South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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A294, R357, H3482

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Bingham, Trotter, M.A. Pitts, Umphlett, Taylor, E.H. Pitts, Simrill, Huggins, Owens, Bailey, Hinson, Rice, Cato, Young, Hagood, Ceips, Altman, Merrill, Scarborough, Ott, Quinn, Loftis, Toole, Chellis, Barfield, G.R. Smith, Cooper, White, Duncan and Clemmons
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11167ac03.doc

Introduced in the House on January 30, 2003
Introduced in the Senate on February 18, 2004
Last Amended on May 18, 2004
Passed by the General Assembly on May 20, 2004
Governor's Action: August 16, 2004, Signed

Summary: Lawfully secured pistols

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/30/2003  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-18
   1/30/2003  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-18
   4/22/2003  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Trotter
   4/23/2003  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: M.A.Pitts, 
                        Umphlett, Taylor, E.H.Pitts, Simrill, Huggins, Owens
   4/24/2003  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Bailey, Hinson, 
                        Rice, Cato, Young, Hagood, Ceips, Altman, Merrill, 
                        Scarborough, Ott
    5/8/2003  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Quinn
   2/11/2004  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary HJ-7
   2/12/2004  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Loftis, Toole
   2/12/2004          Scrivener's error corrected
   2/17/2004  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Chellis, 
                        Barfield, G.R.Smith, Cooper, White, Duncan, Clemmons
   2/17/2004  House   Amended HJ-18
   2/17/2004  House   Read second time HJ-24
   2/18/2004  House   Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-32
   2/18/2004  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-10
   2/18/2004  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-10
   2/18/2004          Scrivener's error corrected
   5/12/2004  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        SJ-15
   5/13/2004  Senate  Amended SJ-10
   5/13/2004  Senate  Read second time SJ-10
   5/13/2004  Senate  Ordered to third reading with notice of amendments SJ-10
   5/18/2004  Senate  Amended SJ-21
   5/18/2004  Senate  Read third time and returned to House with amendments 
                        SJ-21
   5/20/2004  House   Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-101
    6/2/2004          Ratified R 357
   8/16/2004          Signed By Governor
   8/19/2004          Copies available
   8/19/2004          Effective date 08/16/04
   8/24/2004          Act No. 294

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/30/2003
2/11/2004
2/12/2004
2/17/2004
2/18/2004
5/12/2004
5/13/2004
5/18/2004


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A294, R357, H3482)

AN ACT TO AMEND ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 23, TITLE 16, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF THE POSSESSION AND CARRYING OF PISTOLS, SO AS TO CHANGE THE TERM "PISTOL" TO "HANDGUN" AND TO CLARIFY AND ADD EXCEPTIONS TO THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CARRYING HANDGUNS, INCLUDING EXCEPTIONS IN PLACES OF BUSINESS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, AN EXCEPTION WHEN TRANSFERRING A HANDGUN BETWEEN A VEHICLE AND A LOCATION WHERE IT MAY BE LEGALLY POSSESSED, AND AN EXCEPTION FOR A CLOSED CONTAINER ON A MOTORCYCLE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 16-23-420, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OFFENSE OF CARRYING A FIREARM ONTO PRIVATE OR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL TO POSSESS A FIREARM ON SUCH PROPERTY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Regulations for carrying handguns

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 23, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Article 1

Handguns

Section 16-23-10.    When used in this article:

(1)    'Handgun' means any firearm designed to expel a projectile and designed to be fired from the hand, but shall not include any firearm generally recognized or classified as an antique, curiosity, or collector's item, or any that does not fire fixed cartridges.

(2)    'Dealer' means any person engaged in the business of selling firearms at retail or any person who is a pawnbroker.

(3)    'Crime of violence' means murder, manslaughter (except negligent manslaughter arising out of traffic accidents), rape, mayhem, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, housebreaking, assault with intent to kill, commit rape, or rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, or assault with intent to commit any offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.

(4)    'Fugitive from justice' means any person who has fled from or is fleeing from any law enforcement officer to avoid prosecution or imprisonment for a crime of violence.

(5)    '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.

(6)    'Conviction' as used herein shall include pleas of guilty, pleas of nolo contendere, and forfeiture of bail.

(7)    'Division' means the State Law Enforcement Division.

(8)    'Purchase' or 'sell' means to knowingly buy, offer to buy, receive, lease, rent, barter, exchange, pawn or accept in pawn.

(9)    'Person' means any individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, or joint stock company.

(10)    'Luggage compartment' means the trunk of a motor vehicle which has a trunk; however, with respect to a motor vehicle which does not have a trunk, the term 'luggage compartment' refers to the area of the motor vehicle in which the manufacturer designed that luggage be carried or to the area of the motor vehicle in which luggage is customarily carried. In a station wagon, van, hatchback vehicle, or sport utility vehicle, the term 'luggage compartment' refers to the area behind, but not under, the rearmost seat. In a truck, the term 'luggage compartment' refers to the area behind the rearmost seat, but not under the front seat.

Section 16-23-20.    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:

(1)    regular, salaried law enforcement officers and reserve police officers of a municipality or county of the State, uncompensated Governor's constables, law enforcement officers of the federal government or other states when they are carrying out official duties while in this State, deputy enforcement officers of the Natural Resources Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and retired commissioned law enforcement officers employed as private detectives or private investigators;

(2)    members of the Armed Forces of the United States, the National Guard, organized reserves, or the State Militia when on duty;

(3)    members, or their invited guests, of organizations authorized by law to purchase or receive firearms from the United States or this State or regularly enrolled members, or their invited guests, of clubs organized for the purpose of target shooting or collecting modern and antique firearms while these members, or their invited guests, are at or going to or from their places of target practice or their shows and exhibits;

(4)    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;

(5)    a person regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing, repossessing, or dealing in firearms, or the agent or representative of this person, while possessing, using, or carrying a handgun in the usual or ordinary course of the business;

(6)    guards authorized by law to possess handguns and engaged in protection of property of the United States or any agency of the United States;

(7)    members of authorized military or civil organizations while parading or when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations;

(8)    a person in his home or upon his real property or a person who has the permission of the owner or the person in legal possession or the person in legal control of the home or real property;

(9)    a person in a vehicle if the handgun is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle; however, this item is not violated if the glove compartment, console, or trunk is opened in the presence of a law enforcement officer for the sole purpose of retrieving a driver's license, registration, or proof of insurance;

(10)    a person carrying a handgun unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to his home or fixed place of business or while in the process of changing or moving one's residence or changing or moving one's fixed place of business;

(11)    a prison guard while engaged in his official duties;

(12)    a person who is granted a permit under provision of law by the State Law Enforcement Division to carry a handgun about his person, under conditions set forth in the permit, and while transferring the handgun between the permittee's person and a location specified in item (9);

(13)    the owner or the person in legal possession or the person in legal control of a fixed place of business, while at the fixed place of business, and the employee of a fixed place of business, other than a business subject to Section 16-23-465, while at the place of business; however, the employee may exercise this privilege only after: (a) acquiring a permit pursuant to item (12), and (b) obtaining the permission of the owner or person in legal control or legal possession of the premises;

(14)    a person engaged in firearms-related activities while on the premises of a fixed place of business which conducts, as a regular course of its business, activities related to sale, repair, pawn, firearms training, or use of firearms, unless the premises is posted with a sign limiting possession of firearms to holders of permits issued pursuant to item (12);

(15)    a person while transferring a handgun directly from or to a vehicle and a location specified in this section where one may legally possess the handgun.

Section 16-23-30.    (A)    It is unlawful for a person to knowingly sell, offer to sell, deliver, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport for sale into this State any handgun to:

(1)    a person who has been convicted of a crime of violence in any court of the United States, the several states, commonwealths, territories, possessions, or the District of Columbia or who is a fugitive from justice or a habitual drunkard or a drug addict or who has been adjudicated mentally incompetent;

(2)    a person who is a member of a subversive organization;

(3)    a person under the age of twenty-one, but this shall not apply to the issue of handguns to members of the Armed Forces of the United States, active or reserve, National Guard, State Militia, or R. O. T. C., when on duty or training or the temporary loan of handguns for instructions under the immediate supervision of a parent or adult instructor; or

(4)    a person who by order of a circuit judge or county court judge of this State has been adjudged unfit to carry or possess a handgun, such adjudication to be made upon application by any police officer, or by any prosecuting officer of this State, or sua sponte, by the court, but a person who is the subject of such an application is entitled to reasonable notice and a proper hearing prior to any such adjudication.

(B)    It is unlawful for a person enumerated in subsection (A) to possess or acquire handguns within this State.

(C)    A person shall not knowingly buy, sell, transport, pawn, receive, or possess any stolen handgun or one from which the original serial number has been removed or obliterated.

Section 16-23-50.    (A)(1)    A person, including a dealer, who violates the provisions of this article, except Section 16-23-20, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(2)    A person violating the provisions of Section 16-23-20 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(B)    In addition to the penalty provided in this section, the handgun involved in the violation of this article must be confiscated. The handgun must be delivered to the chief of police of the municipality or to the sheriff of the county if the violation occurred outside the corporate limits of a municipality. The law enforcement agency that receives the confiscated handgun may use it within the agency, transfer it to another law enforcement agency for the lawful use of that agency, trade it with a retail dealer licensed to sell handguns in this State for a handgun or any other equipment approved by the agency, or destroy it. A weapon must not be disposed of in any manner until the results of any legal proceeding in which it may be involved are finally determined. If the State Law Enforcement Division seized the handgun, the division may keep the handgun for use by its forensic laboratory. Records must be kept of all confiscated handguns received by the law enforcement agencies under the provisions of this article.

Section 16-23-55.    (A)    A handgun that is found and turned over to a law enforcement agency must be held for a period of ninety days. During that period, the agency shall make a diligent effort to determine:

(1)    if the handgun is stolen;

(2)    if the handgun has been used in the commission of a crime; and

(3)    the true owner of the handgun.

(B)    At least twice during the ninety-day holding period, the agency shall advertise the handgun with its full description in a newspaper having general circulation in the county where the handgun was found.

(C)    After the ninety days have elapsed from publication of the first advertisement, and upon request of the individual who found and turned over the handgun, the agency shall return the handgun to this person if the individual fully completes the application process as described in Section 23-31-140 and in federal law, and pays all advertising and other costs incidental to returning the handgun. No handgun may be returned until the individual fully completes the application.

(D)    Upon proper completion of the application, the law enforcement agency shall provide copies of the application in compliance with Section 23-31-140.

Section 16-23-60.    Provisions of this article must not be construed to grant any additional police powers not authorized by law, and do not in any manner affect the powers of constables commissioned by the Governor."

Handgun exception added

SECTION 2.    Section 16-23-20 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an item to read:

"(16)    any person on a motorcycle when the pistol is secured in a closed saddlebag or other similar closed accessory container attached, whether permanently or temporarily, to the motorcycle."

Unlawful to possess firearm on certain property

SECTION 3.    Section 16-23-420 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 274 of 2002, is further amended to read:

"Section 16-23-420.    (A)    It is unlawful for a person to possess a firearm of any kind on any premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly-owned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge of the premises or property.

(B)    It is unlawful for a person to enter the premises or property described in subsection (A) and to display, brandish, or threaten others with a firearm.

(C)    A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(D)    This section does not apply to a guard, law enforcement officer, or member of the armed forces, or student of military science. A married student residing in an apartment provided by the private or public school whose presence with a weapon in or around a particular building is authorized by persons legally responsible for the security of the buildings is also exempted from the provisions of this section.

(E)    For purposes of this section, the terms 'premises' and 'property' do not include state or locally owned or maintained roads, streets, or rights-of-way of them, running through or adjacent to premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, or other post-secondary institution, which are open full time to public vehicular traffic.

(F)    This section does not apply to a person who is authorized to carry concealed weapons pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 31 of Title 23 when upon any premises, property, or building that is part of an interstate highway rest area facility."

Time effective

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 2nd day of June, 2004.

Approved the 16th day of August, 2004.

__________

This web page was last updated on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 10:26 A.M.