South Carolina open carry bills likely dead as Senate fixes focus on budget
(The Center Square) – South Carolina’s 2021 effort to pass an open carry bill may have dissipated with the stroke of the clock Tuesday when a Senate committee adjourned without voting on the House-adopted Open Carry with Training Act.
The five-member Senate Judiciary Subcommittee set aside 90 minutes to hear testimony on House Bill 3094 but adjourned with witnesses still waiting to speak and without voting on the measure.
Subcommittee Chair Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said he’d hold another HB 3094 hearing “as soon as possible,” but with eight days remaining in the legislative session, it is unlikely to garner approvals from the subcommittee, the full Judiciary Committee and the chamber before adjournment.
The House passed the Open Carry with Training Act, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Cox, R-Greenville, on March 18 in a 73-26 vote.
The chamber also passed the Constitutional Carry Act of 2021, which would allow legal gun owners to openly carry firearms but without any training requirement. House Bill 3096, also filed by Cox, advanced April 7, 69-47, and was referred to Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has not had a hearing.
South Carolina is one of five states without an open carry law. The others are California, Florida, Illinois and New York.
During Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, senators asked questions of nearly all who addressed them during the 90-minute hearing. For more than 30 minutes, they queried former State Law Enforcement Department (SLED) Chief Robert Stewart, who opposes the bill because the sight of an armed individual in public draws attention and, occasionally, reactions that put people at risk.
“Now, if you see someone walking down the street with a pistol, you know something is wrong,” Stewart said, adding police simply cannot ignore someone displaying a firearm without any cause.
SLED Chief Mark Keel and Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds also testified against the bill. Reynolds said open carry under the bill could lead to dangerous encounters between protesters and counter-protesters.
Sen. Billy Garrett, R-McCormick, argued, however, rural county sheriffs, like the ones in his district, support open carry.
“They are constitutionalists as well, in favor of the second amendment, and they don’t want restrictions that other states don’t have,” Garrett said.
Columbia resident Johnny King said he carries a concealed weapon everywhere when he can legally and said with required training, background checks and fingerprint criminal investigations, South Carolina does a good job vetting permit applicants.
“You think the people who are committing the crimes in my area that are contributing to that Wild West environment are the law-abiding, training-seeking, fingerprint-sending types? It’s not,” King said. “Stop restricting the rest of us from defending ourselves against those types.”
The committee adjourned without voting on HB 3094, leaving its fate uncertain.
The panel had to pull the plug on the meeting to get to the Senate, where a floor session was scheduled Tuesday to start the chamber’s debate on the House’s proposed $30 billion budget.
The Senate Finance Committee issued its preliminary approval of the proposed spending plan last week. It includes about $10 billion in state revenue.
The House budget was crafted after the South Carolina Bureau of Economic Advisors said lawmakers would have an additional $1.7 billion to work with than originally anticipated.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to rewrite a budget plan with new revenue projections in the coming weeks to be vetted during a special session. Lawmakers must pass a budget before the 2022 fiscal year begins July 1.
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
