It is unlawful to store, keep, possess, transport, or have in possession, or permit another to store, keep, possess, or have in possession a machine gun “or firearm commonly known as a machine gun,” a “military firearm,” or sawed-off shotgun, or sawed-off rifle. This does not apply to law enforcement; or to machine guns, sawed-off shotguns or sawed-off rifles that are kept for display as relics and which are rendered harmless and not usable; “antique” firearms; to any person authorized to possess such weapons by the United States Department of the Treasury, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or any other federal agency empowered to grant such authorization; or to transportation or shipment not prohibited by federal law; S.C. Code §§ 16-23-220 (transport), 16-23-230 (general prohibition), 16-23-250 (exceptions).

There is also an exception at § 16-23-250 for persons licensed South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to possess, transport and sell machine guns pursuant to S.C. Code § 23-31-370.

A separate South Carolina law, S.C. Code § 23-31-330(A), requires the registration of machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and sawed-off rifles with SLED. This applies to every person permitted by S.C. Code § 23-31-320 to possess a machine gun, sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle, and any person elected or appointed to any office or position which entitles the person to possess a machine gun or sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle. The application for registration must include the serial number and make of the machine gun, sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle. SLED is required to issue a “license” card that the applicant must carry while he has the machine gun or sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle in his possession. The registration expires on December 31 of the year in which the license is issued.

State law provides these definitions at § 23-31-310: “machine gun” applies to and includes any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger, and also includes the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any combination or parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. “Military firearm” means any military weapon, firearm, or destructive device, other than a machine gun, that is manufactured for military use by a firm licensed by the federal government pursuant to a contract with the federal government and does not include a pistol, rifle, or shotgun which fires only one shot for each pull of the trigger. A “sawed-off shotgun” means a shotgun having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length or a weapon made from a shotgun which as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length. A “sawed-off rifle” means a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length or a weapon made from a rifle which as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length.

Convicted Felons: It is unlawful for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than one year to possess a firearm or ammunition within the state. This excludes (1) any offense pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices; (2) any offense classified by the laws of the convicting jurisdiction as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of five years or less; and (3) any crime for which the conviction has been expunged, or set aside or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored, unless such pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms. In addition to the penalties prescribed for a violation, the firearm or ammunition involved in the violation section must be confiscated. S.C. Code §§ 16-23-500.

Illegal Aliens: It is a felony for an alien unlawfully present in the United States to possess, purchase, offer to purchase, sell, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport a firearm in South Carolina. It is also a crime to knowingly sell, offer to sell, deliver, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport for sale into the state a firearm to a person knowing that the person is not lawfully present in the United States. S.C. Code § 16-23-530(A), (B).

Mental illness, other treatment facilities: It is a felony for a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution to ship, transport, possess, or receive a firearm or ammunition, and at the time of any such prohibiting adjudication or commitment, the court must provide to the person or the person’s representative a written form that conspicuously give notice of the firearm prohibition being imposed. “Adjudicated as a mental defective” generally means a determination by a court of competent jurisdiction that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, mental incompetency, mental condition, or mental disease: (a) is a danger to himself or to others, or (b) lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage the person’s own affairs. “Committed to a mental institution” means a formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court of competent jurisdiction and includes an involuntary commitment, and a commitment to a mental institution for mental defectiveness, mental illness, and other reasons, such as drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution. Any firearm or ammunition involved in the violation of this law must be confiscated. S.C. Code §§ 23-31-1040; 23-31-1010 (definitions).

For the purposes of this prohibition, “firearm” does not include an antique firearm, and it does not apply to a person who has successfully petitioned a court to restore their firearm rights arising from adjudication as a mental defective or commitment to a mental institution under § 23-31-1030.

No patient or prisoner under the jurisdiction of the state’s Office of Mental Health is allowed access to firearms, and any person who intentionally or negligently allows patients or prisoners of the office access to guns or who attempts to furnish them to patients or prisoners of the office is guilty of a felony; S.C. Code § 44-23-1080.  

A patient receiving inpatient services in a program under the jurisdiction of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services of the state Office of Mental Health and in a treatment facility operated by the Office of Mental Health may not possess firearms; S.C. Code § 44-52-165(A). 

Domestic violence convictions/ protective orders. It is unlawful for a person to ship, transport, receive, or possess a firearm or ammunition if the person has been convicted of the specified domestic violence offenses listed in S.C. Code § 16-25-30, or is subject to a domestic violence order of protection issued in South Carolina or elsewhere where the judge has made a finding of physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or that the person offered or attempted to cause physical harm or injury to a person’s own household member with apparent and present ability under the circumstances reasonably creating fear of imminent peril and the judge included a firearm prohibition as part of the order. A court is required to give a person who has been convicted or made subject to a firearm-prohibiting protection order or offense a written notice that “conspicuously” warns the person about the firearm disability that results from the conviction or protection order. S.C. Code § 16-25-30(D).

Not all of these domestic violence convictions operate as permanent firearm disabilities under state law; S.C. Code § 16-25-30(E) states that some convictions cease to be prohibiting three years from the date of conviction or the date the person is released from confinement for the conviction, whichever is later.

Handgun-only Prohibitions: S.C. Code § 16-23-30(B) prohibits the following persons from acquiring or possessing a handgun in South Carolina:

• A person who has been convicted of a crime of violence, whether in South Carolina or elsewhere.  A “crime of violence” is defined at S.C. Code § 16-23-10(3) as murder, manslaughter (except negligent manslaughter arising out of traffic accidents), rape, mayhem, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, housebreaking, assault with intent to kill, commit rape, or rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, or assault with intent to commit any offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
• A fugitive from justice, defined as “any person who has fled from or is fleeing from any law enforcement officer to avoid prosecution or imprisonment for a crime of violence.” S.C. Code § 16-23-10(4).
• A habitual drunkard or drug addict or anyone who has been adjudicated mentally incompetent.
• Any member of a “subversive organization” -- a group, committee, club, league, society, association, or combination of individuals the purpose of which, or one of the purposes of which, is the establishment, control, conduct, seizure, or overthrow of the government of the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof, by the use of force, violence, espionage, sabotage, or threats or attempts of any of the foregoing. S.C. Code § 16-23-10(5).
• A person who, by order of a circuit judge or county court judge in South Carolina, has been adjudged unfit where such adjudication is made upon application by any police officer, any prosecuting officer or by the court, but the person is first entitled to reasonable notice and a proper hearing prior to any such adjudication.
• A person under the age of 18, but this doesn’t apply to (1) the temporary loan of handguns for instruction under the immediate supervision of a parent or adult instructor, or (2) the issue of handguns to members of the US armed forces, active or reserve, National Guard, State Militia, or ROTC, when on duty or training.

It is also unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, offer to sell, deliver, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport for sale a handgun to any of the persons listed above. S.C. Code § 16-23-30(A).

Permitless Carry: § 23-31-215(O) provides that a “permit issued pursuant to [the concealed carry permit law] is not required for a person… carrying a concealable weapon in a manner not prohibited by law,” and that “the availability of a permit to carry a concealable weapon … 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.”

Permits: The state’s concealed weapon permit law is generally found at S.C. Code § 23-31-205 to § 23-31-250.

Issuing agency/official: State Law Enforcement Division (SLED); a permit application must be submitted in person, by mail, or online to SLED headquarters; § 23-31-215(H)  

Minimum age: 18; § 23-31-215(A)

State residency required: No.  Applicants may be a resident or a “qualified nonresident” (an individual who owns real property in South Carolina but who resides in another state, and who submits proof of ownership of real property in S.C., a Real Property Tax Form). A qualified nonresident permit becomes invalid once the person no longer owns real property in S.C.   

Objective disqualifications: The applicant cannot be prohibited by state law from possessing a firearm; § 23-31-215(A) (see Possession Standards, above).

Non-objective disqualifications: SLED must conduct a background check of the applicant through notification to and input from the sheriff of the county where the applicant resides (if the applicant is a qualified nonresident, in the county where the applicant owns real property) and the sheriff “may submit a recommendation” on the application which SLED must take into account; § 23-31-215(B)

Training /Familiarity requirement: Yes. The training course must have been completed within three years of filing the application, and § 23-31-210(4) defines “proof of training” as including completion of a handgun education course that meets the listed requirements, or completion of basic military training, membership in the active or reserve military or the National Guard, being an instructor certified by the National Rifle Association or another SLED-approved competent national organization, or otherwise being a “person who can demonstrate to the Director of SLED or his designee that he has a proficiency in both the use of handguns and state laws pertaining to handguns.”

Fingerprints required: Yes

Maximum processing time: 90 days from submission of a completed application; § 23-31-215(C)

Fees: No fee for the initial permit although a law enforcement agency may charge up to $5 for fingerprinting an applicant. The permit renewal fee is $50, but must be waived for disabled veterans and retired law enforcement officers, § 23-31-215(P)

Duration of permit: Five years

Mandatory notifications: A permit holder must report the loss or theft of a permit identification card to SLED headquarters within 48 hours of the time the permit holder knew or reasonably should have known of the loss or theft; any change of permanent address must be communicated in writing to SLED within ten days of the change accompanied by the payment of a fee of five dollars to defray the cost of issuance of a new permit. An owner or other person who is lawfully in possession of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun who suffers the loss or theft of such weapon must report, within ten days of discovery, the loss or theft of each weapon to the appropriate local law enforcement agency; § 23-31-215(K) and (L)

Special Provisions? A person simply openly carrying a weapon does not give a law enforcement officer reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search, detain, or arrest the person, unless the officer has “a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity;” § 23-31-245. 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; §16-23-20(D). State law, § 23-31-240, give certain classes of persons with a valid permit (e.g., judges) the right to carry concealable weapons anywhere in the State.

Non-resident carry.  South Carolina’s permitless carry law is not restricted to its residents. On reciprocity, South Carolina automatically recognizes concealed weapon permits issued by Georgia and North Carolina. Otherwise, state law provides that valid out-of-state permits to carry concealable weapons held by a resident of a reciprocal state must be honored by South Carolina “provided, that the reciprocal state requires an applicant to successfully pass a criminal background check and a course in firearm training and safety. A resident of a reciprocal state carrying a concealable weapon in South Carolina is subject to and must abide by the laws of South Carolina regarding concealable weapons. SLED shall maintain and publish a list of those states as the states with which South Carolina has reciprocity.” § 23-31-215(N).

Places where carrying is prohibited.  With some exceptions (law enforcement, for instance) S.C. Code § 16-23-20 (unlawful carrying of handguns) and § 23-31-215(M) (permits) prohibit open or concealed carrying at any:

• Law enforcement, correctional, or detention facility;
• Courthouse, courtroom, or other publicly owned building where court is held and during the time that court is in session;
• Polling place on election days;
• Office of or business meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special purpose district;
• School or college athletic event not related to firearms;
• Daycare facility or preschool facility;
• Place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law;
• Church or other established religious sanctuary unless express permission is given by the appropriate church official or governing body;
• Hospital, medical clinic, doctor's office, or any other facility where medical services or procedures are performed, unless expressly authorized by the appropriate entity;
• Residence or dwelling place of another person without the express permission of the owner or person in legal control or possession of the location; and
• A place clearly marked with the appropriate sign prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon on the premises.

Schools: It is a felony to possess a firearm of any kind on any premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly owned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge of the premises or property, unless “the firearm remains inside an attended or locked motor vehicle and is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle” or the person is a guard, law enforcement officer, member of the armed forces, or student of military science; S.C. Code § 16-23-420. 

It is a separate felony to carry on the person, while on any elementary or secondary school property, any weapon which may be used to inflict injury or death, unless the weapon remains inside an attended or locked motor vehicle and is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle; § 16-23-430.

There is a specific provision on school property that is leased by churches: upon express permission given by the appropriate church official or governing body, any person may carry a concealable weapon, openly or concealed, on the leased premises of an elementary or secondary school if a church leases the school premises or areas within the school for church services or official church activities, but this does not apply “during any time students are present as a result of a curricular or extracurricular school-sponsored activity that is taking place on the school property;” § 23-31-232.

State Capitol/grounds: § 10-11-320 makes it a crime to “carry or have readily accessible to the person upon the capitol grounds or within the capitol building any firearm or dangerous weapon but exempts a person who possesses firearms and is authorized to park on the capitol grounds or in the parking garage below the capitol grounds. The firearm must remain locked in the person’s vehicle while on or below the capitol grounds and must be stored in a place in the vehicle that is not readily accessible to any person upon entry to or below the capitol grounds.

Restaurants/Bars: It is a crime to carry a firearm into a business which sells alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine for consumption on the premises, although a person carrying a concealable weapon pursuant to a concealed weapons permit may carry provided he or she does not consume alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine while carrying on the business premises; § 16-23-465.

Private Property: S.C. Code § 23-31-220, allows the owner or person in legal possession or control of private property to post the property with a sign stating “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED.” A public or private employer may prohibit a person who is otherwise not prohibited by law from possessing a handgun from carrying a concealable weapon, whether concealed or openly carried, upon the premises of the business or workplace or while using any machinery, vehicle, or equipment owned or operated by the business. A public or private employer or the owner of a business may post a sign regarding the prohibition or allowance on those premises of concealable weapons, whether concealed or openly carried, which may be unique to that business.

Public Transportation: It is unlawful for a passenger in a bus or any other public transportation vehicle to carry or possess any weapon, except for weapons carried by a law enforcement official. A “bus” means any passenger bus or other motor vehicle having a seating capacity of not less than ten passengers operated by a public transportation provider for the purpose of carrying passengers, including charter passengers; “public transportation” means every conveyance of human passengers by bus, van, or any other surface vehicle as required for intrastate service which is provided to the general public or selected groups on a regular and continuing basis including charter service. S.C. Code §§ 58-23-1830(a)(3), 58-23-1820(b) (definitions).

An ordinance cannot regulate or attempt to regulate a landowner discharging a firearm on the landowner’s property to protect the landowner’s family, employees, the general public, or property from animals that the landowner reasonably believes pose a direct threat or danger to the landowner’s property, people on the landowner’s property, or the general public. The landowner’s property must be a parcel of land comprised of at least 25 contiguous acres. Any ordinance regulating the discharge of firearms that does not specifically provide for this exclusion is unenforceable as it pertains to an incident described in this paragraph; otherwise, the ordinance is enforceable. S.C. Code § 23-31-510(2).

A preemption exception at S.C. Code § 23-31-520 allows a county, municipality, or political subdivision to temporarily restrict the otherwise lawful open carrying of a firearm on public property when a governing body issues a permit to allow a public protest, rally, fair, parade, festival, or other organized event. This does not apply if a permit has not been applied for and issued prior to the event; otherwise, any restrictions cannot apply beyond the beginning and conclusion of the event or beyond the location of the event. The governing body must be specific in the area, duration, and manner in which the restriction is imposed and must provide prior notice of the restriction when feasible, and the person or entity hosting the event must post signs indicating when open carrying is allowed or not allowed at the event. A county, municipality, or political subdivision is prohibited from confiscating a firearm or ammunition for a violation unless it is incident to an otherwise lawful arrest.