South Carolina handgun laws let any adult at least 18 years old who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm carry a handgun openly or concealed, without a permit, in most public places. That framework took effect in March 2024, when Governor McMaster signed House Bill 3594, the Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act.1South Carolina Legislature. 2023-2024 Bill 3594 – Constitutional Carry The state still restricts who may possess a handgun, where one may be carried, and how alcohol, schools, and private property change the rules. A concealed weapons permit remains available, free of charge, mainly for people who want reciprocity when they travel.
Who Cannot Possess a Handgun
South Carolina Code Section 16-23-30 lists the people barred from possessing or acquiring a handgun. You must be at least 18, though federal law separately requires you to be 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. Beyond age, the following categories are prohibited:
- Anyone convicted of a “crime of violence” under state law, which includes murder, manslaughter (other than traffic-related), kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and assault with a dangerous weapon, among others
- Fugitives from justice
- People the state classifies as habitual drunkards or drug addicts
- People adjudicated mentally incompetent
- People under 18, with limited exceptions for military service and supervised training
Qualifying domestic violence convictions and certain protective orders trigger overlapping state and federal prohibitions. Violating Section 16-23-30 is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-23-30 – Sale or Delivery of Handgun to and Possession by Certain Persons Unlawful The restrictions are ongoing. A new conviction or court order ends your right to possess a handgun immediately.
How Permitless Carry Works
If you are 18 or older and can legally possess a firearm, you may carry a handgun openly or concealed in any place where you have a right to be. No permit, training certificate, or registration is required. The method of carry does not matter: belt holster, shoulder holster, inside the waistband, or concealed under clothing are all lawful. State law draws no distinction between open and concealed carry for eligibility.
Carrying alone does not give an officer grounds to stop or detain you. The lawful carrier’s job is to stay out of the off-limits places the state designates and out of the prohibited-person categories above. Everything else is treated as lawful activity.
Carrying in a Vehicle
Anyone who is not prohibited from possessing a firearm may store a handgun anywhere in a vehicle, whether occupied or not.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 16, Chapter 23 – Offenses Involving Weapons Glove compartment, center console, door pocket, trunk, or on your person while seated: all are permitted. There is no requirement to lock the handgun away or keep it out of reach.
Schools are the exception. On the premises of a school or college, a handgun must stay inside an attended or locked vehicle, secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or a closed container with an integral fastener in the luggage compartment. A handgun sitting loose on the passenger seat is fine in a grocery store parking lot and illegal in a school lot.
Where You Cannot Carry
Even with permitless carry, Section 16-23-20 bans handguns in specific sensitive places, regardless of whether you hold a concealed weapons permit:4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-23-20 – Unlawful Carrying of Handgun; Exceptions
- Law enforcement or correctional facilities
- Courthouses and courtrooms, or any publicly owned building where court is in session
- Polling places on election days
- Offices or meetings of county councils, school boards, municipal bodies, and special purpose districts
- School or college athletic events unrelated to firearms
- Daycare and preschool facilities
- Any place where federal law prohibits firearms, including post offices, federal courthouses, and military installations
- Churches and religious sanctuaries, unless the church gives express permission
- Hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices, unless the facility expressly authorizes it
- Another person’s home, unless the owner or lawful occupant gives permission
- Any premises posted with a compliant no-weapons sign
A private business or property owner can ban handguns, but the sign has to meet Section 23-31-235: at least eight inches wide by twelve inches tall, posted at each entrance and visible from outside, and printed with “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” in one-inch black uppercase letters centered at the bottom, along with a universal symbol.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 23-31-235 – Sign Requirements A generic “no guns” printout does not qualify. If a sign fails the specifications, it is not enforceable under this section, though the owner can still ask you to leave.
Penalties escalate. A first violation is a misdemeanor with up to a $1,000 fine or one year in jail. A second offense stays a misdemeanor but the maximum jail time rises to three years. A third or later offense is a felony carrying up to five years.
Carrying Where Alcohol Is Served
You may carry a handgun into a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol, but you cannot drink while carrying. The rule is absolute. Section 16-23-465 makes it a separate offense to knowingly carry a firearm into such a business and consume alcohol there.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-23-465 – Additional Penalty for Unlawfully Carrying Pistol or Firearm Onto Premises of Business Selling Alcoholic Liquor A conviction is a misdemeanor with up to a $2,000 fine, up to two years in prison, or both. If you hold a CWP, a conviction also revokes the permit for five years. The same penalties apply if the business has posted a compliant no-weapons sign or asks you to leave and you refuse.
Self-Defense: Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground
South Carolina’s Protection of Persons and Property Act allows the use of deadly force in self-defense without a duty to retreat, provided you are in a place where you have a right to be and are not engaged in unlawful activity.
Inside your home, occupied vehicle, or place of business, the law presumes you had a reasonable fear of death or serious injury if someone unlawfully and forcibly entered or was in the process of entering.7South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-11-440 – Presumption of Reasonable Fear of Imminent Peril When Using Deadly Force The presumption is powerful because it shifts the burden away from you. It does not apply if the person had a legal right to be there, if you were the one engaged in illegal activity, or if the person was an identified law enforcement officer performing official duties.
Outside your home, you have no duty to retreat from any place where you have a right to be, including a workplace or a public sidewalk. Deadly force is permitted when you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent death, serious bodily injury, or a violent crime. A person who uses deadly force lawfully under these provisions is immune from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits, and officers cannot arrest that person without probable cause that the force was unlawful.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-11-450 – Immunity From Criminal Prosecution and Civil Action
Interactions With Police
You are not required to tell an officer you are carrying during a traffic stop or other encounter. SLED’s constitutional carry guidance states that neither permit holders nor permitless carriers have a duty to inform.9South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Constitutional Carry Guidance If an officer asks directly whether you have a weapon, lying is a separate offense; answer truthfully or stay silent. Officers may secure the firearm during the encounter for their own safety, which is not the same as confiscating it. You should get it back at the end of the stop if you are not arrested.
Buying a Handgun
Buying from a licensed dealer requires completing ATF Form 4473, passing a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check, and showing a valid state-issued photo ID. South Carolina imposes no waiting period. If the check clears, the handgun goes home with you the same day.
Private sales between South Carolina residents do not require a background check under state law. There is no paperwork requirement and no obligation to run the transfer through a dealer. The seller cannot knowingly transfer a handgun to a prohibited person, and both parties must be South Carolina residents meeting the age requirements. Keeping a simple bill of sale with the date, names, and serial number is prudent even though the law does not require it.
South Carolina has not adopted an extreme risk protection order, sometimes called a red flag law. There is no state mechanism for a court to temporarily remove firearms based on a petition alleging danger.
The Concealed Weapons Permit
Because a permit is no longer needed to carry, the main reason to get a South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit is reciprocity. Many other states honor the South Carolina CWP but do not recognize permitless carry from another state, so the permit functions as a travel document.
SLED processes applications and cannot charge a fee. The Constitutional Carry Act eliminated all CWP fees.10South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 23-31-215 – Issuance of Permits You submit a completed application, a copy of your driver’s license or state ID, fingerprints, and proof of an approved firearms training course. SLED has 90 days to process the application. The permit is valid for five years and can be renewed.11South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Concealed Weapons Permit The Act also directed SLED to provide free training courses in every county at least twice per month once funded by the General Assembly.
Employers and Local Governments
Private employers may prohibit firearms at work, including in company-owned parking lots and company vehicles. If a written policy defines the workplace to include the lot, leaving a handgun in your car there can violate the policy and cost you the job. Employers cannot regulate what you keep in your personal vehicle when it is off employer property, even during work travel.
Cities and counties cannot layer their own gun rules on top of state law. Section 23-31-510 bars local governing bodies from enacting ordinances that regulate the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms or ammunition.12South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 23-31-510 – Firearm or Ammunition, Local Regulation Prohibited The rules in this article apply uniformly statewide. A local waiting period, a city-level open-carry ban, or a municipal permit requirement is very likely unenforceable.