South Carolina Concealed Carry Laws: Overview

South Carolina Gun Laws: Overview

South Carolina is a permitless carry state. Since March 7, 2024, a person who is at least eighteen and not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm may carry a handgun here, openly or concealed, with no permit and no training requirement. The change came from 2024 Act No. 111 (H.3594), the "South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024," which took effect upon approval by the Governor.

SLED still issues the South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit, and S.C. Code 23-31-215(O)(2) is explicit that its availability "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."

Who may carry, and how

• Are you old enough? S.C. Code 16-23-30(A)(3) makes it unlawful to sell or deliver a handgun to a person under the age of eighteen, and 16-23-30(B) makes it unlawful for that same person to possess or acquire a handgun in this state. SLED's Constitutional Carry Guidance states that the law "allows individuals 18 years old and older to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit."
• Are you a prohibited person? S.C. Code 16-23-500(A) makes it unlawful for a person convicted of a crime punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than one year to possess a firearm or ammunition here, subject to the carve-outs in 16-23-500(F). Federal law adds its own list at 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Both apply.

Method of carry is your choice, and 16-23-20 draws no distinction between open and concealed. SLED's guidance states that a person carrying under this law has no duty to notify a law enforcement officer, and that a permit holder need not carry the permit card or disclose permit status.

Where carry is still barred

S.C. Code 16-23-20(A) bars carrying a handgun, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law, into eleven places, whether or not you hold a permit, among them law enforcement, correctional, or detention facilities; polling places on election days; daycare and preschool facilities; and any place clearly marked with a sign complying with S.C. Code 23-31-235.

Several other statutes reach further than 16-23-20 does:

• Schools and public buildings. S.C. Code 16-23-420(A) makes it unlawful to possess a firearm of any kind on property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, or other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly owned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge. S.C. Code 16-23-430(A) separately bars weapons carried on the person on elementary and secondary school grounds.
• The State House. S.C. Code 10-11-320(A) makes it unlawful to carry, or have readily accessible, any firearm or dangerous weapon upon the capitol grounds or within the capitol building. S.C. Code 10-11-360 makes that a misdemeanor, fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than three years, or both.
• Businesses that serve alcohol. S.C. Code 16-23-465(A) makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly carry a firearm into a business that sells alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine for consumption on the premises. Under S.C. Code 16-23-465(B)(1), 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."
• State parks. S.C. Code 51-3-145(G) makes it unlawful to possess any firearm at a park or facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, except by duly authorized park personnel, law enforcement officers, or persons using areas the department specifically designates for firearms use, and licensed hunters may have firearms during hunting seasons provided the firearms are unloaded and carried in a case or the trunk of a vehicle, except that in designated game management areas where hunting is permitted they may use firearms for hunting in the manner authorized by law. That subsection "shall not apply to a person in possession or carrying a concealable weapon, as defined in Section 23-31-210(5)." S.C. Code 23-31-210(5) defines a concealable weapon as a firearm having a length of less than twelve inches measured along its greatest dimension.
• Federal property. 18 U.S.C. 930(a) makes it a crime to knowingly possess a firearm in a federal facility other than a federal court facility, subject to the exceptions in 18 U.S.C. 930(d), and 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A) bars possession in a school zone, subject to the exceptions in 922(q)(2)(B).

S.C. Code 16-23-20(B) exempts from subsection (A) "regular, salaried law enforcement officers, and reserve police officers of a state agency, municipality, or county of the State, uncompensated Governor's constables, law enforcement officers or other authorized personnel 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," facility employees whose work requires a firearm, service members on duty, qualified retired law enforcement officers, and a person carrying as authorized by S.C. Code 23-31-240.

Private property decides for itself

S.C. Code 23-31-220(A) preserves the right of a public or private employer to prohibit carry upon the business or workplace premises, and the right of a private property owner or person in legal possession or control to allow or prohibit carry upon his premises, concealed and open alike. A posted sign is the formal method, and S.C. Code 23-31-235 controls its exact size, wording, symbol, and placement.

S.C. Code 16-23-20(A)(11) says a person who violates that item, "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." S.C. Code 16-11-620 is the trespass-after-warning statute, punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days. S.C. Code 23-31-220(B) adds a further consequence where the employer, owner, or person in legal possession or control has posted the sign it describes: a person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of that subsection must have his permit revoked for one year.

What the permit still does

1. Reciprocity. S.C. Code 23-31-215(N)(1) says valid out-of-state permits held by a resident of a reciprocal state must be honored here, provided that state requires a criminal background check and a course in firearm training and safety, and it directs SLED to "maintain and publish a list" of those states. S.C. Code 23-31-215(N)(2) recognizes Georgia and North Carolina permits automatically, and 23-31-215(N)(3) limits recognition to handguns. Check your status with SLED before you travel.
2. Sentencing exposure. S.C. Code 16-23-495(A) adds a term of imprisonment not to exceed three years for a person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a crime involving a concealable weapon, as defined by S.C. Code 23-31-210(5), in violation of an offense listed in Chapter 23, Title 16, or a violation of S.C. Code 10-11-320. That term runs consecutively to the term imposed for the underlying offense and may not exceed the actual sentence imposed for it. S.C. Code 16-23-495(B) makes the section inapplicable to a person whose permit was valid when the crime was committed.
3. Purchases. SLED's guidance states that the permit "makes purchasing a firearm from a dealer easier." Separately, 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1) bars a licensed dealer from selling a handgun to an individual the dealer believes is less than twenty-one years of age, so an eighteen to twenty-year-old who may lawfully carry here still cannot buy a handgun from a dealer.

On cost and term, read the subsections carefully. S.C. Code 23-31-215(C) says "SLED may not charge a fee of any kind for a concealable weapon permit," while 23-31-215(P)(1) conditions renewal on "payment of a fifty-dollar renewal fee," waived for disabled veterans and retired law enforcement officers, and 23-31-215(L) sets a five-dollar replacement fee. Those sit uneasily together, so confirm SLED's current fee practice before you apply. S.C. Code 23-31-215(P) states that upon renewal a permit is valid for five years; it does not separately state a term for an initial permit. S.C. Code 23-31-215(V) requires SLED to offer a training course, free to participants, in every county at least twice per month.

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." S.C. Code 16-23-20(C) preserves S.C. Code 10-11-320, S.C. Code 16-23-420, S.C. Code 16-23-430, and S.C. Code 51-3-145, among other statutes, and each of those sets its own vehicle rule. On school and post-secondary property, S.C. Code 16-23-420(A) and S.C. Code 16-23-430(B) require the firearm to stay inside an attended or locked vehicle, secured in a closed glove compartment, console, or trunk, or in a closed container with an integral fastener carried in the luggage compartment. On the capitol grounds, S.C. Code 10-11-320(B) exempts only a person authorized to park on the capitol grounds or in the parking garage below them, and it requires the firearm to remain locked in the vehicle and stored in a place that is not readily accessible to any person upon entry. In a state park, S.C. Code 51-3-145(G) lets licensed hunters have firearms during hunting seasons provided the firearms are unloaded and carried in a case or the trunk of a vehicle, except that in designated game management areas where hunting is permitted they may use firearms for hunting in the manner authorized by law.

What local governments may and may not regulate

S.C. Code 23-31-510(1) forbids any county, municipality, or other political subdivision from enacting or promulgating any regulation or ordinance that regulates or attempts to regulate the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms. Discharge is not on that list. S.C. Code 23-31-510(2) reaches only a landowner discharging a firearm on the landowner's property to protect the landowner's family, employees, the general public, or the landowner's property from animals the landowner reasonably believes pose a direct threat, and for that item the property must be a parcel of land comprised of at least twenty-five contiguous acres. Item (2) closes by saying that a discharge ordinance which does not specifically provide for that exclusion "is unenforceable as it pertains to an incident described in this item; otherwise, the ordinance is enforceable."

Localities keep another power. Under S.C. Code 23-31-520(A), when a governing body issues a permit to allow a public protest, rally, fair, parade, festival, or other organized event, it may temporarily restrict the otherwise lawful open carrying of a firearm on public property. S.C. Code 23-31-520(B) requires that restriction to be specific in the area, duration, and manner in which it is imposed, and it may not extend beyond the beginning and conclusion of the event or beyond the location of the event. If a permit is not applied for and issued before the event, the local body may not exercise that subsection at all.

Self-defense

S.C. Code 16-11-440(A) presumes a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury when the person against whom deadly force is used is unlawfully and forcibly entering a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle and the person using deadly force knows or has reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act is occurring or has occurred, subject to the exclusions in 16-11-440(B). S.C. Code 16-11-440(C) provides that a person not engaged in unlawful activity who is attacked in another place where he has a right to be "has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force," where he reasonably believes it necessary. S.C. Code 16-11-450(A) grants immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for deadly force used as the Protection of Persons and Property Act, S.C. Code 16-11-410 through 16-11-450, or another applicable provision of law permits, unless the person against whom the force was used is a law enforcement officer acting in the performance of his official duties who identifies himself in accordance with applicable law, or the person using deadly force knows or reasonably should have known that the person is a law enforcement officer.

Headline penalties

• Carrying a handgun into a place listed in 16-23-20(A): under S.C. Code 16-23-50(A)(2), a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both, for a first offense; a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of not more than three years for a second offense; a felony punishable by imprisonment of not more than five years for a third or subsequent offense.
• Firearm on school or post-secondary property, or in a publicly owned building, without permission: S.C. Code 16-23-420(C), a felony, fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both. The elementary and secondary school offense in S.C. Code 16-23-430(C) is a felony, fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both.
• Knowingly carrying into an on-premises alcohol business: S.C. Code 16-23-465(A), a misdemeanor, fine of not more than two thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than two years, or both, and a permit holder who violates it must have the permit revoked for five years.
• Possession by a person convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year: S.C. Code 16-23-500(B), a felony, imprisonment of not more than five years for a first offense, a mandatory minimum of five years and not more than twenty for a second, and a mandatory minimum of ten years and not more than thirty for a third or subsequent offense.
• Discharging a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance: S.C. Code 23-31-400(B) and (C), a misdemeanor, fined not less than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years. Under 23-31-400(D) the article does not apply to persons lawfully defending themselves or their property.
• Machine guns, military firearms, and sawed-off shotguns or rifles: S.C. Code 16-23-230 bars possession except as S.C. Code 16-23-250 and S.C. Code 23-31-330 provide, and S.C. Code 16-23-260 makes a violation a felony, fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than ten years, or both.

Statutes relied on