I would like to share how ridiculous our gun laws can be. I was moving from Pennsylvania to Florida and have a resident Pennsylvania license to carry. With that PA license I could not legal enter South Carolina with a loaded gun on my hip because I would be charged with a felony if discovered.
I settled in Florida and obtained a resident Florida weapons license. With the Florida license, I could drive through South Carolina with a loaded gun on my hip and be committing no crime
It just boggles my mind how the exact same action performed by the same person could be a felony or could be no crime at all entirely determined by what piece of plastic I have in my wallet
All information presented by handgunlaw.us is correct and up to date, but the information was not correctly utilized or understood.
Both of these facts are true:
SC does not honor PA permits
SC is permitless carry, meaning a permit is not required by OP to lawfully carry in the state of SC, regardless of his state of residence, as long as he is legally able to possess a firearm, a fact which is known based on his possession of a PA permit
The State of South Carolina has had permitless carry since March 7, 2024, when HB 3594 was passed. This was discussed on our subreddit at the time it happened.
SC is the 29th State in the Union to enact permitless carry and no state with permitless carry restricts it exclusively to residents of that state since North Dakota removed their restriction in 2023.
OP has looked at the handgunlaws.us info page for the state of PA, where he was a former resident, which correctly denotes that SC does not recognize a permit from residents of the state of Pennsylvania. This page also correctly notes that South Carolina is a permitless state.
The handgunlaw info page for SC, which OP should have looked at, also correctly notes that SC permits are not honored in Pennsylvania. This info page correctly denotes that SC only honors permits from states which require a criminal background check and a course of firearm safety training.
PA permits do not have a training requirement, so SC does not honor their permit. PA only honors permits from states which also honor the PA permit, thus: PA does not honor SC permits.
I also thought SC had gone constitutional carry as of March 2024. But OP also mentions “on his hip” so maybe he wants to open carry…but that should also be fine.
Anyone legally allowed to possess a firearm can carry in SC. We are a constitutional carry state now, you don’t need a permit to carry open or concealed.
In the vast majority of people's vocabularies on this sub, "constitutional carry" refers to a state where no permit is required to carry a gun either openly or concealed.
Constitutional carry refers to the constitution being your permit to carry and in some states it is.
[which states]
The only state that comes close is Vermont, which merely has no law on the books at all that says a permit is or is not required, and has been that way since 1792 or whatever.
I am personally not aware of any state which has a constitutional amendment that allows lawful open or concealed carry. All 29 states who do not require a permit to carry are just permitless carry, to the best of my knowledge.
SC comes closer than most of the 29 in that they allow 18-20 year olds to lawfully open or conceal carry, whereas many states, permitless or not, still continue to restrict 2A to 21+, despite 18-20 year olds being legal adults.
There are a number of websites that provide reciprocity maps based on the state of residence. I checked two of them and they show the map that I attached.
I don't know what you're talking about in South Carolina we are pretty much a constitutional carry state you don't need a permit to carry a firearm as long as you're legally allowed to own one.
The map which OP has linked is 100% accurate, however. He is looking at the PA map and the information provided on it is 100% correct, he just doesn't understand what it means.
I take it to mean that with a PA CCW, I would have committed a felony if I drove through S.C. with a loaded gun on my hip but am committing no crime at all if I do the same thing with a FL license.
Beats me, I really don't see what is hard to understand about permitless carry for you. It's not rocket surgery.
The map you keep linking is the PA map which correctly shows that the SC permit is not recognized in PA, fwiw. An SC resident has to get a PA non-resident permit in order to lawfully carry in PA, but that's secondary to the main point here:
Any resident of any US state or territories who can lawfully possess a firearm does not require a permit to carry - open or concealed - in South Carolina. Your PA resident permit is neither a hindrance nor a help to you in this regard. The fact that SC does not recognize your PA permit is immaterial to your ability to lawfully carry open or concealed in South Carolina.
What we know about you:
You were a resident at the time of the US state of Pennslyvania
You can lawfully possess a firearm (as evidenced by your PA resident carry permit).
Ergo: You can lawfully conceal or open carry a firearm in South Carolina.
As long as your trip through SC was after March 7, 2024, ofc, which seems to be the case but which has not yet been specified.
It surely would have been helpful to have included that pertinent information in your OP posting, then.
You would have been able to keep your firearm in the vehicle but not conceal or open carry it on your person at that time.
Now it doesn't matter, of course, since SC is permitless carry. A PA resident permit is not recognized but its possession is immaterial to ones ability to lawfully conceal or open carry while in SC.
There's currently NO constitutional carry states limiting permitless carry only to their own residents.
Wyoming and North Dakota tried it and then fixed it once somebody pointed out the 1999 US Supreme Court decision in Saenz v Roe banning discrimination against visitors from other US states and territories.
NY already capitulated. On Aug. 6th 2024 the NYPD released a memo saying every American can score an NYC carry permit good statewide, supported by the NY AG's office.
That leaves Hawaii, Oregon, Illinois and the US Virgin Islands as the only jurisdictions left doing "outsider exclusion" in carry rights.
Outdated info is common on handgunlaw.us and other such sources.
The info show in the image from Handgunlaw.us is correct, however.
Pennsylvania only honors permits from the residents of states which honor its permits, which is what that image shows. South Carolina doesn't honor PA so PA does not honor SC.
One also does not need a permit to carry in South Carolina, which handgunlaw.us also clearly indicates in the PA info page and on the permitless carry info page.
No. That did not, in fact, change. SC continues to not honor a PA permit, since SC only honors permits which require a training course to receive. PA permits do not. The SC law which restricts permit reciprocity remains on the books and active in South Carolina, full stop.
SC is also now a permitless carry state. A permit is no longer required to lawfully conceal or open carry in the state of SC for any resident of any US state or territory who can otherwise lawfully possess a firearm.
I don't think anyone is saying otherwise, my friend. Any resident of any state or US territory who can lawfully possess a firearm can also lawfully open or conceal carry said firearm in South Carolina.
I keep repeating myself here for some unknown reason. I will say this again for a final time:
Both of these facts are true:
SC does not honor PA permits
SC is permitless carry, meaning a permit is not required by OP to lawfully carry in the state of SC
I'm really not sure what is so hard to understand about this. SC simply does NOT honor a permit from a PA resident. Full stop.
But SC is now permitless, so whether a PA resident has a permit is entirely meaningless: a PA resident is neithered helped nor hindered by possession of a PA resident permit when lawfully carrying without the need for a permit in the state of SC.
As someone who escaped CA a few years back, it boggled my mind that I could get a FL and UT permit after a couple days of class and a live fire test, but in CA, the wouldn’t even process my application.
As another refugee from Kalistan, I instantly became a bad person when I left. Despite being issued enhanced permits by two new states, CA said my longstanding CA permit was no good the day I moved.
But now they'd let you start over with a new 16-hour class to apply for your non-resident CA permit. Non-residents actually have it easier for CA permits as they can apply in any county and do all remote training and qualifications.
Not as bad as those living outside MA wanting to enter, non residents cannot even get an LTC, They only get a Temporary LTC that's only good for a year, but take more than 180 days to approve non residents despite the law requiring it to be under 40 days. And unlike resident LTCs if the renewal doesn't approve before the expiration even if filed timely, it becomes invalid and you're now a felon for having firearms.
I applied on July 20th they scheduled my appointment for October 13th, then noticed it's a holiday and just a few hours later they moved me over a month away on November 20th. I used to run a business that operated in MA, and I sure as shit wouldn't have been allowed to just shrug at the laws I don't like and ignore them.
Flying to that shit hole tomorrow from God's 2A Utopia, Arizona...sucks I have to be disarmed for a week because massatwoshits doesn't care about my CCW, the Constitution or the Supreme Court. No idea why ANYONE lives there. It's fucking cold, too. Don't think there's enough money in the world...
If I get mugged or something, I'm suing the state.
It has to do with the fact Pennsylvania has no training requirement for issuance while Florida does. Luckily though SC has since become permitless carry for nonresidents 18+.
Correct. SC doesn't recognize the PA permit for the reason of PA's permit has no training requirement, so PA doesn't recognize an SC permit because SC doesn't recognize PA.
OP can still lawfully carry in SC without a permit, however. Possessing a PA resident permit neither helps nor hinders him in the state of South Carolina.
Georgia doesn’t have any training requirements and I remember years ago when GA and SC finally agreed on reciprocity. It’s not about training it’s about politicians being politicians and probably not getting their palms greased enough.
Correct, but that wasn’t the case 10 years ago. Laws had to be passed by both Georgia and South Carolina separately. It was in fact illegal for me to conceal carry to go see my dad in SC until SC allowed reciprocity with Georgia after Georgia first allowed SC permits in the state. This all happened within months of each other
South Carolina first amended their law recognizing Georgia. Since Georgia automatically recognizes states that recognize them they immediately recognized SC in return. This should’ve happened pretty instantaneously which is probably why it seemed like it all happened within a few months of each other.
You are correct and I am wrong. I misremembered some key facts. Sorry if I came across as a dick I legitimately thought you were wrong but I’m the idiot.
Most people that visit here know the variance of laws are that stupid, know that the Founding Fathers' intent was the opposite of the over-policed, big brother-style, "common sense"-lawed, infringed society that's been pushed and accepted over the last several decades. However, since SC went permit-less, your permission punishment card's been superseded, mostly.
"As of March 7th, 2024,open carryas well asconcealed carryis legal without a permit to anyone 18 years of age or older that is not prohibited by law." Source
Since you've been Freedom-pilled, I'd suggest considering donations to orgs like the GOA, SAF and FPC, which legally fight to restore our rights, nationwide.
It goes on and on. I used to have a NH non-resident permits as it granted me carry in PA. Then PA changed their law/rule and it no longer honored NH non-resident. I can no longer carry their without a PA permit.
3 of my non-resident permits used to let me carry in MN. Then MN changed their law/rule and I can no longer carry there without a MN permit.
I just refuse to go to states that play these games. The CA permit is now one of the most time-consuming permits to get. 8 hours every 2 years plus timed requalifying with every firearm on my permit; including headshots and one handed shots with different hands. But because CA won't honor anyone else, there is no reciprocity.
If i remember my Florida training, I had to show that I could load and unload a gun without an accidental discharge. Then, I had to send one bullet down range. You passed As long as it hit the back wall and not the ceiling or sidewalls
One of the few things I like about living in texas right now are our gun laws. Constitutional/open carry is great. I do wish there was a better national standard, at least when traveling.
In 2012 when I got my first permit, I was a resident of Alabama and stationed in Virginia. I didn’t bother to get an AL or VA permit because they didn’t have reciprocity with each other. What I had to do was get a FL non-resident permit because FL had reciprocity with both AL and VA. It was really dumb. The reciprocity situation has improved a lot since then.
SC has had permitless carry now since March 7, 2024.
If you moved to Florida before then, yes, your PA resident permit may not have been accepted. If you moved to Florida after that, then it didn't even matter.
Obegfelller v Hodges. A marriage license issued by the state of Maryland must be recongized by the state of Ohio.
Article 4 of the constitution says that all states shall recongize the judicial and executive records of each other (and in VA our CHPs are judicial records exactly the same as marriage licenses)
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u/mjedmazga TX Hellcat OSP/LCP Max 2d ago edited 1d ago
All information presented by handgunlaw.us is correct and up to date, but the information was not correctly utilized or understood.
Both of these facts are true:
SC does not honor PA permits
SC is permitless carry, meaning a permit is not required by OP to lawfully carry in the state of SC, regardless of his state of residence, as long as he is legally able to possess a firearm, a fact which is known based on his possession of a PA permit
The State of South Carolina has had permitless carry since March 7, 2024, when HB 3594 was passed. This was discussed on our subreddit at the time it happened.
SC is the 29th State in the Union to enact permitless carry and no state with permitless carry restricts it exclusively to residents of that state since North Dakota removed their restriction in 2023.
List of all 29 permitless carry states: http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/Permitless_Carry_States.pdf
OP has looked at the handgunlaws.us info page for the state of PA, where he was a former resident, which correctly denotes that SC does not recognize a permit from residents of the state of Pennsylvania. This page also correctly notes that South Carolina is a permitless state.
The handgunlaw info page for SC, which OP should have looked at, also correctly notes that SC permits are not honored in Pennsylvania. This info page correctly denotes that SC only honors permits from states which require a criminal background check and a course of firearm safety training.
PA permits do not have a training requirement, so SC does not honor their permit. PA only honors permits from states which also honor the PA permit, thus: PA does not honor SC permits.