South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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H. 5221

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. M.A. Pitts
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7558ahb08.doc

Introduced in the House on May 28, 2008
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Self Defense Act of 2008

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   5/28/2008  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-15
   5/28/2008  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-15

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

5/28/2008

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

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY DESIGNATING THE EXISTING SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 5, TITLE 16 AS ARTICLE 1 ENTITLED "GENERAL PROVISIONS"; AND BY ADDING ARTICLE 3 TO CHAPTER 5, TITLE 16 SO AS TO ENACT THE "SELF DEFENSE ACT OF 2008" PROVIDING THAT A PERSON OR ORGANIZATION WHICH CREATES A GUN-FREE ZONE IS LIABLE FOR DAMAGES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES AND TO DEFINE THE TERM "GUN-FREE ZONE".

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

SECTION    1.    The existing provisions of Chapter 5, Title 16 of the 1976 Code are designated as Article 1 entitled "General Provisions".

SECTION 2.    Chapter 5, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 3

Self Defense Act

Section 16-5-300.    This article may be cited as the 'Self Defense Act of 2008'.

Section 16-5-310.    For the purposes of this article, the term 'gun-free zone' means any building, place, area, or curtilage open to the public, or in or upon a public conveyance, where a person's right or ability to keep or bear arms is infringed, restricted, or diminished in any way by statute, policy, rule, regulation, ordinance, utterance, or posted sign.

Section 16-5-320.    (A)    Notwithstanding another provision of law, any person, organization, entity, or agency of state government which creates a gun-free zone is liable for damages resulting from criminal conduct which occurs against a person in the gun-free zone if a reasonable person would believe that possession of a firearm by a person in the gun-free zone could have helped the person defend against the criminal conduct.

(B)    If the criminal conduct is the result of a terrorist attack, as defined by federal law, or if a disabled person, a person who is a member of a minority, as defined by federal law, a senior citizen, or a child under the age of sixteen years old is injured, the court may apply treble damages."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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