COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed a bill that allows people to carry weapons without hiding them.
Legislators voted 82-33 in favor of the so-called open bill after more than six hours of debate, with some Democrats joining Republicans. The legislation would allow people who already had a concealed weapons license to keep those weapons publicly visible.
The state is just one of five without open transport, joining atypical partners like California, Florida, Illinois and New York.
The bill is enthusiastically supported by many Republicans and conservatives, who said it makes sense to allow people to load the weapons they already have in a visible holster. Laws against pointing a gun at someone or threatening someone with a gun without a legal reason would remain in the books.
“This project puts us in line with the vast majority of the country,” said the project’s main sponsor, Rep. Bobby Cox, a Republican from Greenville.
Some Democrats said legalizing open carry would lead to more violence and death in the state, and accused Republicans of voting on the bill to earn political points with voters.
Hopkins Democratic State Representative Jermaine Johnson said open transport is a privilege for whites, but dangerous for a black man like him – a 200-cm-tall former college basketball player with tattoos.
“This project as it stands, will be nothing more than legalized hunting for blacks,” said Johnson. He asked lawmakers to see the issue through the eyes of African Americans.
“I’m 35,” said Johnson. “I would love to live as long as some people here.”
The Republican majority rejected dozens of amendments by members of both parties, ranging from allowing people with crimes to regain their rights to arms after serving their sentences to the creation of a state arms buy-back program.
The House has adopted an amendment by Representative Justin Bamberg, a Democrat from the city of Bamberg, which adds proper handling of firearms and scaling down strategies to mandatory training requirements. Lawmakers also approved adjustments to the bill to give employers and public and private companies, as well as owners, the option to prohibit the transport of goods on their premises.
South Carolina currently requires a background check and training to obtain a gun license, but no additional training is required after the license is issued.
A “constitutional-sized” bill that would allow people to own weapons without any permission requirement is also scheduled to be debated in the House later this spring, after being passed by a House committee on Tuesday.
Previous attempts to expand gun laws in the state have repeatedly died, although this year’s proposal gained momentum after Republicans won five seats in the General Assembly in the 2020 elections.
Some law enforcement leaders said the bill could lead to more armed violence and domestic murders in a state that is often ranked among the worst in the country due to such violence. They said fights could turn into shootings more quickly under open arms and that such a law would make it difficult for police to identify who is committing a crime.
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Jeffrey Collins, editor of the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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Michelle Liu is a member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that puts journalists in local newsrooms to report on covert issues.