After the mall incident in Indiana, I started wondering about reprocussions of violating the no CWP signs in SC.

From SLED’s website;

“(10) place clearly marked with a sign prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon on the premises pursuant to Sections 23-31-220 and 23-31-235. Except that a property owner or an agent acting on his behalf, by express written consent, may allow individuals of his choosing to enter onto property regardless of any posted sign to the contrary. A person who violates a provision of this item, whether the violation is wilful or not, only may be charged with a violation of Section 16-11-620 and must not be charged with or penalized for a violation of this subsection.

Except as provided for in item (10), a person who wilfully violates a provision of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court and have his permit revoked for five years.”


So I’m no lawyer and my head hurts reading legalize script.  What would be the outcome in SC of carrying where prohibited other than the usual gov building, hospital, court house, etc.?  I will not step foot in a mall in the state anymore just because of the shit show at Columbiana Center that’s going on.
Should we start pressing our reps to make our laws more like the Indiana “They can only ask you to leave and trespass you” laws?

Not a lawyer and yeah, it makes my head hurt too, but didn't it used to be a felony?  I think it used to just say something to the effect of "permission" not "..express written consent" so verbal permission was OK.  Most places don't have the signs so I don't bother to look for them and have honestly walked into places where I didn't realize it was posted.  Most places that I have seen "posted" didn't have the correct signage or it wasn't in the proper location so I have ignored them.  I'm not sure how they'd prove you "willfully" violated it unless you were stupid enough to tell them instead of just saying it was an accident and you didn't see the sign- which at most should be "just be aware and don't do it again".    

Every time anything comes up with concealed weapons the democrats try to derail it, especially a couple of them, and most of the republicans are older Fudds or worse, help the dems derail it.  The punishment has always been excessive, especially revoking the license for five years.  I'd like to see it changed as well.  

On a side note, I still haven't seen any open carry prohibited signs, nor have I noticed anyone open carrying.

Not a lawyer but my understanding is if you violate one of the proper posted places they can charge under 16-11-620, which is trespassing. Max 1k fine or max 30 days jail

We need to pressure legislators to change the law then. We should first get a trespass order before charged.

Plea Bargain down to trespass. That's what I would look to do in those circumstances.

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer and am a transplant from WV where freedom is cool.

My understanding from SC law is that the dimensions of the sign itself is where the haze lies. The sign MUST be a certain size, color, etc. for it to hold any sort of law. most of the signs I've seen around the upstate simply do not fall into the category of these parameters and hold no legal bearing beyond trespassing. The problem I have is that these laws basically are there to keep the good guys out. If these signs DO meet the parameters set forth, then the carrier (probably a good guy) will be in legal trouble, so going through the training and background checks to lawfully be able to carry a firearm where you should already be legally allowed to carry a firearm under the second amendment that states the right to bear and keep arms shall not be infringed will be completely null an void and land aforementioned good guy in hot water.

Side question.... Does SC not have a 2A advocacy grop that has someone specialized in law in its ranks? WV Citizens Defense league was crazy instrumental in getting laws overturned and getting reps attentions in WV.

The really good one got sued out of existence due to a political hit job several years back.  That org had someone super-specialized in gun law who was able to pull together really solid legislative drafts and critiques.  The org carried a lot of momentum from leading the fight to get shall-issue concealed carry in SC and then having several successes improving CWP and other gun laws.  What they lacked was someone good in non-profit law to close holes in their by-laws which were eventually used against them.

https://southcarolinacarry.org/ is probably the better of what's left.  The rest seem to be either a DC-based NRA lobbyist and other one-person operations fronting various national organizations, all having goals in SC that are generally things other than advancing gun rights in SC.

Our local Walmart posted signs saying, "Please do not open carry". To me that is different than saying "Open Carry not allowed".

One is a a request and the other is a demand.

Yeah, I pretty much quit going to Walmart due to that. A guy told me if you open carry there, you "could" be asked to leave. Don't know where he got his information. The Sam's Club sign says "No Open Carry" which is straightforward. I do my shopping at Ingles and Food Lion for almost everything.

So what is the legal aspects of "Respectfully, No Open Carry".

You can be asked to leave or to return the firearm to your vehicle. You could even conceal carry and be ok.

Mine opinion (which is worth what it cost you) That anyone at anytime can be asked to leave the store for any reason. If you refuse to leave then you can be trespassed from the property. Most do not understand trespass laws. Basically when you are trespassed from a property it is not a criminal charge unless at some time in the future you return to the property. Like a restraining order for property. Now if the property is posted with "No Trespassing" signs. Then anytime you enter that property it's a criminal charge.

Interesting. I carry a different pistol for CC than for OC so a Wally world stop has to be planned. The "Respectfully" preface is confusing and leads you to believe that the decision to act on an OC is on the store manager. I'm not interested in being a test case, so I'll continue to avoid giving them my business as much as possible.

On another note, SunRift Adventures in TR has a "No Fireams on Premises" sign. I wanted some real rope for the ends of my canoe. Had to unstrap before going in.

"Hey dude, can I help ya?"

Yes, I need two 10 foot lengths of 9mm Bluewater.

"Kewl dude, I'll get it."

Considering the clientele,  I suppose they would be scared shitless of firearms.

It's been some years since I was in there but last time I was they didn't have the proper sign so I ignored it (they also had a bunch of stickers on the windows so it wasn't apparent either, I just knew about it because somebody had told me).  Apparently nobody noticed.

Yea, but now they have that gun sniffing dog on patrol.  I wonder where that escalate to if the dog catches you?

You wrap your pistol in a woman's worn underwear. The pooch shouldn't hit on that, else the officer would be real busy.

Is a gun sniffing dog a thing? What is he sniffing gun powder? So if you go to the range and go in there not carrying, dog hits on you, cops feel you up and find nothing. So you should have recourse. Thought they werent allowed to have dogs sniff people.