Posted on 03/04/2021 5:52:06 AM PST by marktwain
GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) - A South Carolina committee passed a bill Tuesday called the “Open Carry with Training" Act, putting the state one step closer to allowing the open carry of guns.
Right now, residents in the Palmetto State can only apply for a concealed weapons permit. Under this new law, people with those permits could carry freely.
The bill would require citizens to complete training to do this.
Proponents of the bill say it’s “common sense" and that 2nd Amendment rights need to be recognized now.
Those against the bill say they are not opposed to the concept of open carrying, but they think there’s too much open to interpretation, and that safety is an issue in the legislation as it is written currently; they say this could lead to problems for law enforcement.
Representative Micah Caskey says he believes it’s time for South Carolina to fully allow rights to its citizens and gun owners which he believes are granted by the Constitution.
“We are one of five states that is not allowed any form of carrying pistols–short guns–so we need to get out of the company of states like New York, Illinois, and California," Caskey, republican cosponsor of the bill from Lexington County, said.
As someone who believes the 2nd Amendment allows for carrying without any sort of license, he calls the current bill a “compromise," and says it adequately addressed to safety concerns.
“You have to have had a background check," Caskey explained when detailing requirements one would need to meet to be allowed to openly carry a weapon. “You have to go through training," he added. "You have to go through firearms proficiency testing as well."
Not all lawmakers share his outlook.
“This bill is going to be very problematic for law-enforcement,“ said Representative
(Excerpt) Read more at foxcarolina.com ...
The bill passed out of committee 16-8.
I’m just glad they finally gave CCW reciprocity to GA in the last 2-3 years.
ping
Why, they don't prevent crimes, they come late and clean up the mess.
When I can ccw from Colorado I will visit
Not surprisingly, it is the subsidiary elements of gun laws that *create* problems, instead of solving them.
That is, by starting from a point of existing gun laws and how they can be modified, it is *much* better to start with the assumption of Constitutional Carry and work from there.
For example, Arizona began with the idea of CC. Then someone said, what if an Arizona gun owner wants to travel to a state with reciprocity, but requiring a license. So AZ printed out a pile of gun licenses for travel purposes, help yourself.
No problem.
Then someone said, should training be mandatory? But then someone else said while all gun owners benefit from training, is it essential that everyone *must* be trained?
Well, no. Current experience is that training should not be required. Nothing really bad has happened because of a lack of training in civilians.
Should felons automatically have their gun rights restored? Debatable. Having them individually screened by a judge is not unreasonable.
How about the mentally ill? Again, going through judges, not bureaucrats, seems to be sensible.
But none of this imposes on honest gun owning citizens, who should be able to Constitutionally Carry.
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