PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
THE BUZZ: Allowing more concealed weapons from other states in SC? :: 03/23/2015
The S.C. House soon will decide whether it wants to recognize concealed-weapons permits from all other states in South Carolina.
A bill, proposed by state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Horry, would allow an out-of-state visitor with a concealed-weapons permit issued in their home state to carry a concealed weapon in South Carolina.
In return, the proposal would open a number of states up to South Carolinians who hold concealed-weapons permits and would be able to carry their weapons in those states, Clemmons said.
South Carolina currently has reciprocity agreements with Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
If the law passes, Georgia is the most significant state that would be opened up to South Carolinians with concealed weapons, Clemmons said, adding North Augusta and Aiken residents, who live near the Peach State’s border, would benefit.
The House Judiciary Committee passed Clemmons’ bill last week.
In the meeting, state Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, said he favors the proposal as long as S.C. residents are given the same rights in other states.
However, Quinn said he is concerned about the possibility that someone who has an out-of-state concealed-weapons permit and is mentally ill — and a danger to themselves or others — could come into South Carolina.
“The question is: ‘Do we want to hand somebody that is potentially mentally ill the right to have a concealed carry permit?’ ” Quinn said.
Clemmons said South Carolina will not be able to prevent the mentally ill or even criminals from crossing the state’s borders with weapons. However, the law now prohibits law-abiding citizens from traveling to other states with their weapons.
Quinn, who said he supports the National Rifle Association, also asked how many states would not grant reciprocity to S.C. permit holders — allowing them to carry their weapons in those states — even if South Carolina accepted all out-of-state permits.
State Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, said the bill could mean that it is harder for S.C. citizens to carry concealed weapons in South Carolina than residents of other states, which make it easier to get a permit.
“We’re holding our citizens to a higher standard, placing more restrictions on their ability to carry weapons in this state, than we’re allowing of others,” Newton said.
In the end, however, Newton — a self-described strong Second Amendment advocate — voted in favor of the bill. “My conflict is holding our folks to a higher standard and appearing to be governing to a lower standard for non-South Carolinians.”
Clemmons said every state should have its own standards for issuing concealed-weapon permits. “But — just like driver’s licenses — don’t exclude a state just because their standards are (more or less strict) than ours.”
Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, supported the proposal during the meeting.
“The intent of my vote ... is to make it so that — the fact that one has a firearm and has gone through the process of getting a concealed-weapons permit in whatever state that may be — they’re not treated as criminals for simply possessing a firearm,” Rutherford said.
Quinn also ultimately voted in favor of the bill.
However, the Lexington Republican said he is working on amendments to address mental health and ensure other states also honor S.C. permits.
Haley: Not angry, just educating
Gov. Nikki Haley said during her re-election campaign last fall that she was angry during her first year in office.
The Lexington Republican said she was angry at the GOP establishment, House Republican leaders and the media. But, she insisted, she got over her anger.
Recently, however, some of that anger has seemed to reappear, as Haley has traveled the state, criticizing legislators in their districts, for opposing ethics reform or proposing new state spending.
But, in an interview with The Buzz last week, Haley insisted she is not angry.
“For the four years I’ve been in office, we’ve always gone to districts and educated (residents) – whether it was on policy, whether it was on the actions of their legislators – this was nothing new.”
In February, Haley went to Spartanburg and called out area House members for not backing her tax-swap proposal, the Spartanburg newspaper reported. She also called out state senators from the area for not supporting ethics reform.
Earlier this month, Haley went to Florence, telling a group that Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, is the main reason ethics reform has not progressed, the Florence newspaper reported.
Haley told The Buzz she was only doing her job, educating South Carolinians. “I don’t have a vote upstairs” in the Legislature, she said. “I do have the power of my voice.”
‘No, I love y’all more ...’
The two 2016 GOP presidential front-runners, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, had a chance to flatter S.C. voters last week.
Bush emphasized the Palmetto State’s love of America.
He told Gov. Nikki Haley playfully after her introduction at Sistercare: “One of the things I'm really disappointed in is that you didn't bring up the fact every time I've been with you, you also said South Carolina is the most patriotic state in the country.”
Walker, meanwhile, talked about the official picnic cuisine of South Carolina.
Speaking in Columbia, he talked about his next stop, a barbecue dinner in Greenville. “I met my wife at a barbecue place; I proposed to her in a barbecue place. We went back to the barbecue place on the night of our wedding. So I love barbecue.”
So S.C. voters choose! Do you go with your heart or your stomach?
Can #Peelerisms trend?
State Rep. Phyllis Henderson, R-Greenville, (@phyllish21) tweeted an interaction between the S.C. Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, at an event with Walker.
She tweeted: @harveypeeler to @GovWalker: “being a democrat in SC is like being lactose intolerant in Wisconsin.” #Peelerisms
http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/03/21/3659287_the-buzz-allowing-more-concealed.html?rh=1
