by I really did not expect to be doing this post so soon after publishing Vol. 2, No. 4. Nonetheless, the South Carolina House and Senate got their act together to pass permitless carry. The Palmetto State now becomes the 29th state to allow permitless carry. Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) is expected to sign the bill into law as early as today.
HB 3594 will allow anyone age 18 or greater who is legally able to possess a firearm to carry concealed without a permit. The law will go into effect as soon as Gov. McMaster signs it. The law also authorizes the SC State Law Enforcement Division to create a twice monthly, free training class. That is still in development as is how it will be offered (online or in-person).
From The State on other provisions of the bill:
The bill includes stricter penalties for people who repeatedly carry guns into places they are not allowed to, including schools and courthouses. It also adds penalties for those who commit a crime with a concealed weapon who do not have a CWP.
A property owner, holder of a lease interest, or operator of a business can prohibit patrons from entering with a firearm by posting a “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED.” A person convicted of knowingly carrying a firearm into a liquor, beer or wine store for consumption on the premises is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Thanks to Rob Vance, we have an updated graphic to show the state of freedom in the United States.
Looking at the remaining “Shall-issue” states, North Carolina is the most likely to adopt permitless carry in the near to intermediate future. I could see Pennsylvania and Wisconsin passing it if they were to elect a Republican governor to go along with their Republican legislatures. I hate to say but the rest seem to be a lost cause and that includes Virginia. If anything, the remaining shall-issue states seem to be regressing when it comes to firearms.
Update: Gov. Henry McMaster signed the South Carolina Second Amendment Preservation Act into law this afternoon.
He said on signing it:
With my signature, South Carolina is now the 29th state in the country with constitutional carry. This bill expands the Second Amendment rights of our law-abiding citizens and will keep violent criminals behind bars with increased penalties for illegal gun use and possession.
We no longer have a Republican house.
Which means permitless carry will be only a dream in PA. Sigh.
Please replace the image with the more recent one I just sent you. I saved directly from Excel and part of the image did not save correctly. Not clear why. It looked fine on screen and I did not open the file to verify.
Done!
I’m getting out the popcorn so I can watch Tucker call out the liar-in-chief on his SOTU speech.
With that marathon of mendacity bashing in mind, South Carolina being #29 is another small victory to savor.
Allowing private actors to define a crime is a poison pill. If I ever intended to go to SC this would dissuade me. CC Reform is pretty useless without fixing the gun-free zone problem.