Sent this to my Senator and Representative, hard copy:
12/21/2016
The Honorable Ross Turner
512 Gressette Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201
Dear Senator Turner,
My name is XXXXX XXXX, and I reside at XXX XXXXX XXX, Simpsonville, SC, my home since retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2005.
As personal background pertinent to the subject of this letter, I am a strong supporter of our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms and, pursuant to South Carolina law, I maintain a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP). I am an avid opponent of any gun control measures which infringe on our right to keep and bear arms. In support of my personal stand, I read and study the history and the laws regarding this issue and how they play out both historically and currently.
I have an issue with Senate Bill 88, sponsored by Senator Bright, and first introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015. The current summary of this bill, as shown on the prefiled Senate copy as of December 13, 2016, is “Concealed weapons”.
On the face of it, this bill appears to advance several causes in favor of the right to keep and bear arms, as indicated in the proposed amendments/additions to the following sections of the SC Code of Law:
- 16-23-420: Allows any registered student, employee, or faculty member of any public or private institution of higher learning to possess a concealed firearm at such institutions, provided they have a valid CWP and the institutions have not posted a “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” sign.
- 16-23-20: Creates an exception to allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon during a mandatory evacuation order declared by the governor.
- 23-31-218: Creates an “Institutional” CWP, which would allow Institutional CWP holders to carry a concealed weapon in schools, daycares, churches, and hospitals.
- 56-3-1230: Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to maintain an accurate and up-to-date list of all CWP holders, and to issue a sticker which must be affixed to the vehicle owner’s license plate in order to identify the owner as a CWP holder.
While it can be argued that the first three amendments/additions summarized above are a net gain for gun rights,
the last one, which amends section 56-3-1230, is a very large detractor and one which I, in no way, support.
First of all, the proposed amendment to section 56-3-1230 is in direct violation to a law passed in 2008 as part of Act 337 (R346, S968). In it, SC Code of Law 23-15-215(I) was amended to provide for the privacy and safety of all CWP holders by removing public access to any list of CWP holders and to mandate the destruction of any such lists except the list which SLED must maintain for all permit holders. It reads as such:
SLED must maintain a list of all permit holders and the current status of each permit. SLED may release the list of permit holders or verify an individual's permit status only if the request is made by a law enforcement agency to aid in an official investigation, or if the list is required to be released pursuant to a subpoena or court order. SLED may charge a fee not to exceed its costs in releasing the information under this subsection. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a person in possession of a list of permit holders obtained from SLED must destroy the list.
Given that the photograph on the SLED issued CWP comes from the DMV licensing database, it is readily apparent that South Carolina Law Enforcement already has access to whether or not any person they run the license plate tag on holds a valid CWP. Additionally, South Carolina is a “must inform” state; any person carrying a concealed weapon must inform any law enforcement officer they are interacting with officially that they have a CWP and that they are carrying a concealed weapon. So this amendment to section 56-3-1230, in addition to violating current law, does not provide any additional benefit to law enforcement.
Also, South Carolina is not an “Open Carry” state. Any person who has a valid CWP has no other legal option except to carry concealed. Mandating a sticker on the license plate of every CWP holder not only negates the “concealed” aspect of “Concealed Weapon Permit”, it also needlessly exposes the CWP holder to dangers and consequences inherent in advertising to everybody that he/she not only owns firearms, but may have one on his person or in the vehicle. This is the very thing Act 337 was passed to prevent.
By default, all people who do NOT have this sticker are identified as carrying no weapons of defense, again needlessly exposing such people to dangers and consequences here, as well.
For this reason, the proposed amendment to section 56-3-1230 to mandate identifying CWP holders by license plate stickers must not be allowed. I am counting on you, as my representative in the Senate, to have this stricken from the bill or, failing that, have the bill defeated entirely. Please send me a response to let me know how you intend to move with respect to this bill.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
XXXXX X. XXXX, ETC(SS), Retired
