South Carolina: Your State Firearms Laws

(as of March 1994)

Please Note: In addition to state laws, the purchase, sale and (in certain circumstances) the possession and interstate transportation of firearms is regulated by the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended by the Firearm Owners' Protection Act. Also, cities and localities may have their own firearms ordinances in addition to federal and state laws. Details may be obtained by contacting local law enforcement authorities, and by consulting the State Laws and Published Ordinances--Firearms, available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402.

Quick Reference Chart

                          Rifles and
                          Shotguns     Handguns
                          _____________________
Permit to Purchase           No         No 
Registration of Firearms     No         No
Licensing of Owner           No         No
Permit to Carry              No         Yes

State Constitutional Provision on Firearms

``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.'' Article 1, Section 20.

Possession

No state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.

It is unlawful for the following persons to possess a handgun:

  1. Any person who has been convicted of a crime of violence. (Crime of violence is defined as murder, manslaughter not involving a traffic accident, rape, mayhem, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, housebreaking, assault with intent to kill, rape or rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, or with intent to commit any offense punishable by more than one year.)
  2. Any person who is a ``member of a subversive organization'' (Subversive organization means ``any group, committee, club, league, society, association or combination of individuals the purpose of which, or one of the purposes of which, is the establishment, control, conduct, seizure or overthrow of the government of the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof by the use of force, violence, espionage, sabotage, or threats or attempts of any of the foregoing.''), ``fugitive from justice'', ``habitual drunkard'' or ``drug addict'', or who has been ``adjudicated mentally incompetent.''
  3. Any person under 21, but this does not apply to the temporary loan of a handgun for instruction purposes when the minor is under the immediate supervision of a parent or adult instructor.
  4. Any person who ``had been adjudged unfit to carry or possess'' a handgun by an order of a circuit or county court judge.

Purchase

It is unlawful to transfer in any manner a handgun to any of the above named persons.

The purchaser of a handgun must complete an application in triplicate in the presence of a dealer. The application contains the applicant's: (1) name; (2) residence and business address (3) date and place of birth; (4) social security number; (5) S.C. driver's license or Highway Department Identification Card Number; (6) physical description; (7) fingerprint card and photograph of applicant if applicant does not have a social security number or S.C. driver's license number or S.C. Highway Department Identification Number; (8) signed sworn statement by the applicant that he is not within any classification that would prohibit the applicant from obtaining a handgun by sale, delivery, lease, rent, barter, or exchange, and that he has not purchased a pistol within the previous thirty days; (9) the signatures of applicant and the dealer; (10) and such other personal identifying information as may be required by the State Law Enforcement Division. Upon proper completion of the application, the dealer submits the original application to the Division, retains a copy for his records for a period of three years from the date of the sale or transfer, and gives a copy to the applicant.

Handgun purchases from dealers are restricted to one purchase in thirty days. If a handgun becomes inoperable or lost, a permit may be secured to buy another handgun within the thirty day period. The applicant must submit a sworn affidavit to the chief of police or his designated agent of the municipality in which the applicant resides or, if the applicant does not reside in a municipality, to a county sheriff or his designated agent.

It is unlawful for a dealer to sell or possess a handgun made out of metal with a melting point under 800°F. Transfers of such handguns between qualified persons who are not dealers are lawful. The state handgun transfer form used by dealers does not apply to transfers between nonlicensed individuals.

Carry

It is unlawful to carry about the person a handgun concealed or unconcealed except as follows:
  1. Law enforcement officers and prison guards while they are on duty, and guards protecting U.S. property.
  2. Members of the armed forces, reserve forces, National Guard, or State Militia, when on duty.
  3. Members of organizations authorized by law to buy or receive firearms from the United States or South Carolina, or regularly enrolled members of target shooting or firearms collecting clubs while such members are at or going to or from their places of target practice or their shows and exhibits.
  4. Licensed hunters or fishermen while engaged in hunting or fishing and going to and from their places of hunting or fishing.
  5. Persons while possessing, using, or carrying a handgun in the usual or ordinary course of their business involving firearms.
  6. Authorized military or civil organizations and their members while parading or going to and from the places of their respective organizations.
  7. Any person in his home, or upon his real property, or fixed place of business.
  8. Any person in any vehicle where the handgun is secured in a closed glove compartment or closed trunk. The handgun may be loaded.
  9. Any person carrying an unloaded handgun in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to his home, fixed place of business, or while moving.
  10. Any person who is granted a permit under provision of law by the State Law Enforcement Division and who carries a handgun within the limitations of the permit.
The State Law Enforcement Division may issue permits to carry handguns to qualified persons whose employment or business exposes them to danger. (Examples of what the Division considers a job-related necessity would be doctors who carry drugs, or diamond salesmen.) The permit specifies the conditions under which possession of a handgun is authorized.

An applicant must file a $2,000 surety bond with the Secretary of State as a prerequisite to issuance of such permit. An applicant must demonstrate proficiency in both the use of handguns and pertinent state laws or complete a training course. The training fee is $50. Permits and renewals are valid for two years and cost $30. An appeal from a denial of a permit may be taken to the circuit court of the county of residence.

The carrying of loaded rifles and shotguns may be limited to certain areas during game seasons and is prohibited at all times in certain designated areas. It is unlawful in any park or facility under the jurisdiction of the S.C. Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to possess any firearm except in areas specifically designated for use of firearms. Licensed hunters may have firearms in their possession during hunting seasons provided such firearms are unloaded and carried in a case or trunk of a vehicle.

Any person convicted of unlawfully carrying a pistol or firearms onto the premises of a business which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises shall be subject to an additional penalty of up to 2 years imprisonment and/or $2,000 fine.

Machine Guns

A machine gun is defined as ``any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.'' It also includes ``the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person.''

Persons allowed to possess machine guns include members of the armed forces, the National Guard, law enforcement officers, railway policemen, and persons whose employment involves keeping custody of prisoners. Other persons may possess machine guns kept for display as relics and which are rendered harmless and not usable. All machine guns, operable or nonoperable, must be registered with the State Law Enforcement Division.

Antiques &: Replicas

The statutory definition of a pistol does not include ``any firearm generally recognized or classified as an antique, curiosity, or collector's item, or any that does not fire fixed cartridges.'' It is the policy of the state to use federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms guidelines on classifying antiques, curios, collector's items, or handguns not firing fixed cartridges. Such firearms are exempt from state purchase requirements mentioned above, but law enforcement authorities do not consider antiques exempt from the limitations on carrying.

Miscellaneous

A person who commits or attempts to commit assault with intent to kill, arson, armed robbery, burglary, drug trafficking, murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, or criminal sexual conduct while possessing or displaying a firearm or what appears to be a firearm shall in addition to the punishment provided for the crime be sentenced to a mandatory term of 5 years.

It is unlawful to ``carry or possess any weapon'' in a bus or other public transportation vehicle.

No person shall knowingly buy, sell, transport, pawn, receive, or possess any stolen handgun or one from which the original serial number has been removed or obliterated.

It is unlawful to carry or display firearms in a school or public building or areas adjacent thereto without obtaining authorization from a person legally responsible for the security of such buildings.

It is unlawful for any person to construct, set, or place a loaded trap gun, spring gun, or any like device in any building or in any place.

Resisting arrest with a deadly weapon carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 6 months for the first offense and 2 years for a second offense.

It is unlawful to ``use, transport, manufacture, possess, distribute, sell, or buy any ammunition or shells that are coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon).''

Source: S.C. Code Sections 16-23-10 et seq., 23-31-110 et seq., 51-3-145, 58-23-1830.

Caution: State firearms laws are subject to frequent change. The above summary is not to be considered as legal advice or a restatement of law. To determine the applicability of these laws to specific situations which you may encounter, you are strongly urged to consult a local attorney. 

                    Compiled by:
          NRA Institute for Legislative Action
                11250 Waples Mill Road
               Fairfax, Virginia 22030

   (c)  1994, NRA Institute for Legislative Action.
                 Permission to reprint
   granted with appropriate credit to NRA Institute

NS 01370                                 R. 3/94 5M