by A bill prefiled in the new session of the South Carolina legislature would add knives to the existing state preemption of firearm laws and regulations. H. 3551 was introduced by Rep. W. Brian White (R-Anderson). It simply adds the word “knives” to the list of items reserved to the state.
What a simple fix!
Many states already have firearms preemption laws on the books. The addition of just that one word could protect knife owners and users from the patchwork of local regulations and ordinances that might exist.
Knife Rights notes a similar bill passed the SC House unanimously in 2015 but got bogged down in the SC Senate. They add this about preemption:
Preemption prevents a patchwork of local ordinances more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Preemption ensures citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere in a state.
There are 12 states that currently have a knife preemption law on the books.
In Georgia, for a long time knives over 4 inches were not allowed to be carried at all, thanks to the same slew of laws passed back in the late 1800s to keep guns out of the hands of freed slaves.
Then in 2010, thanks to GeorgiaCarry.org, a couple of simple changes were made. One was to edit in a list of a bunch of things like handguns and knives in one section of an existing law, and call them “weapons.” They then changed the name of the permit to a Georgia Weapons Carry License, and then to change the wording so that it allowed carry of weapons. Not many people noticed, in fact we had to make sure police were trained when the GWL became a thing.