South Carolina House Passes Open Carry
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 8 months ago
The South Carolina House gave key approval Wednesday to a bill allowing people to carry guns without concealing them.
Legislators voted 82-33 in favor of the so-called open-carry bill after more than six hours of debate, with some Democrats joining Republicans. The legislation would allow people who already have a concealed-weapons permit to keep those guns visible in public.
The state is just one of five without open carry, joining atypical partners such as California, Florida, Illinois and New York.
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“This bill brings us in line with the vast majority of the country,” said lead bill sponsor Rep. Bobby Cox, a Republican from Greenville.
Some of the debate was clownish.
Gilliard says a Black person won’t be able to open carry as freely as white people because of racial profiling. Fellow Democrats agreed with the point.
Freshman Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, said as a 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 285-pound Black man, having a gun on his side would make him a target.
“Think about me and my family. I’m tired of going home and telling them to have to talk to my children about what they can and can’t do as a black person,” he said. “I am scared for my children’s lives.”
The bill doesn’t force people to open carry, it only allows it. If you’re concerned, then don’t do it. Your objections have nothing at all to do with open carry. Spend your time trying to reign in law enforcement. I’ll be right there with you.
Now, it’s time to start on the South Carolina senators, who, I predict, won’t be as enthusiastic as the House. They’ll gesticulate, hem and haw, vacillate, supply unctuous commentary and prose, and in the end, if South Carolinians don’t move on them, let this die on the floor of the senate with words like, “It’s complicated, we need to study this some more, we ran out of time doing the business of the people,” and such claptrap.
On March 18, 2021 at 6:30 am, ragman said:
I would ask Jerman to provide actual instances of racism he has experienced. We don’t have a gun problem in this country, we have a black problem. That’s not a “raciss” statement, it’s the truth.
On March 18, 2021 at 9:04 pm, X said:
Of course the “debate” was clownish. There is no true “debate” in a “democracy,” there is only posturing.
The Greeks found this out 2,500 years ago.