The Second Amendment protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," which is important because it's not just about owning guns but carrying them as well. Obviously, some people aren't thrilled by this prospect, of course, but they aren't thrilled about the Second Amendment in general.
A lot of states have embraced constitutional carry, which requires no permit, and that's good. South Carolina might be going a step further, though.
In fact, the state seems to be looking to atone, in a manner of speaking, for its past sins on gun rights:
Hundreds of South Carolinians, possibly more, face pending criminal charges for actions that are legal under current state law.
Now, some lawmakers want to act to wipe away those charges, but others believe it’s a bad idea.
Last year, South Carolina’s permitless carry gun law was enacted, and certain gun offenses that had previously been illegal were nullified.
People convicted of these offenses prior to the governor signing the law into effect can try to get their convictions expunged, but the law does not account for pending charges.
“If something’s pending, this is a hindrance for people, whether it’s getting a job, moving forward with their life, even having a right to carry a firearm,” Sen. Deon Tedder, D – Charleston, told a House Judiciary subcommittee earlier this month.
Tedder said that’s the situation in which hundreds of South Carolinians still find themselves more than a year later, and some data indicates many more could be impacted.
When the governor signed the permitless carry law in March of 2024, more than 8,500 unlawful gun possession charges were pending across the state, according to South Carolina’s court system.
As of mid-January, about 6,000 of those charges have been disposed of, which can include both dismissals and convictions, among other outcomes, leaving nearly 2,900 charges still pending.
Tedder’s bipartisan bill would automatically dismiss pending charges for unlawful possession of a handgun if that offense is no longer illegal after the implementation of the permitless carry law.
The truth is that concealed carry permits were always an infringement on the right to bear arms, a permission slip for a right that "shall not be infringed," as per the Constitution. Dismissing these remaining cases just makes sense.
If there are other charges pending against these individuals, then those can still proceed, one would imagine. I guess the exception would be if the remaining charges depended on the initial charge of carrying without a permit somehow, but I honestly can't imagine how it would.
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But I'm also not exactly an expert in South Carolina law.
The truth is that if it's not a crime now, it probably shouldn't have been a crime before. Passing this, which seems to have some popularity on both sides of the aisle, is the right thing to do.
Yes, there is criticism, but I honestly don't care.
It's time to stop treating gun rights as second-class rights, and this is a good next step on that particular road. As I said, other charges against these people, if any, should remain, but this isn't a crime now, and it's dumb to punish people for something that's now perfectly legal.
This should be the norm in the wake of a state embracing constitutional carry.
