
<p>As the 2024 presidential race heats up, especially in southern states like South Carolina, the Palmetto State has become the 29<sup>th</sup> in the nation to allow “constitutional carry” of a firearm. But exactly what does that mean?</p>



<p>House Bill 3594, also known as the South Carolina Second Amendment Preservation Act, went into effect immediately after Gov. Henry McMaster signed it on Thursday. The new legislation allows for &#8220;Constitutional&#8221; or &#8220;permitless carry.&#8221; Basically, it means that any adult who can legally own a gun can now carry one openly in South Carolina.</p>



<p>Gun rights supporters have pushed for the law for nearly a decade, first allowing open carry for people who took the training to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.</p>



<p>Encouraging that kind of training was one of the biggest roadblocks for the new law. A Senate proposal to provide millions of dollars for ;free gun training ;across the state needed to get a concealed weapons permit was part of what cleared the way.</p>



<p>The law also provides stiffer penalties for people who repeatedly carry guns in places where they would still be banned, like schools or courthouses, or commit crimes while armed, whether they use the weapon or not. The penalties can be enhanced if the offender doesn’t have a concealed weapons permit.</p>



<p>With the governor’s signature in a private ceremony in his office with at least a dozen lawmakers, South Carolina joined 28 other states that allow ;open carry of guns ;without a permit, including nearly every state in the Deep South.</p>



<p>For Gov. Henry McMaster, the stiffer penalties for criminals possessing guns when they shouldn’t and people who illegally use weapons was the most important part of the new law.</p>



<p>&#8220;Now law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges can keep career violent criminals behind bars where they belong where they can no longer hurt innocent South Carolinians,&#8221; McMaster said in a statement after the Senate approved the compromise.</p>



<p>Gun rights advocates put ;heavy pressure on senators ;to get rid of extra penalties for people without concealed weapons permits, saying there should be true open carry with no incentive to get a permit and suggesting people legally carrying guns could be harassed.</p>



<p>However, Sen. Rex Rice said the bill is about the best gun rights law the state can get.</p>



<p>“It gives law-abiding citizens the right to carry a gun with or without a permit. And it also puts the bad guys in jail if they are carrying guns and shouldn’t,” the Republican from Easley said.</p>

South Carolina Becomes the Latest State to Allow “Constitutional Carry”
