The Open Carry With Training Act, which went into effect in August 2021, provided for the open carry of firearms for valid permit holders, but it also allows cities and towns to enact open-carry restrictions during certain organized events.
Since the law went into effect in August 2021, numerous cities and towns have passed ordinances to restrict the open carrying of a firearm while on public property and while attending a permitted event, for example, a festival, parade, rally or protest. The law requires that when municipalities do this, they “must be specific in the area, duration, and the manner in which the restriction is imposed and must provide prior notice when feasible.”
The restriction cannot extend beyond the beginning and end of the event. Any ordinance banning open carry for any extended period of time would be a violation of the new law.
The law also requires that events with open-carry restrictions must have signage indicating that the restrictions are in place. State law also does not allow permit holders to carry concealable weapons into the office or public body meeting place of a municipality or special-purpose district, among others, according to SC Code Section 23-31-215(L)(4).
A sign prohibiting concealed weapons is posted at the Goose Creek’s Crowfield Golf Club.
Photo: City of Goose Creek.
State law creates detailed requirements for how the “no concealed weapons” signs are to be created and posted, both for applicable indoor locations, and for permitted events and other locations. Here are the rules governing these signs:
The sign must be placed at each entrance of the building and be:
- Clearly visible from outside the building.
- Be 8 inches wide by 12 inches tall in size.
- Contain the words “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” in black one-inch tall uppercase type at the bottom of the sign and centered between the lateral edges of the sign.
- Contain a black silhouette of a handgun inside a circle 7 inches in diameter with a diagonal line that runs from the lower left to the upper right at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal.
- Placed not less than 40 inches and not more than 60 inches from the bottom of the building’s entrance door.
For permitted events or other applicable locations without doors (SC Code Section 23-31-235(C))
The sign must:
- Be 36 inches wide by 48 inches tall in size.
- Contain the words “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” in black 3-inch-tall uppercase type at the bottom of the sign and centered between the lateral edges of the sign.
- Contain a black silhouette of a handgun inside a circle 34 inches in diameter with a diagonal line that is 2 inches wide and runs from the lower left to the upper right at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal, and must be a diameter of a circle whose circumference is 2 inches wide.
- Placed not less than 40 inches and not more than 96 inches above the ground.
- Posted in sufficient quantities to be clearly visible from any point of entry onto the premises.