News from South Carolina.

A Statehouse proposal aimed at ensuring South Carolinians can keep their weapons no matter what gun-control measures the White House or Congress might take won early backing in the state Senate.

The bill attempts to buffer any future federal gun restrictions by classifying all guns and bullets legally owned by South Carolinians as weaponry of the state’s unorganized militia.

A 2-1 vote March 23 sent the bill to the Senate’s full Veterans’ Services Committee.

State Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, who cast the lone “no” vote, called the proposal unnecessary nonsense.

The measure, sponsored by Travelers Rest Republican Sen. Tom Corbin, adds language to an obscure 1881 state law regarding South Carolina’s “unorganized militia” — to which all “able-bodied” citizens over age 17 automatically belong.

The governor has the authority to assemble that militia in times of war, rebellion or insurrection, though that’s never happened.

There likely hasn’t been a militia fighting in South Carolina “since Francis Marion and the swamp foxes were shooting at the British” in 1781 during the American Revolution, Corbin told reporters after the hearing.

Corbin sees his proposal, coming some 240 years after those swamp skirmishes, as a way of ensuring South Carolina’s guns are never confiscated.

It would give the state’s “militia” members the right to buy and possess all types of firearms, ammunitions and their components — including magazines and clips — that were legal as of Dec. 30.

“At the end of the day, a federal government cannot disarm a state standing army,” Corbin told the subcommittee.

I’ve bolded the objectionable part of the article, but you already know that.  Only God gives rights, and only God can take them away.

If this has a chance of passing, then please go for it.  On the other hand, if this dog won’t hunt in a short session, then it may be another poison pill, or something to grab attention away from the need to pass open carry.

As for open carry, it appears that the bill stipulates barrel length, so the open carry of long guns may have been made illegal in S.C. with the open carry bill.

Again, it may be imperfect, but problems with it may be able to be fixed in the future.  If those problems can be ironed out in committee between the House and Senate, then do so.

Time is short, so get open carry done.  Focus on constitutional carry next session.

South Carolina has their collectivists too.

What South Carolina legislators do not need to do is to expand the pervasiveness of guns.  Already on the books are processes and procedures for citizens who want to be armed to get concealed weapons permits if they want more security.

But is that good enough?  Apparently not.  Hours after the Atlanta slaughter, South Carolina House members threw caution to the wind and passed a bill that will thrust handguns into the open.

S.C. Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, actually had the gall to say on the House floor this week that open carry was needed because of South Carolina’s heat.  Opening his jacket at the podium, he said when someone with a concealed weapons permit was carrying a gun they would violate the permit if they took off the jacket because it was hot … and that’s why open carry was needed.

Really? Was he serious?  In my book, if you have a concealed permit and you want to carry, you should put up with a little sweat as the price to pay to feel safe.  Guns that are out in the open are much more dangerous than one locked away at home.

And right there in the final paragraph he explains his psychological problem, the one that really requires professional help to ameliorate.

First he explains that he understands that people carry concealed weapons.  Then he contrasts that with weapons remaining and locked away at home.  You see, to him, if he can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

This is a mental dysfunction, and he understands that it is, but in order to help himself, he’s willing to sacrifice your liberties.  He refers to “my book.”  That’s his book of rules for everyone.

And you know what I’ve observed about people who have rules for everybody else.  The desire to control others is the signal pathology of the wicked.

News from S.C.

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.

[ … ]

“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.

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.

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.

News from 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.

This is good, yes?  Constitutional carry.  Hold on.

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, R-Lexington. “(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.

They’re trying the “poison pill” approach.  Notice who offered the amendment up – Bamberg, a reprehensible controller.  He later admits it, saying, ““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, D-Bamberg. “I don’t see how we can do that.”

Normally I’d say to jump on this and make everyone take a stand in public.  But in this instance I’d say let’s be incrementalists.  After open carry is passed, then you can tackle constitutional carry.

The S.C. senate is already balking.

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, R-Berkeley, 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.”

The left is always the best at strategy, displaying amazing patience concerning their goals.  It’s time we took a page from that book.

Start with open carry.  Leave constitutional carry for next year.  In the mean time, work your senators.  Work them hard, both on open carry (this year), and constitutional carry (next year).

News from South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WPDE) — Six South Carolina senators want to make the state a Second Amendment Sanctuary, according to pre-filed legislation in Columbia.

Sens. Shane Massey, Rex Rice, Josh Kimbrell, Tom Corbin, Dwight Loftis and Tom Young filed the bill on Feb. 18.

In the bill, the senators write that they and the other members of the state general assemble find that the “Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual’s right to ‘keep and bear arms'” and that the right may not be infringed upon.

In order to protect that right in South Carolina, the lawmakers want the state attorney general to review any federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation related to the Second Amendment that might come down. Then, they want the attorney general to “issue a written opinion of its constitutionality.”

If the attorney general finds that the federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation related to the Second Amendment is unconstitutional, the state senators have a plan to stop the enforcement of it in South Carolina.

Those plans include:

• not giving any public funds, personnel or property from the state to the implementation, regulation, or enforcement of that federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation;
• not letting any official, agent or employee of the state, or any political subdivision of it, enforce or attempt to enforce that federal law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation.

If anyone were to take legal action against South Carolina for not following the federal law, the lawmakers write in the bill that the attorney general shall will defend the case.

Many counties in South Carolina have become their own second amendment sanctuaries, including Horry County.

Kershaw County was the first county in South Carolina to become one.

This isn’t just weak tea, it’s pathetic.  Honestly, you’d think that a state like South Carolina, where they supposedly value liberty, could do better than this given what other states have done and are doing.

There should be no need to turn to a lawyer for an assessment.  That’s what weaklings and fearful men do.  If they want S.C. to be a 2A sanctuary state, then just declare it so.

Furthermore, it’s meaningless unless they not only prohibit agents of the state from participating in confiscatory laws or other infringements, but dispatch state agents to arrest FedGov agents who try to do the same thing.

On top of that, I won’t believe a word they have to say until they decriminalize open carry in South Carolina.

I was in contact with South Carolina Carry today asking if they had a comprehensive email contact list for South Carolina legislators.  They don’t.

As followup to this post I had intended to begin making contact and learned that they (SC legislators) have begun to use the absurd contact forms.  In other words, they have cloistered themselves off and insulated themselves from their constituency.

This makes it very hard, as intended.  If anyone knows how to make contact with South Carolina legislators, especially if you have a comprehensive distribution list, that would be great.  Or if not, if there is some retired gun rights advocate who just wants to help in this endeavor, please feel free to post here, or email me.  Perhaps there is someone who has contacts inside the SC government who could assist us with this?

South Carolina Carry is also interested in such a list.

Eventbrite.com has this announcement for “March for our rights.”

It’s supposed to be Saturday, April 4th, 2020, at the SC State House.  Do any S.C. readers know anything about this?

I’m suspicious, because we know nothing in the announcement about who is sponsoring this.  If SC Carry is sponsoring it, it’s valid and legitimate.  If someone else, who, and does SC Carry know about this event?

Can SC readers fill in the details?

Report from South Carolina.

“We’re at a standstill both with gun reform and gun expansion,” Charleston Democratic Sen. Marlon Kimpson said this week. “I don’t think you’ll see any of those bills come to the floor this year and, if they do, it will be purely for political posturing.”

Senate Bill 139, which  would allow anyone to carry a weapon without a permit, is on the Senate calendar for second reading, but falls further behind every day on the chamber’s contested slate. Carrying weapons without a permit is known by supporters as “constitutional carry.”

But most bills on either side of the issue remain without hearings in committees. Kimpson is a sponsor of Senate Bill 731, which would expand background checks, also known as closing the Charleston loophole. The bill has been pushed every year since a white supremacist slayed nine black church goers in Charleston in 2015. It would extend the wait time for FBI background checks from three days to five days in South Carolina.  It is stuck without a hearing in the Judiciary Committee.

A guy by the name of Peter Zalka is at the root of trouble-making on this.  Listen to his reasons, and make sure to notice the headline (“Pro-Second Amendment Group Concerned Over ‘Open Carry’ Bills).

“Passage of this bill will allow anyone to openly carry a revolver or semi-automatic handgun in any public establishment such as a grocery store, movie theater, or Walmart. Spending legislative time and effort to pass any laws that would make legal the open carry of handguns (with or without a permit) makes South Carolina no safer at best, with significant negative effects on our communities a given.”

Zalka called the proposed legislation a threat to public safety and public health.

“The world would look like a different place,” he said. “Imagine being in Charleston at a park or Spoleto, something like that, and all around us there are folks wearing their guns on their hip. They have no training, no permit, no understanding of South Carolina laws.”

Zalka said he spent the day hand-delivering letters of opposition to lawmakers, including letters from physicians, law enforcement, and other nonprofit organizations.

[ … ]

Groups like South Carolina Carry feel the opposition is simply fearmongering.

“We are surrounded by open carry states. North Carolina has open carry, Georgia has open carry, Tennessee has open carry,” said Dan Roberts, Outreach Director for South Carolina Carry. “They all have vibrant tourism industries and no problem with people being terrified at the sight of a firearm. So, is South Carolina somehow special? It’s ridiculous.”

He had a moment of truth there.  This is all about the effete gentry class in Charleston wanting to make sure their tourism isn’t affected.

But the truth is also told by South Carolina Carry.  ““We are surrounded by open carry states. North Carolina has open carry, Georgia has open carry, Tennessee has open carry,” said Dan Roberts, Outreach Director for South Carolina Carry. “They all have vibrant tourism industries and no problem with people being terrified at the sight of a firearm.”

There won’t be blood running in the streets, and that lie was told in Texas, Oklahoma and everywhere open carry has been legalized.  It’s been debunked, so let that one go, controllers.

So if you’re a South Carolina reader, have you joined South Carolina Carry?  Are you active in this fight?  The enemy sure is.  Because if you’re not active, you have no right to complain when you’re compared to California, Hawaii and New York.

I was with family at a gun show in Greenville, S.C., today, and I’ll leave my comments on show itself out of the discussion.

I did manage to meet up with Mr. Matt Wavle of SCCarry.org, and got his contact information.  I had never met the group before, and Matt was a super nice guy and they are very much on top of the legislative goings-on in South Carolina.  I’m impressed with the organization.

If you’ve a resident of South Carolina and aren’t a member of this group, you should encourage them with a note and join the organization.

Their web site is here, and they have a nice page that links and outlines all of the current pending legislation in South Carolina that pertains to the RKBA.

News from Spartanburg County, S.C.

However, Spartanburg County Chairman, Manning Lynch says he does’t believe it’s necessary because of the support lawmakers have for the second amendment and gun rights in the area.

“I think we’re strong in both the state legislature, the local county council as well as the sheriff of Spartanburg County,” Lynch said.

He says there’s nothing Council can do to strengthen or weaken the protection of the constitution.

“If we got in a situation where we felt like our second amendment rights were under attack, county council would do whatever they could by any means necessary to protect those rights,” Lynch said.

In other words, I’m just not willing to do it right now.  Even though a different Sheriff could be in place later, I won’t live forever, and the board won’t be in place forever, there is nothing we can do right now to strengthen protection of your rights.

Or said differently, I’m a coward and don’t really believe what I’m saying right now, I just want all of this to go away.

Hey, do I have any readers in Spartanburg, S.C.?  I think you might want to take note of what your board of commissioners is saying.

Hey, and another thing.  How’s that campaign to legalize open carry going in S.C.?  Any progress?  I’m being sarcastic.  It’ll never be legalized in S.C.  Or California.  Or Hawaii.  Or New York or New Jersey.  How do South Carolinians like being lumped in with those states?