South Carolina Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Reform Prevails in the House!

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) orchestrated a strong attack on HB 3212, the NRA-backed Right-to-Carry (RTC) reciprocity reform legislation introduced by Representative Greg Delleney (R-43).  This legislation seeks to change the current conditional reciprocity standard for South Carolina recognizing valid RTC permits issued by other states to a straight recognition standard.  I

n other words, rather than SLED arbitrarily determining which permits issued by other states it will deem suitable for recognition in South Carolina, the Palmetto State will recognize ALL valid permits.  This will increase both the number of state-issued RTC permits South Carolina will recognize, as well as the number of states that will recognize South Carolina RTC permits. 

In spite of SLED's efforts, which nearly led to the bill being sent back to the Judiciary Committee for reconsideration, our Right to Keep and Bear Arms prevailed, and HB 3212 passed second reading on the House floor on Thursday, March 1, with an overwhelming 100-2 vote.  Strong support for this bill came from both sides of the aisle, with Majority Leader James Merrill (R-99) and Minority Leader Harry Ott (D-93) each contributing on the floor to its passage. 

Our thanks go out to Representatives Delleney, Merrill and Ott, as well as Representative Mike Pitts (R-14), who worked hard to shore up support for HB 3212.  Of course, we also appreciate every Representative who worked hard for and supported this bill, as well as those NRA members who responded to our alerts with calls and e-mail to their elected officials urging them to vote for HB 3212. 

A final vote will be taken next week, and the bill will then move to the Senate, where it is expected to face a tough battle. 

Please take a moment to contact your Representative at (803) 734-2010, ask him or her how he or she voted on HB 3212, and thank him or her if he or she voted in favor of it. 

Then contact your Senator at (803) 212-6200 and urge him or her to support HB 3212 in its current form.