By Jessica Holdman
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster used his seventh State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan 24 to renew his request for South Carolina lawmakers to increase criminal penalties for felons caught illegally carrying guns in the state.
To make his point, he told the story of a Highway Patrol officer shot by a man with a lengthy criminal record.
The governor began his narrative in Bamberg County, where in the early morning of April 16, 2023, Lance Corporal B.A. Frazier pulled over a speeder in Bamberg County. As other officers arrived, the man Frazier stopped shot him in the face.
Officers returned fire as the man sped away. The man eventually crashed into a home in Branchville.
The gun used to shoot Frazier was stolen, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. The accused shooter was a 22-year-old with a long criminal history including convictions for robbery, assault, drugs and rape. At the time of the traffic stop, the shooter was out of jail on bond for charges he faced in Georgia.
“This career criminal should have been behind bars and not behind the wheel of a car in South Carolina,” McMaster said.
It’s difficult just to watch video from Frazier’s body and dash cameras, but thankfully he survived, the governor said before recognizing Frazier in the balcony. Legislators gave the officer two standing ovations.
Before nearly killing Frazier, the shooter had been charged seven other times for illegal possession of a firearm.
“How long are we going to let this happen?” the governor continued. “Law enforcement needs our help. They need stronger laws to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and juveniles, and they need new laws to ‘close the revolving door’ and keep career criminals behind bars and not out on bond.”
While it’s a federal crime for felons to carry guns, there needs to be a corresponding state law for South Carolina’s state and local officers to make anything other than a misdemeanor charge.
McMaster’s call for increased state gun penalties continues his request from last year, when the session ended with the governor telling legislators they must pass a so-called felon-in-possession law to reduce violent crime. It’s been a top priority for law enforcement for years.
The problem is that the gun penalties have been combined with a proposal allowing adults to carry a handgun openly or concealed without a permit. Getting a permit through SLED requires a one-day class and a background check. It also requires being at least 21 years old.
Senators opened debate Wednesday on the bill, with Republicans divided on what advocates dub “constitutional carry.”
“Let’s call it what it is — permit-less carry,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, who opposes the idea.
McMaster received eight standing ovations from the entire joint chamber during his one-hour speech. He even drew laughter as he recited the words of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” to request $33 million additional for conservation and preservation.
Legislators need to act now so that her words don’t come true for South Carolina, he said: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Union bashing
But part of his speech was unusually combative, as he pledged to fight a force that’s largely nonexistent in South Carolina.
“One thing we do not need is more labor unions in South Carolina,” the governor said.
South Carolina is a “right-to-work state,” which means workers covered by a union contract can’t be required to join and pay dues to the union. The state has the lowest percentage of union membership in the nation, at 2.3% as of 2023, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
In 2021, the International Longshoremen’s Association sued maritime shipping carriers that called on the Port of Charleston, which employed non-union workers. The legal battle has gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We will not allow the Biden administration’s pro-union policies to chip away at South Carolina’s sovereign interests.
“We will fight all the way to the gates of hell. And we will win this battle,” McMaster said to a standing ovation from Republicans only.
It was the only time during the joint assembly that there was a clear partisan divide.
Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a former union organizer, shook his head throughout that part of the speech, saying “No!” several times, though not loud enough to interrupt the governor.
After the speech, the Charleston Democrat said he was offended personally and for all union workers.
“He has to realize to degrade hard-working union workers is disrespectful,” Gilliard told the S.C. Daily Gazette. “That’s a freakin’ insult.”
He said he hopes McMaster’s words boomerang and galvanize union organization in the state.
Much of the rest of McMaster’s address echoed his budget recommendations for the financial year starting July 1.
The governor highlighted South Carolina’s place in the automotive industry’s shift to electric vehicles.
South Carolina is home to four major electric vehicle manufacturers — BMW, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Volvo Cars, and Scout Motors — battery makers and the nation’s largest EV battery recycling facility. These companies will need nearly 20,000 workers over the next several years.
To help fill those jobs, McMaster has asked budget writers to include $50 million for specialized training centers at the state’s technical colleges to train workers for EV-related jobs.
Democrats respond
In response to McMaster’s remarks, House Assistant Minority Leader Roger Kirby congratulated the governor on the $9.21 billion in investment by companies locating in South Carolina as a result of the state’s economic development efforts and the more than 14,000 jobs that investment will bring. He also commended the governor for working with Democrats to give teachers raises.
What the governor didn’t address in his speech, the Lake City Democrat said, was healthcare access, food programs and the unemployment and underemployed of rural residents.
Kirby chided the governor for choosing not to enroll the state in a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to give low-income families up to $120 a month in federal funding — $40 per eligible school-aged child — to buy groceries on their food assistance debit cards, known as EBT.
Fourteen South Carolina counties are also without obstetricians, Kirby added.
“Even with these glaring statistics, Republicans have decided to further restrict healthcare for women,” he said, referring to the law passed last year banning abortions at roughly the sixth week of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
And South Carolina remains one of two states nationwide without a law that creates a separate hate crime, Kirby said.
“In conclusion, we celebrate our many successes in economic development and economic growth heralded in the governor’s address,” Kirby said. “Yet we face many daunting challenges which will require Democrats and Republicans working with unity of purpose.”
Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the SC Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
