In recent years, the SC General Assembly repeatedly amended the laws on carrying concealable weapons, including through the SC Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024, or Act 111. The law has implications for how police officers handle situations involving firearms, and specifically indicates that carrying a firearm does not provide justification for detaining a person.
Changes to open-carry law
Before Act 111, state law required that anyone carrying a concealed firearm on their person or in places other than a glove box or closed container must have been at least 21 years of age, completed a Concealed Weapons Permit course, undergone a background check and proved competency with their firearms to receive a Concealed Weapons Permit.
Act 111 changed those requirements and allows anyone over the age of 18 to possess and carry a firearm, so long as they are not otherwise legally prohibited from doing so.
The law allows eligible individuals to
- openly carry a firearm, or carry it concealed;
- carry it on their person or in their vehicle; and
- do so with or without a permit.
Changes for law enforcement
Previous state law created a duty for those carrying firearms to notify law enforcement that they were carrying them during a police encounter, but Act 111 removed this requirement.
Furthermore, SC Code Section 23-31-245 now states that a “person openly carrying a weapon in accordance with this article does not give a law enforcement officer reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search, detain, or arrest the person. This article does not prevent a law enforcement officer from searching, detaining, or arresting a person when he has a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.”
Managing law enforcement encounters
When police officers respond to a call, they must weigh all of the facts of a situation when they are determining whether there is reasonable and articulable suspicion that a crime has taken place to justify a detention — even in situations where that detention takes place for only a few moments. Multiple opinions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court have found that a detention is a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, no matter how brief.
Officers can attempt to have a consensual encounter and discussion with a person at any time, something which does not require reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Similarly, they may offer help or assistance to anyone at any time.
In consensual encounters, those with whom an officer is speaking have no obligation under state or federal law to respond to the officer or answer questions. They may ignore the officer, and even be rude and disrespectful toward the officer — and these facts alone do not justify a detention.
Firearms-prohibited locations
There are still locations where state law indicates that concealable weapons may not be carried, including these:
- A courthouse, courtroom, or public building where court is taking place – SC Code Section 16-23-20(a)(2)
- An office or business meeting of the governing body of a local government – SC Code Section 16-23-20(a)(4)
- The premises of any public or private school, unless expressly authorized – SC Code Section 16-23-420
Municipalities have the ability, under SC Code Section 23-31-520, to temporarily restrict the open carrying of firearms at organized and permitted events. Private employers are authorized under SC Code Section 23-31-220(a)(1) to restrict open carrying or concealed carrying of firearms in their premises and workplaces. In both cases, state law requires signage to be posted of these restrictions.