Gun owners could take free training classes or face stiffer penalties if they break the law
By Seanna Adcox
COLUMBIA — Legislation that lets South Carolinians carry a handgun without a permit while clamping down on felons caught toting illegally passed the Senate on Thursday, Feb. 1, after a years-long GOP stalemate.
The 28-15 vote, mostly along party lines, followed days of debate over eliminating all training requirements for walking around with a handgun readily available. Advocates call it “constitutional carry” as a reference to the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
“That law-abiding citizen is now able to exercise their constitutional rights under the law without having to go to the government for permission,” Sen. Shane Martin, who’s been leading the effort in the Senate for a dozen years, told reporters after the vote.
“I got a little bit of cold chills in there when it actually happened,” said the Spartanburg County Republican.
The bill is a progression of a compromise law passed three years ago that allowed adults with a concealed weapon permit to carry visibly, negating the need to hide their gun under clothing.
That permit, along with the training to get it, would become unnecessary for anyone who can legally own a gun.
The twist
But it would be highly encouraged by an amendment that paved the way for passage.
A carrot-and-stick approach offered by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey makes the eight-hour training class needed for a CWP free. The State Law Enforcement Division must provide the course at least twice a month in every county — more often if the demand is greater — in hopes of also making it more convenient. And it lowered the age eligibility for a CWP to 18, down from 21.
If gun owners without a CWP commit a crime involving a gun, they’d face a stiffer penalty than someone with a permit. A conviction would bring up to three additional years in prison.
“Training and background checks are important,” Massey said about why he’s long opposed the no-permit-needed idea.
But the compromise crafted late Wednesday eased his concerns, said the Edgefield Republican.
“Responsible gun owners know training is important. This will only help move more people into that responsible category,” he said. “It’s great if we can allow law-abiding gun owners to carry but at the same time encourage training and background checks and at the same time punish the criminals.”
He estimated a $5 million total cost for the classes, which SLED could provide through contracting with private instructors, and the required statewide marketing campaign. But even if the price tag is several times more, Massey said, he’s fine with that.
Senators noted the training course is important not only for gun safety but to know what’s legal and illegal when it comes to self-defense and how and where to carry a gun.
The no-permit-needed proposal wouldn’t change existing law on where weapons are banned for everyone not specifically exempted, such as judges and prosecutors. For anyone not on that selective list, places where guns would still be off limits include courthouses, jails, schools, day cares, hospitals and restaurants where signs prohibit them.
Nearly 527,000 South Carolinians held a CWP as of Dec. 31; nearly 93,000 permits were issued in 2023, though that includes renewals, according to SLED.
The bill would make it easier to keep a CWP through an automatic renewal process, rather than requiring a new application every five years.
Democrats continued to blast permit-less carry as a horrible idea.
“This bill says we’re going to put guns on the street with no training at all,” said Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.
“What you’re getting is enhanced penalties if you don’t get it right,” he said of Massey’s amendment. “This doesn’t satisfy anybody.”
It did satisfy people in the chamber. It flipped enough Republican votes to break a filibuster, allowing passage.
It did not, however, sit well with a far-right gun rights group that’s been pummeling GOP opponents of permit-less carry with phone calls and fliers.
After the vote, the National Association for Gun Rights sent out an email blasting Massey’s amendment as creating “discriminatory penalties for gun owners” and threatening to sue if the changed bill becomes law.
Felon-in-possession
The lone Republican who ultimately voted no said he was undeterred by the group’s barrage of accusations.
“I rest easy. I rest comfortably, and I rest at night knowing I’m standing not with the persuaders, not with the pushers, but I’m standing with the police officers of this state,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, who put photos on the overhead screen of the chiefs who testified against the bill.
“Officers tell me they will suffer the loss of lives,” he said.
If the bill becomes law, South Carolina would join 27 other states that allow permit-less carry.
The proposal has divided Republicans in this gun-friendly state largely because of vocal opposition from local and state law enforcement.
But that opposition got quiet last year after “constitutional carry” advocates in the House married the idea to officers’ top priority — a law that enables them to charge more felons with illegal gun possession and enhances penalties for multiple convictions.
Gov. Henry McMaster has repeatedly called on legislators to send him the so-called felon-in-possession piece, most recently in his State of the State address last week.
But the staunch no-permit-needed supporters wouldn’t allow the two issues to be separated, knowing they had a better shot at passage by keeping them together.
Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, argued the gun lobbying groups have misled South Carolinians on what “constitutional carry” really means and that the state’s existing CWP law “fits like a tailored suit” to actual constitutional law. He tried one last time to strike the permit-less carry sections. His attempt failed 24-19.
“How many people have been victims of gun crimes because we held felons-in-possession hostage?” asked the chairman of the Fish, Game and Forestry Committee, who left before the final vote.
“No one will ever know but I bet you South Carolinians became victims of gun crimes because we held this felons-in-possession hostage,” he said.
The president of the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association said the group remained neutral on “constitutional carry” as long as it came with felon-in-possession penalties, and sheriffs are happy to see that move close to becoming law.
“South Carolina sheriffs have historically been among the most ardent supporters and defenders of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Marion County Sheriff Brian Wallace. “We have also repeatedly expressed the need for tougher, more meaningful penalties on dangerous individual who unlawfully possess and/or carry firearms.”
Sheriffs also hoped legislators would add a “duty to notify” provision that required someone with a gun to notify an officer if asked during a traffic stop. But senators rejected that proposed amendment.
The Senate’s version returns to the House, which can either agree and send the bill on to McMaster’s desk or insist on its version and set up negotiations. McMaster urged the House to agree, “so we can begin saving lives.”
“The South Carolina Senate took a huge step toward closing the ‘revolving door’ on career repeat criminals,” the governor said in a statement. “Stricter increased penalties for repeat illegal gun use and possession will keep these criminals behind bars instead of shooting up our streets with impunity.”
Seanna Adcox is a South Carolina native with three decades of reporting experience. She joined States Newsroom in September 2023 after covering the S.C. Legislature and state politics for 18 years. Her previous employers include The Post and Courier and The Associated Press.
