In recent years, the South Carolina General Assembly has repeatedly amended the laws on carrying concealable weapons, through both the Open Carry with Training Act of 2021 and the South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024.
Basic rules
State law previously required that a person hold a concealed weapons permit to carry a concealable weapon. Until 2021, a CWP holder could carry only concealed weapons, but the Open Carry with Training Act, allowed CWP holders to openly carry concealable weapons. In 2024, the General Assembly amended the law again so that individuals not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm may legally carry a firearm — either openly or concealed — without a CWP or any other required training.
Public buildings
State law lists several places into which concealable weapons may not be carried. For municipalities, the most relevant provisions prohibit the carrying of firearms in these locations:
- A “courthouse, courtroom, or other publicly owned building … where court is held and during the time that court is in session,” – SC Code Section 16-23-20(a)(2)
- The “office of or business meeting of the governing body of a … municipality,” – SC Code Section 16-23-20(a)(4)
- “[A]ny premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly owned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge of the premises or property,” – SC Code Section 16-23-420
Taken together, these provisions generally prohibit the carrying of firearms in any publicly owned building. The Attorney General’s office has interpreted these provisions to apply only to buildings, and not to other property or premises such as public parks, parking lots or parking garages.
Permitted events
The Open Carry with Training Act, in SC Code Section 23-31-520, provides that municipalities “may temporarily restrict the otherwise lawful open carrying of a firearm on public property when a governing body issues a permit to allow a public protest, rally, fair, parade, festival, or other organized event.” The Attorney General’s office has construed this provision narrowly. As read by the Attorney General’s office, local governments may restrict open carrying of firearms on public property — other than in a building — only during permitted events, and may not restrict concealed carrying even during such events.
When municipalities choose to restrict the open carrying of firearms at an event, they must post signage indicating that open carrying is prohibited.
Places of employment
A separate provision of law, in SC Code Section 23-31-220(a)(1), preserves “the right of a public or private employer to prohibit a person who is otherwise not prohibited by law from possessing a handgun from carrying a concealable weapon, whether concealed or openly carried, upon the premises of the business or workplace or while using any machinery, vehicle, or equipment owned or operated by the business.”
To exercise this right, the local government must post a sign reading “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED,” subject to additional requirements that the sign must
- 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 seven 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; and
- be placed not less than 40 inches and not more than 60 inches from the bottom of the building's entrance door.
Signage for government buildings
Given that state law prohibits the carrying of a firearm into any publicly owned building or into the “office of or business meeting of the governing body” of a local government, it is not legally required to post signage on such buildings to prohibit the carrying of concealable weapons, as is required for places of employment other than public buildings that want to restrict concealable weapons.
Even so, many local governments have chosen to post such signs on their buildings, and this practice brings several benefits. Signage serves both to remind those carrying firearms of the law, and to reassure the public and government employees that concealable weapons will not be present in the building.