This post covers three questions about carrying a gun in South Carolina: whether a permit is needed to carry a concealed gun, what constitutional carry means, and where carrying a gun is not allowed. Greg McCollum explains South Carolina’s open carry law, the places where guns cannot be carried, and when a business can refuse to allow a gun on its premises.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do You Need a Permit to Carry a Concealed Gun?
A couple of things here. One of the things, when we say weapon, we’re talking about a gun. The term weapon means a loaded gun. So, do you need a permit to carry a concealed weapon in South Carolina? We have an open carry law, which means that you can openly carry a handgun. In other words, if it’s in a holster or if it’s somewhere on you, you can openly carry it.
Now, the question is, and I’m not sure I know the answer to this, I’m not sure anybody knows the answer right now, if we have an open carry state, can you conceal it? Because the idea is open carry is you can carry it around so people can see it. Now, if you have a concealed carry permit, you absolutely can. It can be hidden in a holster. It could be in your waistband. It could be any number of places.
So if you have a concealed carry permit and they still issue those, then yeah, you can conceal it. Can you conceal it in an open carry state without a permit? That’s a good question. I’m not sure that I know the answer to that, and I haven’t seen cases yet where somebody says, “Well, we took the gun because he concealed it and it wasn’t open where we could observe it and know that he had the gun.”
What Is Constitutional Carry?
Constitutional carry is just a term that’s used to talk about how South Carolina is an open carry state. And we’re talking about guns. We’re talking about loaded firearms, handguns. So when you say South Carolina is a constitutional carry state, what they’re referencing is that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution is the right to bear arms. It is the right that citizens can have firearms.
So they call it constitutional carry, and it’s basically just our open carry law that if you’re in South Carolina and you’re a person, you can carry a weapon, you can carry a gun, they say on your person, in other words, in a holster or in some fashion, you can carry it openly in South Carolina. And that means that if you’re in South Carolina, you can do that. Now, there are restrictions for that.
There’s certain places you can’t go. You can’t go into school, can’t go on federal property, that sort of thing. But yes, just in general, that’s what it means. Constitutional carry just means open carry of firearms.
Where Can’t You Carry a Gun in South Carolina?
There are several places you cannot carry a gun. You cannot carry a gun into a courthouse. You cannot carry a gun, I think, into any kind of federal building. You cannot carry a gun into a school. And then for other businesses, and the law is very specific about this.
If they have a placard that’s certain dimensions and words are a certain size and it says no concealed carry permit or no concealed carry, no firearms allowed on the premises. If they put that sign up there and you see that sign, then the business has the right to not allow you to carry the gun into that business if they have that sign.
If you are facing a gun-related charge in South Carolina, the attorney you choose matters. Greg McCollum has 30 years of experience and is a former prosecutor.
If you have questions about carrying a gun in South Carolina, call the Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team at (843) 626-5480. Consultations are confidential.