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Organized Open Carry Event Scheduled In Columbia

sherra

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South Carolina Carry, Inc. (SC Carry) has planned an event to draw attention to ongoing efforts to enact open carry legislation in South Carolina for all law-abiding residents.

Under current South Carolina law, open carry of a long gun is not illegal for those who are legal to possess a firearm, and open carry of a handgun is only legally permitted when a licensed sportsman is engaged in or traveling to and from fishing or hunting. On Saturday, April 6, 2019, from 10 AM to 4 PM South Carolina Carry will host an Open Carry Fishing Trip. Attendees will meet at a designated location in Columbia and walk down to the river to fish.

The South Carolina Sheriffs' Association (SCSA) has pushed against making open carry legal for all residents under all circumstances where concealed carry is already legal. The SCSA claims their opposition is purely one of “officer safety.”

45 states, including our bordering states of North Carolina and Georgia, allow open carry of handguns in some form. 31 states allow for open carry with no permit required, with 16 currently having or recently passed legislation for permitless “Constitutional Carry” for all that are legally permitted to possess a firearm. Law enforcement officials in these states have not reported any significant issues with the practice.

Sherra Scott, president of South Carolina Carry, Inc. states, "The Sheriffs Association has stated concerns about officer safety when it comes to allowing open carry in South Carolina. It sounds like they are suggesting the law enforcement officers in South Carolina are not as skilled in reading body language as their brother and sister officers in the rest of the Country and that law-abiding South Carolina residents are not as capable or responsible as their fellow Americans."

"Members of some gun control groups have voiced opposition to the idea of open carry stating citizens may be “fearful” of seeing someone who is armed and not a uniformed law enforcement officer. However, there is a very good chance they are in the close presence of someone already legally carrying a handgun just about anywhere they go on a daily basis. They fail to explain how a piece of cloth obscuring their view of the firearm offers any sort of “protection” or alleviation for their concerns," says Dan Roberts, Director of Outreach for South Carolina Carry, Inc. "We have made sure the event is compliant by obtaining permits and notifying local law enforcement agencies of the event," Roberts stated.

https://www.southcarolinacarry.org/organized-open-carry-event-scheduled-in-columbia/
****
Our rally/parking point will be 1301 Gervais St., Columbia, SC at 10 AM, Saturday, April 6, 2019
 

solus

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welcome to the forum sherra, might i inquire, since i am completely unfamiliar with SC's statutes, if participants to this Sat's OC event must have appropriate 'fishing' gear & accouterments to provide LEs at least the perception the individual is in fact complying with the laws of the land and about to go fishing?

a nit...to save me time could you provide specific cites to the statutes you referenced in your post so i might be afforded a bit of knowledge when discussing being stopped by the nice SC LEs ~ appreciated sherra...
 
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sherra

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Mar 25, 2019
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South Carolina
South Carolina Code of Laws Section 16-23-20 covers unlawful carrying of a handgun and the exceptions.
https://scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c023.php#16-23-20
Currently, in SC, there is no law against openly carrying a long gun. In order to openly carry a handgun, if you are not law enforcement, military (while on duty), on your own property, or on the premises of a firearms related business, you MUST be "licensed hunters or fishermen who are engaged in hunting or fishing or going to or from their places of hunting or fishing while in a vehicle or on foot."
So, yes, for this event, participants who plan on open carrying a holstered handgun will have to have a valid SC fishing license.

SC does offer IMMEDIATE fishing license if purchased online, so you don't have to wait for something to come in the mail. You can just screenshot the receipt page and pair that with your photo ID to be legal during the outing.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/legallicense.html
 

sherra

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We have been in regular contact with local law enforcement, as well as SC Department of Natural Resources. All are aware of what is going on and an "event" permit has been secured. We have been informed that DNR is expected to be on-site to check licenses. There will be a briefing before leaving the gathering area with a handout with guidelines for participant behavior.
 

solus

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Thanks sheera for the prompt responses and your clarification on the licensing mandates as well as explaining how to readily obtain on on line which i shall check out later this evening.

PM inbound in about an hour for a couple of private question(s)...no biggie really!

Again thanks
 

color of law

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sherra, could please point me to the statute that makes it illegal to open carry a handgun. Because I am unable to find any statute or court case that says such. Thanks in advance.
 

color of law

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“SECTION 16-23-20. Unlawful carrying of handgun; exceptions.
It is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law:”

I’m at a loss to understand this statute.

I did a search for any South Carolina Appeals court or Supreme court case addressing this statute based on constitutional grounds. Unless someone can point to one, I found zip, zero, none.

The South Carolina constitution says at Article I, Section 20 “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Other than leaving out the commas, the phrase is identical to the federal constitution, Article I, Section II.

As to the open carrying of handguns it is unconstitutional to deny the right.

The Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137, 177. (1803) stated: “Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and, consequently, the theory of every such government must be, that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is void.” And, in their closing the Marbury court, at page 179, stated: “Thus, the particular phraseology of the constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the constitution is void; and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument.”

The Supreme Court in United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542, 553, 23 L.Ed 588 (1876) declared that the right of “bearing arms for a lawful purpose.” was not granted by the Constitution. The understanding was that it was in existence before the Constitution. “The second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress.”

Then 134 years later the Supreme Court declared that the Second Amendment applies to the states. See McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010).

In 2008 the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 592, 171 L.Ed 2d 637, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) declared “we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment.” The Court then cited Cruikshank as part of its historical analysis. Thus, Heller held that the right to bear arms for a lawful purpose was secured by the U.S. Constitution.

More importantly, Heller did not limit the right to bear arms. It specifically stated, “Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed.” The Court reiterated, “Our opinion is, that any law, State or Federal, is repugnant to the Constitution, and void, which contravenes this right, originally belonging to our forefathers.”

Additionally, the Supreme Court in Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U. S. ____ (2016) unanimously held that “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,” and that this “Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States.”
On January 12, 2018, in the case of Virginia Duncan, Et Al. v. Xavier Becerra, in the State of California, eighteen States filed an Amici Curiae Brief, in Support of Virginia Duncan, in which they made clear that:

‘“The Second Amendment guarantees “the individual right … to carry weapons in case of confrontation”’ — that is, to “‘wear, bear, or carry … upon the person or in the clothing or in a pocket, for the purpose … of being armed and ready for offensive or defensive action in a case of conflict with another person.” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 584, 592 (2008).”’

Those eighteen states included the Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson. He agreed that the Feds and the States have no authority to regulate the bearing of arms.

Did you catch it? The Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, agrees that the Feds and the States have no authority to regulate the bearing of arms.
 

solus

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Best wishes.

How are the affiliates of the NRA on this? I doubt that they will give up the CCW training income stream easily.

The principals of scfirearms.org have lots of effective experience.

Dougie, why do you insist on promoting this SC grassroots entity as a premier leader in the SC firearm advocacy fight when their entire website has laid dormant for almost 8 years!

Gheeee...
 

Doug_Nightmare

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It has been some years since I analyzed SC gun laws, but IIRC the SC Constitution is Annotated and there is an on point Annotation to SC Constitution Article 1 Section 20, one of very many as I recall.

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/ gives HTTP Error 502 ATM but that’s where the authoritative on-line Constitution and Code of Laws is available.

While every effort was made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the unannotated South Carolina Constitution available on the South Carolina General Assembly's website, the unannotated South Carolina Constitution is not official, and the state agencies preparing this website and the General Assembly are not responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur in these files. Only the current published volumes of the South Carolina Constitution Annotated and any pertinent acts and joint resolutions contain the official version.
 
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solus

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Ok, now i am confused on SC DNR site...under “BUY”

First header: SC non-resident freshwater fishing: annual-35$, 14 day-11$

Second header: non-resident freshwater fishing: seven different headings, all annual & each is listed at 50$

Remember, with expert assistance, i might be able to hold the hook while the assistance puts the bait on it! :(
 

solus

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Per your request dougie,
Disclaimer
Searching for 'Annotations' in CONSTITUTION
There are NO matches for the query Annotations in CONSTITUTION

Art 1, sec 20 has an editor’s note...
Editor’s Note

The present provisions of this section are identical to former Section 26 of Article I as it existed prior to the 1971 revision. For similar provisions in Constitution of 1868, see Const 1868, Art I, Section Section 28, 29.

But last i checked annotated and editor’s note have two very different contextual meanings especially from a legal perspective...some local yokel bloke stuck in a note...eh who cares. But annotation is part of the record of the official certified document.
 
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sherra

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Mar 25, 2019
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South Carolina
Ok, now i am confused on SC DNR site...under “BUY”

First header: SC non-resident freshwater fishing: annual-35$, 14 day-11$

Second header: non-resident freshwater fishing: seven different headings, all annual & each is listed at 50$

Remember, with expert assistance, i might be able to hold the hook while the assistance puts the bait on it! :(
Link to see prices - you must choose which type of license you are looking for... http://www.dnr.sc.gov/licenses/pricing.html
Link to start license purchase process... http://www.dnr.sc.gov/legallicense.html
 

OC for ME

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Outta staters get their pockets picked even for a couple of weeks vacation at the beach. But, ya gotta pay if you wanna play.

I'll compromise in the near term if SC would follow TN's permit scheme, OC or CC with a pistol carry permit. That would get the OC ball rolling and lead to permit-less CC, then eventually permit-less OC.
 
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