South Carolina Concealed Carry Laws Explained

Concealed Carry Laws in South Carolina

South Carolina does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun. 2024 Act No. 111, the South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024, rewrote S.C. Code 16-23-20 effective March 7, 2024. The same act, at SECTION 15, repealed S.C. Code 16-23-460, the old carrying concealed weapons offense, along with S.C. Code 23-31-225, formerly titled Carrying concealed weapons into residences or dwellings, and S.C. Code 23-31-230, formerly titled Carrying concealed weapons between automobile and accommodation. Carry becomes unlawful when you take a handgun into one of the places S.C. Code 16-23-20(A) lists. That list is not the only source of place restrictions. Subsection (C) says nothing contained in the section may be construed to alter or affect the provisions of S.C. Code 10-11-320, 16-23-30, 16-23-420, 16-23-430, 16-23-465, 44-23-1080, 44-52-165, and 51-3-145. One of the eight, S.C. Code 16-23-30, is not a place restriction and is covered below.

SLED's guidance to chiefs and sheriffs states that the act "allows individuals 18 years old and older to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit." S.C. Code 16-23-20(A) reaches a handgun carried "whether concealed or not," and S.C. Code 23-31-215(O)(2) says the availability of a permit "must not be construed to prohibit the permitless transport or carrying of a firearm in a vehicle or on or about one's person, whether openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded, in a manner not prohibited by law." Within the same article, S.C. Code 23-31-245 says 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."

The rule in S.C. Code 16-23-20(A)

Subsection (A) reads: "It is unlawful, whether or not the person has a concealed weapon permit, for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law into a:" followed by eleven places. S.C. Code 23-31-215(M) says a permit "does not authorize a permit holder to carry a concealable weapon into any place listed in Section 16-23-20(A) except as permitted by law," and S.C. Code 23-31-217 says nothing in the permit article affects S.C. Code 16-23-20. The eleven places are:

• law enforcement, correctional, or detention facility
• courthouse, courtroom, or other publicly owned building, whether owned by the State, a county, a municipality, or other political subdivision, where court is held and during the time that court is in session
• polling place on election days
• office of or business meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special purpose district
• school or college athletic event not related to firearms
• daycare facility or preschool facility
• place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law
• church or other established religious sanctuary unless express permission is given by the appropriate church official or governing body
• hospital, medical clinic, doctor's office, or any other facility where medical services or procedures are performed, unless expressly authorized by the appropriate entity
• residence or dwelling place of another person without the express permission of the owner or person in legal control or possession of the residence or dwelling place, as appropriate
• place clearly marked with a sign prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon on the premises in compliance with S.C. Code 23-31-235

Item (11) adds its own charging rule: a person who violates it, "whether the violation is wilful or not, only may be charged with a violation of Section 16-11-620 and must not be charged with or penalized for a violation of this subsection." One of the statutes subsection (C) preserves, S.C. Code 51-3-145(G), makes it unlawful at any park or facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism to possess any firearm, airgun, explosive, or firework, subject to the exceptions it states for duly authorized park personnel, law enforcement officers, "persons using areas specifically designated by the department for use of firearms, airguns, fireworks, or explosives," and licensed hunters who during hunting seasons keep their firearms unloaded and carried in a case or the trunk of a vehicle, except that in designated game management areas where hunting is permitted those hunters may use firearms for hunting in the manner authorized by law. Its third sentence says the subsection "shall not apply to a person in possession or carrying a concealable weapon, as defined in Section 23-31-210(5)." In that sentence, 2024 Act No. 111, SECTION 14 substituted the words from "in possession" onward for "carrying a concealable weapon pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23, and the concealable weapon and its ammunition." S.C. Code 23-31-220(D) says S.C. Code 23-31-220 must not be construed to limit an individual from carrying a concealable weapon pursuant to S.C. Code 51-3-145(G).

Who subsection (A) does not apply to

S.C. Code 16-23-20(B) exempts five groups: regular, salaried law enforcement officers and reserve police officers of a state agency, municipality, or county, uncompensated Governor's constables, federal and out-of-state officers carrying out official duties in this State, Natural Resources Enforcement Division deputy enforcement officers, and retired commissioned law enforcement officers; employees of a law enforcement, correctional, or detention facility or a courthouse, while in the course of employment and where the employment requires possession of a firearm; members of the Armed Forces, National Guard, organized reserves, or State Militia when on duty; a "qualified retired law enforcement officer" as defined in S.C. Code 23-31-600, subject to S.C. Code 23-31-600(D); and a person carrying as authorized by S.C. Code 23-31-240.

Handguns in vehicles

S.C. Code 16-23-20(D) provides: "Notwithstanding any provision in this section, a person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from carrying a firearm may lawfully store a firearm anywhere in a vehicle whether occupied or unoccupied." SLED reads it the same way: "there are no restrictions of guns inside vehicles."

Who may not carry at all

S.C. Code 16-23-30(B) makes it unlawful for a person enumerated in subsection (A) to possess or acquire handguns within this State. Subsection (A) enumerates, at item (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"; at item (2), "a person who is a member of a subversive organization"; at item (3), "a person under the age of eighteen, 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"; and at item (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 firearm. S.C. Code 16-23-500(A), except as its subsection (F) provides, separately bars firearm and ammunition possession by a person convicted of a crime punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than one year.

Carrying the permit and telling an officer

The current text of S.C. Code 23-31-215 requires no permit holder to carry the permit card while armed or to identify himself as a permit holder. The enrolled act at SECTION 9 amends S.C. Code 23-31-215(K), (M), (O), and (U), and the act's title says it amends the section to delete the provisions requiring permit holders to carry permits while carrying weapons and identifying themselves as permit holders to law enforcement officers. SLED's guidance tells officers that a CWP holder or a person carrying without a permit "DOES NOT have a duty to notify a law enforcement officer that they are carrying a firearm."

What a CWP still does for you

S.C. Code 23-31-215(A) directs SLED to issue a permit to a resident or qualified nonresident who is at least eighteen years of age and not prohibited by state law from possessing the weapon, on the showings that subsection lists, including proof of training. S.C. Code 23-31-210(5) defines a "concealable weapon" first by length: a firearm having a length of less than twelve inches measured along its greatest dimension.

Four things the permit buys you:

1. Out-of-state recognition. Subsection (N)(1) honors out-of-state permits held by residents of reciprocal states that require a criminal background check and a course in firearm training and safety, and (N)(2) automatically recognizes Georgia and North Carolina permits.
2. No sentence enhancement under S.C. Code 16-23-495. That section adds imprisonment not to exceed three years for a person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a crime involving a concealable weapon in violation of an offense listed in Chapter 23, Title 16, or of S.C. Code 10-11-320. Its subsection (B) exempts a person whose permit was valid when the crime was committed.
3. Statewide validity. Subsection (J) makes a permit valid statewide unless revoked on one of four listed grounds, and under subsection (P) a renewed permit is valid for five years.
4. Carry anywhere in the State for listed officials. S.C. Code 23-31-240(A) lets the judges, solicitors, clerks of court, public defenders, and other officials it names carry anywhere in the State on a valid permit. Subsection (B) bars public defenders from carrying into a local or state correctional facility.

Private property, employers, and posted signs

S.C. Code 23-31-220(A) preserves the right of a public or private employer to prohibit carry on the business or workplace premises or while using machinery, a vehicle, or equipment owned or operated by the business, and the right of a private property owner or person in legal possession or control to allow or prohibit carry on his premises.

Under S.C. Code 23-31-220(B), a "NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED" sign is notice, and a person who knowingly brings a concealable weapon onto the premises in violation "may be charged with a violation of Section 16-11-620," which carries a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days. A second or subsequent conviction also costs the permit for one year. The prohibition contained in S.C. Code 23-31-220 does not apply to persons specified in S.C. Code 16-23-20(B)(1).

S.C. Code 23-31-235 sets exact specifications, and only a conforming sign counts. Subsection (A) requires the prohibition to be expressed "in both written language interdict and universal sign language." Subsection (B) requires a sign at each building entrance, clearly visible from outside, eight inches wide by twelve inches tall, bearing "NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED" in black one-inch tall uppercase type.

Businesses that sell alcohol for on-premises consumption

Under S.C. Code 16-23-465(A), a person convicted of knowingly carrying a firearm into a business which sells alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine for consumption on the premises is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. A violator carrying a concealable weapon under Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23 must also have his permit revoked for five years.

The exception turns on drinking, not on holding a permit. Subsection (B)(1) says the section does not apply to "a person otherwise lawfully carrying a firearm who does not consume alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine while carrying the concealable weapon on the business' premises." A person who violates that item may be charged with a violation of subsection (A). Subsections (B)(2) and (B)(3) route two more situations back to a subsection (A) charge: carrying into a business posted under S.C. Code 23-31-235, and refusing to leave or to disarm when the owner, lease holder, or operator asks.

Penalties for unlawful carry

S.C. Code 16-23-50(A)(2) grades violations of S.C. Code 16-23-20:

• first offense: misdemeanor, fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both
• second offense: misdemeanor, imprisoned not more than three years
• third or subsequent offense: felony, imprisoned not more than five years

Under subsection (A)(1), a person who violates any other provision of the article, S.C. Code 16-23-20 excepted, is guilty of a felony and must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Subsection (B) requires confiscation of the handgun involved.

The printed code still carries S.C. Code 23-31-215(U): "A concealable weapon permit holder whose permit has been expired for no more than one year may not be charged with a violation of Section 16-23-20 but must be fined not more than one hundred dollars." The enrolled act deleted it: the title of 2024 Act No. 111 (H.3594) says the act amends S.C. Code 23-31-215 "TO DELETE THE PROVISION RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR CARRYING EXPIRED PERMITS," SECTION 9 names (K), (M), (O) and (U) as the subsections "amended to read" but prints text for (K), (M) and (O) only, and the amendment note under the codified section records "2024 Act No. 111, SECTION 9, rewrote (K), (M), and (O)." SECTION 3 of the same act rewrote S.C. Code 16-23-20 effective March 7, 2024, and subsection (A) now reaches carrying a handgun into the places it lists "whether or not the person has a concealed weapon permit," so carrying on an expired permit anywhere open to permitless carry is not a violation of S.C. Code 16-23-20, and no charge is left for (U) to displace.

Statutes relied on