Following Tireless Advocacy from Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Volunteers, South Carolina Legislature Adjourns Without Passing Top Gun Lobby Priority
The South Carolina chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement today after the South Carolina legislature adjourned sine die, closing out the 2022 legislative session without passing dangerous permitless carry legislation. South Carolina’s handgun carry permitting system is the state’s only remaining foundational gun safety policy, and dismantling it would have posed a grave threat to the safety of South Carolinians. Following tireless organizing by volunteers, these dangerous permitless carry bills were defeated.
“The gun lobby doesn’t tire easily, but neither do we,” said Jackie Shelley, a volunteer with the South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Following the passage of open carry last year, we got right back into the fight. We’re incredibly proud of the work we did this session to ensure that South Carolina’s handgun carry permitting system stays intact, and we’re excited to take the momentum of this victory back into the fight for gun safety.”
Despite today’s win, a recent uptick in gun violence and a number of high profile shootings across the state underscore South Carolina’s dire need for proactive solutions and stronger gun safety laws. To address the state’s ongoing gun violence crisis, state lawmakers, alongside other state and local leaders, must prioritize public safety and advance a common sense gun safety agenda that would reduce gun deaths and save lives — starting with funding Community Violence Intervention programs.
Statistics about gun violence in South Carolina are available here. Everytown’s interactive gun law ranking tool — which shows the direct correlation between the strength of a state’s gun laws and its rate of gun deaths — is available here.