Will S.C. Lawmakers Help Those Still Facing Gun Possession Charges Despite Permitless Carry Law?

South Carolina’s permitless carry law has officially been in effect for a little more than a year now, with the law officially being enforced the moment Gov. Henry McMaster signed H. 3594 last March. Despite the fact that the law generally allows folks who can lawfully possess a gun to carry it without the need to obtain a state-issued concealed carry license, though, there are hundreds of South Carolinians who are currently facing criminal charges for carrying a pistol before the law took effect. Now a bipartisan group of legislators is hoping to change that.

People convicted of these offenses prior to the governor signing the law into effect can try to get their convictions expunged, but the law does not account for pending charges. 

“If something’s pending, this is a hindrance for people, whether it’s getting a job, moving forward with their life, even having a right to carry a firearm,” Sen. Deon Tedder, D – Charleston, told a House Judiciary subcommittee earlier this month.

Tedder said that’s the situation in which hundreds of South Carolinians still find themselves more than a year later, and some data indicates many more could be impacted.

When the governor signed the permitless carry law in March of 2024, more than 8,500 unlawful gun possession charges were pending across the state, according to South Carolina’s court system.

As of mid-January, about 6,000 of those charges have been disposed of, which can include both dismissals and convictions, among other outcomes, leaving nearly 2,900 charges still pending.

Some of those 2,900 charges may be connected to other, more serious offenses, and those folks wouldn’t get any relief if Tedder’s bill becomes law. But for those solely facing possessory charges for an act that is no longer a crime, help may be on the way. 

Tedder’s bipartisan bill would automatically dismiss pending charges for unlawful possession of a handgun if that offense is no longer illegal after the implementation of the permitless carry law.

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Law enforcement has concerns about the bill and believes dismissals should be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to JJ Jones, executive director of the South Carolina Police Chiefs Association.

“I have 16 solicitors in this state and an attorney general that I trust to prosecute our cases, and they do have discretion with their cases, and I trust those 17 individuals to do justice in South Carolina,” Jones told the House Judiciary subcommittee. “If we do it carte blanche, a victim’s going to fall through the crack, in my opinion.”

That sentiment was shared by Gov. Henry McMaster when he vetoed identical legislation last year, arguing the bill would take away prosecutors’ judgment and that people who break the law should be able to face the consequences for it, even if the law ultimately changes.

While the Senate voted to override McMaster’s veto, time ran out before the House of Representatives could cast its votes, and the legislation was killed.

There’s something to be said for prosecutorial discretion, but Jones’s criticism of the bill is off-base, in my opinion. Again, if there are underlying or more serious charges, Tedder’s bill not only allows for those violations to be prosecuted, but still empowers prosecutors to pursue simple possession charges as well. That alone should alleviate the concerns by law enforcement and McMaster, whose veto of similar legislation was a disappointing conclusion to last year’s session. 

McMaster’s argument that those arrested for simple possession should still face consequences even though the law has changed misses the reason why legislators adopted permitless carry: because you shouldn’t need a state-issued permission slip to exercise a fundamental right. The adoption of H. 3594 was meant to correct a wrong, in other words, but the old and outdated statute is still causing harm to hundreds, if not thousands, of residents. 

If McMaster’s position hasn’t changed then its incumbent on lawmakers in both chambers to adopt this year’s version of Tedder’s legislation as quickly as possible so there’s time to override the governor’s veto. These criminal cases are still being pursued, and there are already hundreds of residents who’ve been convicted or pled guilty to something that shouldn’t have been a crime to begin with since permitless carry became law last March. The longer the legislature waits to provide those in similar circumstances with the relief they deserve, the greater the risk that the remaining pool of people with pending charges will also be forced to go to jail or prison for doing something that’s perfectly acceptable in South Carolina today. That’s an injustice in my book, and Tedder’s bill should be a top priority in the remaining days of this year’s session.