COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina House panel Wednesday advanced a controversial bill that would allow trained South Carolinians to openly carry handguns.
In a 3-1 vote on party lines, House members sent the bill to the full House Judiciary Committee, giving the bill its first step to becoming law despite concerns from some in law enforcement. Lawmakers spent two days hearing testimony from groups and residents on the bill.
The proposal would allow a trained gun owner with a permit to carry a concealed weapon to carry it in plain view. However, the bill would not allow those same gun owners to carry their firearms in places or businesses where a gun is not allowed, such as schools and the State House.
Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds told lawmakers Wednesday he had concerns about what the bill could mean for overall public safety.
"There's a greater potential for disagreements to turn violent when handguns are readily available due to open carry," Reynolds said.
As an example, Reynolds pointed to several Black Lives Matter protests that took place in Charleston over the summer, where protesters and counterprotesters clashed, sometimes violently. Allowing open carry would have increased "the potential for loss of life and risk of serious bodily injury," in that and similar situations, Reynolds said.
"It makes it hard for law enforcement officers to do their job when a large group of individuals are carrying guns," Reynolds said.
Reynolds also worried it would lead to more guns stolen from cars, more gun-assisted suicides and more violent confrontations in places where alcohol may be served. The risks stemming from this bill outweigh the benefits, Reynolds argued.
Reynolds is not alone in the law enforcement community.
State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel echoed Reynolds' concerns in an interview with The State last week.
Keel said that open carry could cause issues for law enforcement officers responding to calls of a person brandishing a gun.
"Our (concealed weapon's permit) law is one of the best in the country, and we have not had problems with concealed weapons holders," Keel said. "But open carry creates a whole new dynamic."
Proponents of the bill — dozens of House Republicans and at least three House Democrats — say the bill would bring South Carolina law in line with 46 other states that allow some forms of open carry.
While similar legislation has failed or been ignored in past years, Republicans are much better positioned to further their party's agenda this year. In November, the GOP won two seats in the House and, more critically, three in the Senate.
Republicans are already taking advantage of their strengthened majority to swiftly pass a restrictive abortion bill that would stop most abortions after a doctor could find a fetal heartbeat using an ultrasound. The GOP has moved the bill through the state Senate and through a House committee in less than a month over Democratic efforts to slow its passage.
The open carry bill heads to the full House Judiciary Committee.
Should it pass, it will go to the House for debate, where it is likely to pass.
