South Carolina: The City of Columbia Passes More Unconstitutional Gun Control

Last week, the Columbia City Council passed Ordinance No.: 2022-080 to require its residents to report their lost or stolen firearms to the police within 24 hours or face up to a $500 fine. This is Columbia’s latest effort to waste time and taxpayer resources while doing nothing to hold criminals accountable for their actions, such as stealing firearms and getting them off the streets. This is the fourth unconstitutional gun control ordinance that the City of Columbia has passed in recent years, the previous three having been struck down by South Carolina courts for violating the state's preemption law.

South Carolina preemption law designates the state legislature as the sole authority to regulate firearms policy. This prevents counties and municipalities, like Columbia, to pass a patchwork of confusing and conflicting local laws throughout the state.  As previously reported, Attorney General Wilson has continually fought to stop Columbia from their continued violations of​ the state’s strong preemption law. 

Once again, we are confident that the Attorney General will continue to protect the Second Amendment rights of South Carolinians and enforce the state’s preemption laws. Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates.