit, how will law enforcement know who the good and bad guys are?

“Are you aware that law enforcement strongly advocates that we do something about taking guns out of the hands of mentally disturbed people?” Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland asked Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg.

Officers may be in more situations that are dangerous when more people carry guns, or when an officer cannot tell a person is dangerous that has a gun, Democrats said.

Multiple law enforcement organizations were not in favor of the bill, and that the governing body needed to listen to them, Democrats said. In 2023, during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, police chiefs from Columbia, Anderson, Myrtle Beach and Conway raised concerns regarding untrained residents openly carrying.

Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, said Jan. 24 that he had not had one law enforcement officer tell him they supported the bill the whole time it has been under consideration.

Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, also said a number of people in law enforcement are concerned about taking away training.

“Every law enforcement officer in the Horry and Georgetown county, chief I should say, chiefs of police or sheriffs of either county, or the Horry County police, strongly oppose open carry without training,” Rankin said.

McLeod asked how would it be less dangerous for law enforcement responding to domestic violence incidents going into a home with gun owners without training?

Martin argued law enforcement already must be prepared to go into situations assuming guns are already in the house and could be used. This bill doesn’t change that, Republicans added.

Sen. Ronnie Saab, D-Williamsburg said police officers and others who testified in the last year opposing the legislation is important to the current discussion, because everyday people, not involved in politics, protect the state and are concerned for the passage of this law.

‘The Charleston Loophole’

In South Carolina, gun sales can proceed after three days, even before a background check is finished. This is referred to as “The Charleston Loophole”, after the 2015 mass shooting at a historically African American church in Charleston that killed nine people.

“With the current background checks, it’s still not enough, I mean, Dylan Roof should not have been able to buy a gun, am I correct?” McLeod said, after asking whether the bill should include an amendment closing the loophole.

Democrats emphasized that the more guns out in public, the more likely people are to die. If background checks are already not being done as often as necessary, allowing more people to carry will only make it worse.

Other Democrats noted the high rate of illegal gun sales in South Carolina.

Divine said since 1998 more than 79,000 sales to purchasers have been denied in South Carolina. Of those, about 3,000 would have been sales to illegal felons, she said.

Of 271 cities that provided data to the FBI regarding stolen guns, Columbia, Charleston, North Charleston and Greenville were in the top 20, and Columbia and North Charleston were in the top five, Divine added.

Republicans said the bill doesn’t impact illegal sales and that anyone who is legally able to should be able to carry out their second amendment right as well as defend themselves.

Domestic violence and child gun deaths

Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in South Carolina, according to Everystat.

“I’m concerned that given the family dynamics when domestic violence is at play, putting guns in the hands of 18-year-olds in that setting could have long-term, long-lasting repercussions,” McLeod said. “Children learn what they live, and we have done an OK job at trying to protect women and men in those circumstances, but it still has never been enough.”

Multiple Senators mentioned law enforcement supports passing amendments regarding child safety and gun safety.

Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, said the best part of this bill is the enhanced penalties for people that unlawfully posses weapons. He said despite different opinions regarding constitutional carry, across the board, this part of the bill was fully supported.

Republicans have wide-spread support on the bill, and have consistently defended the idea that anyone who is legally able to should be able to carry out their second amendment right.