Local advocates talk gun violence awareness
with a local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America met Monday evening at Trinity Lutheran Church in Greenville to raise awareness about gun violence in South Carolina and organize a call to action against pending legislation intended to loosen regulations for gun owners.
Dorothy Duncan, lead organizer with the Moms Demand Action chapter in South Greenville, encouraged attendees to call local lawmakers in opposition to S. 109, a so-called “constitutional carry” bill that would allow gun owners in the state to carry firearms without a permit. Similar Republican-led legislation introduced in the House, H.3594, was voted through to the Senate by House lawmakers in February.
Currently, 27 states have similar perAdvocates mitless carry laws on the books, a shift that’s occurred just over the past decade. Proponents have argued the Second Amendment negates the need for a permit requirement.
Opponents of South Carolina’s legislation, including some state law enforcement officials, have expressed concern that loosening training prerequisites to concealed weapons permits
poses a threat to public safety. The Greenville group aims to garner more voices from local residents to share how gun violence has impacted their lives before the lawmakers reconvene in January next year.
“We talked to folks, and we would explain to them about this open permitless carry and we found out that they really weren’t aware of this,” Duncan said about organizing the first community meeting about the legislation.
Duncan shared statistics with the crowd on gun violence in the state compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention non-profit that includes Moms Demand Action. According to four-year estimates of mortality data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2018 to 2021, 1,044 people die on average each year in South Carolina from gun violence.
Data directly from the CDC from 2021, the most recent available, shows South Carolina had a firearm mortality rate of 22.4 per 100,000 people, the 11th highest rate in the country.
According to a recent study from the nonprofit health policy research foundation, KFF, firearms were the leading cause of death among children in the United States ages 1 to 17 in 2020 and 2021, outpacing traffic accidents as the leading cause. The research found the U.S. had a far higher rate of gun deaths among children and teens than any other comparable, wealthy country.
“We have survivors in the room,” Duncan said during the meeting Monday. “There are several definitions, one is that you have experienced gun violence yourself or you had a loved one killed or affected by gun violence. You can also witness gun violence.”
“Our goal is to not have anybody else join that group,” she said.
State law currently allows for anyone 18 or older to own a gun, however, individuals must be over 21 years old to apply for a concealed weapons permit. To issue a permit, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division must also conduct a background check and applicants must complete training.
The proposed legislation would effectively end these requirements.
“An 18-year-old will be able to legally carry a loaded gun with no training, no background check in our state, if this bill passes,” Aliza McGuire, a social worker and advocate with Moms Demand Action, said Monday. “So, this means on the road, to parties, in the neighborhood, places 18-year-olds go.”
According to CWP data from SLED, 3,148 permits were denied in 2022 and 1,489 permits were revoked.
The agency recently released its 2022 Crime in SC Report, and although the state saw a reduction in violent crime over the past year, weapon law violations were up 11.1% from 2021 to 2022. Weapon violation arrests among juveniles were up from 699 in 2021 to 1,008 in 2022.
“I continue to be extremely concerned about the gun violence we are seeing, especially among young people,” SLED Chief Mark Keel said in a press release with the report. “We cannot give up on the next generation of South Carolinians. Law enforcement, elected officials, and our community partners need to continue to work together so that those who should not have access to guns are held accountable and families can feel safe.”
Earlier versions of the bill included “felon-in-possession” provisions that barred people convicted of most felonies from possessing a firearm and increased state penalties to align with existing ones under federal law.
However, according to reporting from The Post and Courier from a Senate judiciary committee hearing in April, a panel of state senators removed the provisions which caused a rift in support from some law enforcement officials. Other police chiefs also testified in opposition to the permitless legislation during the hearing with general concern for public safety.
“I believe there is a need for some type of training for safety reasons,” Anderson Police Chief, Jim Stewart, said during testimony in April. “We’ve seen law enforcement officers over the years that are in this position, and they’re put in that position and they freeze up. I would hate to see someone with no training whatsoever period enter a situation where their own weapon could be used against them.”
Legislation will be taken up again when lawmakers reconvene in January, but the Greenville advocates are working to mobilize residents well ahead of time. The group shared information about how to reach their local state senators and representatives and demonstrated how to contact them.
Rep. Wendell Jones, D-Greenville, encouraged attendees at Monday’s event not just to object to the bill but to persuade lawmakers to hear their stories.
“We kind of have this six degrees of separation when gun violence is concerned. Everybody in here can search for just a little while and you can find out how gun violence has already touched your life,” Jones said. “You got to remind your legislators that there are people behind this bill.”
“We have to make this debate personal because the consequences are personal,” he said.
The local chapters of Moms Demand Action will meet with others from South Carolina in Columbia on Jan. 10, a day after sessions begin, to advocate against S. 109.
“We will be going to Columbia, and we will be standing on the statehouse steps. We will be filling the halls. We will be trying to attract attention, and if anybody wants to go, you don’t have to be a member of our group,” Laurie Quattlebaum, lead organizer for the Greenville chapter, said.
If either measure fails, legislators will have to start from scratch the following year.
Kathryn Casteel is an investigative reporter with The Greenville News and can be reached at KCasteel@gannett.com or on X @kathryncasteel.