South Carolina ‘Open Carry With Training’ gun bill passes, heads to governor for signature
BY Herschel Smith
5 years, 6 months ago
COLUMBIA, SC (WCIV) — South Carolina’s legislature has passed a bill changing state gun laws to allow open carry of guns for people who completed training and pass a background check.
The state’s House of Representatives passed the “Open Carry With Training” bill by an 83-34 vote on Wednesday, following the state Senate’s approval of the bill a week earlier.
With the General Assembly’s approval, the bill now heads to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk for his signature. The governor has said he will sign it.
BREAKING: The SC House just passed the Open Carry Law, with Senate Amendment. Here is how the house voted. 83-34 in favor. pic.twitter.com/j7u2EsUy8E
— Eli Brand (@EliBrandTV) May 12, 2021
So remember that the S.C. Senate passed open carry with amendments to the House bill. This was a House vote on acceptance of the Senate amendments. It succeeded with lots of margin.
The next step is the signature of the governor, who has said he will sign it. His political future would be in shambles if he didn’t.
Perhaps a requirement that it be carried in a level 2 retention holster be included as most police do. I would never open carry without a level 2 holster.
So I probably can’t OC in SC with my Florida license because I won’t be able to prove the training requirement…
This is good news. I just wonder what type of additional training do you need to open carry vs concealed carry?
@George1,
None. It’s the same class and test. In fact, because of ammo unavailability, this bill also reduces the total number of rounds that have to be used for both.
OT: Ruger/Marlin update, phone conference between Ruger CEO and shareholders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJZsgUCE4LI
Ruger plans on opening Marlin production with centerfire lever actions. The lever action rimfires will be in the future if at all.
Ah!!
But the big questions for me are dealing with reciprocity issues (since I don’t live in SC, but travel through often).
Does the acceptance of another state’s HCP/CHP/CWP/CCP meet all the criteria of the training?
Looks like it to me, but it’s not specifically dealt with.
In other words, does my out-of-state (but accepted HCP/CHP/CWP/CCP), entitle me to the occasional display of my handgun (if the wind catches covering clothing etc)?
@xtphreak,
I think the answer is that if your permit is honored with reciprocity, then you can openly carry, same as concealed carry.
I do think there are important lessons here that perhaps would apply to the Texas train wreck in development.