Permitless

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“I certainly support constitutional carry. I think it’s going to make things more safe to be quite honest,” Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis told the Greenville News. “What we see is a well-armed citizen who may find themselves in a bad situation with some criminal act. If they take it upon themselves to defend themselves, then they have the necessary means to do that.”

The law allows individuals to carry a firearm openly expect in certain spaces such as schools, hospitals, most government buildings, jails, polling places during elections and certain athletic events at schools. Some places, such as churches and doctor’s offices, may choose to allow individuals to carry weapons onto the premises. Businesses also have the right to label themselves as a gun-free zone.

The law also allows for an individual to bring a firearm into a person’s residence if they have express permission from the homeowner.

“I think from a criminal perspective, criminals better look long and hard across the state not knowing who maybe armed and who isn’t,” Lewis said.

Lewis said one of the first things law enforcement needs to do is educate their citizens on the new law and make sure they are privy to responsibilities of gun ownership.

“There’s a couple things we need to do and that is to make sure the public knows exactly what the law says, offer some advice and some training for those who may want to act in constitutional carry that were not concealed weapons permit holders,” Lewis said. “Our deputies need to know what the procedures are for when dealing with somebody who is armed. We do that anyway, so it’s not like it’s really anything new.”

With the new law in place, officers can’t question individuals openly carrying a firearm without probable cause.

“We really can’t just go up to someone and ask why they’re carrying a permitless firearm because the constitutional carry bill allows them to do so. Unless they are acting in any suspicious way, it really doesn’t give us any justification to ask,” Travelers Rest Police Chief Benjamin Ford said.

Ford also expressed concern about gun safety for first time gun owners.

“I worry about accidental discharges and mistakes that people can make by dropping their weapons and folks leaving their weapons around in the open,” he said.

Still, some law enforcement leaders worry individuals will start carrying firearms without the proper training.

“There is a lot of liability and responsibility with carrying a firearm,” Simpsonville Police Chief Michael Hanshaw said. “I would hope that folks will take that into consideration when they choose to do so and do it safely and wisely.”

Hanshaw said he hopes people who purchase their firearms will take it upon themselves to get training.

“It’s a very significant thing to carry and so I would just hope that people would do it in a smart, respectful and responsible way,” Hanshaw said.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright also agreed that those who are getting a firearm should look into practice and training.

“You must train like we do,” Wright said, comparing training to that of law enforcement officials. “You must be proficient, and you must be familiar with your weapon.

“These things are not toys, once you squeeze the trigger, you can’t get that bullet back.”

Though Wright emphasized the need for training for gun owners, he also aligned with Lewis in believing that the law would deter criminal activity.

“My desire is that the shooting will not go up at all. I hope and pray that criminals know mostly everybody’s got a weapon and that you might not want to be messing with some of these people because of that,” Wright said.

Currently, no law enforcement agencies in the Upstate partner with programs that specialize in firearms training.

Terry Benjamin II covers public safety and breaking news for The Greenville News and can be reached at tbenjamin@gannett.com or on X @Terrybenji2.