Conservative South Carolina Senate debates a gun bill with an uncertain future
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Senate began a debate Wednesday on whether anyone who can legally own a gun can carry their weapon in public. But it is uncertain whether the bill has enough votes to pass in this conservative state.
Twenty-seven other states allow the open carrying of guns without a permit, including almost all states in the Deep South.
But in South Carolina, some conservatives are torn by the weight of some law enforcement leaders who want to train people to carry guns in public and worry about officers arriving at shooting scenes where they may encounter a number of armed people as they try to enter. estimate who is a threat and who is trying to help.
Currently, South Carolina requires anyone who wants to openly carry a gun to obtain a concealed weapons permit, which requires training in gun safety and how to fire the weapon. That law was passed in 2021. People who go hunting or carry long weapons do not need a permit.
The South Carolina House easily passed the bill last year, but supporters aren’t sure they have the votes in the Senate. If the proposal is not adopted before the end of the session, it should start from the start of the process in 2025.
Sen. Shane Martin has pushed for a debate and a vote as the Spartanburg County Republican said South Carolina is preventing them from fully recognizing the right to bear arms in the U.S. Constitution.
“They want the right to exercise their Second Amendment rights without intrusion from the government,” Martin said.
The Senate’s rules mean that supporters will likely need more than just a majority to pass the bill. Proponents need 26 of the 46 members to end a filibuster on the proposal. Only five Republicans could join all Democrats in preventing a vote.
No vote on the bill was expected Wednesday. Some senators warned that the debate could take place next week.
Democrats began the debate by asking Martin whether he would consider changes to the bill to prevent people who have been found mentally ill by a court from owning a gun, or to end the ban on people suspected or convicted of domestic violence. strengthen to have a gun. He said he would talk to them.
The bill as written would still ban people from bringing guns into detention centers, courthouses, polling places, government offices, school sporting events, schools, religious shrines and doctors’ offices, among other places.
Democratic Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a former prosecutor from Columbia who says he has a concealed weapons permit and sometimes carries a gun for his safety, asked Martin if he would be willing to lift the gun ban in the Statehouse so people can have the same would be entitled to. to carry weapons as is done in public.
Martin said he thinks the Second Amendment means this is OK.
“Anyone can strap one on and sit there, Senator from Spartanburg,” Harpootlian said, gesturing toward the Senate gallery. “It also gives us the ability to attach one, so if they start shooting at us, we can shoot back.”
Complicating the debate on both sides is the addition of a proposal that would create a state crime for a felon in possession of a gun, with similar prison terms and other penalties as federal law. It’s one of Gov. Henry McMaster’s top priorities, with supporters saying it would allow longer prison sentences for people who are repeat offenders while federal prosecutors don’t want to get involved.
House leaders said they believed an addition would help pass the bill. Others on both sides of the open carry debate have said this idea should be included in a separate bill.