COLUMBIA, S.C. — A day before the South Carolina House is expected to start an hourslong debate over legislation that would allow a permitted gun owner to openly carry, a panel of lawmakers were slated to clear an even more expansive measure that would strike the permit requirement entirely.
The House Judiciary Committee passed a proposal Tuesday in a 18-6 vote that would allow constitutional carry in South Carolina, the constitutional belief that any legal gun owner should be allowed to own a gun without regulations.
State lawmakers don’t expect the constitutional carry measure to reach the debate stage until April, possibly before the crossover deadline to send the legislation to the Senate, well after the House passes the state budget.
But what the hearing over constitutional carry offered was a preview of how far some Republican House members will try to pull the debate Wednesday when a mostly Republican-led coalition attempts to pass a bill that would allow permitted gun owners to carry publicly where guns are allowed.
“It became clear there was a substantial amount of support for constitutional carry, not only from traditional Second Amendment right advocates, but supporters of (Democratic state Rep. Justin) Bamberg’s amendment to change it to a constitutional carry bill,” said state Rep. Micah Caskey, a Lexington Republican. “(It) made sense to offer you an opportunity to showcase your support.”
The dynamics of the debate break down like this:
House Republican leaders are ready to adopt an open carry bill while keeping permit laws in place, legislation that has the best opportunity for passage and falls more in line with public polling that shows South Carolinians are more comfortable with making sure gun owners have permits, not the alternative.
But a few Republican legislators are ready to tack on an amendment that would take the measure further, allowing any legal person to carry a gun without a permit.
That has set up friction within the caucus, whose job in large part is to hammer out strategy and keep the majority party unified on top of ensuring their members don’t risk a primary loss — a key concern for some Republicans who worry what a vote against a constitutional amendment would mean for their 2022 election plans.
On the other end, there is not much House Democrats can do to stop the legislation from moving.
In the minority, Democrats — some of whom are permitted gun owners — are poised to try to slow down the bill with dozens of amendments, including even more radical tweaks that might include allowing a person to carry a gun on government grounds.
“I don’t see how we can have a constitutional carry bill that lets people carry without a permit, without training and carry anywhere except at the places that our state takes money from their paycheck to fund,” said Bamberg, a Democrat from Bamberg. “I don’t see how we can do that.”
Two key problems, however, stand in the way of Republicans who want to pass expansive gun measures.
One, top law enforcement leaders have publicly criticized attempts to allow gun owners more leniency over how they can carry.
State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel and law enforcement chiefs from Charleston, Columbia and Richland County have spoken against the bill, saying they are worried what it may mean for police who respond to incidents where people may be carrying guns in the open.
Another problem for constitutional carry backers is that Senate Republicans are unsure whether such an expansive proposal could pass their chamber, a body that has denied similar bills before.
State Sen. Larry Grooms, a Berkeley Republican, told The State while he supports constitutional carry — and has sponsored a bill in favor of it — he was not confident that it could pass the upper chamber.
But, he added, “there were not enough votes to expand gun rights. I believe that there now are enough votes in the Senate to expand gun rights. I just don’t know how far, and we’re going to find out.”
