U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- Yesterday, the Senate voted 28-16 to pass House Bill 3094, the open carry bill. Though the constitutional carry amendment failed, the Senate did manage to adopt an amendment to eliminate the fee for a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP). H. 3094 now goes back to the House for further action.
House Bill 3094 allows citizens who hold a CWP to carry a handgun in the manner they choose. At the moment, South Carolina is just like New York and California in not allowing open carry of handguns. Self-defense situations are difficult to predict and everyone has different circumstances. It is unreasonable for the law to impose a one-size-fits-all method of carrying a handgun for self-defense.
The Senate amended version eliminates the $50 application fee for a CWP. This is especially important following the economic turmoil of the past year, ensuring that all law-abiding citizens can have their right to self-defense regardless of financial ability and without having to buy it back from the government.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates.
About NRA-ILA:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
And I just renewed my CWP March 1st. and paid the $50. New Permit arrived 5/7.
Well, I guess the State will be footing the FBI Criminal Background Check cost. The last I knew that was $18.
Earlier reports also indicated a reduction of rounds fired in qualification from 50 to 25 due to the ammo shortage. I am not sure if that was true or not as I have not seen it mentioned in more recent news releases.
Here is about the most informative article on the Senate action on Open Carry that I have found, thus far. There were a few more little goodies in it for us. Like Texas, we may have to wait a while for Constitutional Carry, but at least we moved the ball down the field in the right direction a little bit.
https://wach.com/news/local/senate-passes-open-carry-bill-heads-to-house-with-amendments