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Open Carry on Personally Owned Property?

PT111

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
2,243
Location
, South Carolina, USA
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Patiwack0 wrote:
Is it legal to OC on your own property in SC? i.e. my own yard, driveway, house, etc.


Yes.


SECTION 16-23-20. Unlawful carrying of handgun; exceptions.
It is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law:

(8) a person in his home or upon his real property or a person who has the permission of the owner or the person in legal possession or the person in legal control of the home or real property;
 

Patiwack0

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Jul 30, 2008
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Florence, SC, ,
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Thank you sir! I was positive I had read it, but in trying to find it, I drew a brick wall..I have been carrying at home and outside on my property, then going CC when departing. I began to doubt myself....hence my question...Thanks again.
 

PT111

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, South Carolina, USA
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At first SC law on handguns can be confusing. Sec. 16-23-20 covers where it is legal to carry a handgun and makes no distinction between open or concealed and that is what throws people off on understanding it. For instance while hunting you can OC or CC, as long as you have a hunting license. It does not make any difference.

A CWP makes in legal to carry concealed in all other places except those defined in Section 16-31 Article 4.

These apply to handguns only and not to long guns, knives etc.
 

thejax

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May 9, 2009
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Here is a good question. Its probably obvious but I was curious.

What if a gun owner lives in an apartment complex? Can they open carry all the way to the parking lot owned but the company leasing the apartment or does that exception end at the front door and any other part of personally leased space?

I mean because technically the property owned by the leasing company in an apartment complex is private property. Its just not YOUR proerty, yet you have permission to be there due to a lease. As I have permission to be in the parking lot or the pool, just not in other people's personally leased space.

My assumption is it only pertains to the leased space you are paying rent for. Whats your opinion on this?
 

Hef

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Sep 16, 2007
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524
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Bluffton, South Carolina, USA
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thejax wrote:
Here is a good question. Its probably obvious but I was curious.

What if a gun owner lives in an apartment complex? Can they open carry all the way to the parking lot owned but the company leasing the apartment or does that exception end at the front door and any other part of personally leased space?

I mean because technically the property owned by the leasing company in an apartment complex is private property. Its just not YOUR proerty, yet you have permission to be there due to a lease. As I have permission to be in the parking lot or the pool, just not in other people's personally leased space.

My assumption is it only pertains to the leased space you are paying rent for. Whats your opinion on this?

Perfectly legal between your apartment door and your vehicle in the parking lot. Not legal to walk out to the mailboxes.
 

thejax

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Joined
May 9, 2009
Messages
91
Location
Philadelphia & Tampa
imported post

Hef wrote:
thejax wrote:
Here is a good question. Its probably obvious but I was curious.

What if a gun owner lives in an apartment complex? Can they open carry all the way to the parking lot owned but the company leasing the apartment or does that exception end at the front door and any other part of personally leased space?

I mean because technically the property owned by the leasing company in an apartment complex is private property. Its just not YOUR proerty, yet you have permission to be there due to a lease. As I have permission to be in the parking lot or the pool, just not in other people's personally leased space.

My assumption is it only pertains to the leased space you are paying rent for. Whats your opinion on this?

Perfectly legal between your apartment door and your vehicle in the parking lot. Not legal to walk out to the mailboxes.
Why is that? Is that because I intending on going on a journey with a destination and going to the mailboxes is not? Throw me a bone here.
 

Hef

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
524
Location
Bluffton, South Carolina, USA
imported post

thejax wrote:
Hef wrote:
thejax wrote:
Here is a good question. Its probably obvious but I was curious.

What if a gun owner lives in an apartment complex? Can they open carry all the way to the parking lot owned but the company leasing the apartment or does that exception end at the front door and any other part of personally leased space?

I mean because technically the property owned by the leasing company in an apartment complex is private property. Its just not YOUR proerty, yet you have permission to be there due to a lease. As I have permission to be in the parking lot or the pool, just not in other people's personally leased space.

My assumption is it only pertains to the leased space you are paying rent for. Whats your opinion on this?

Perfectly legal between your apartment door and your vehicle in the parking lot. Not legal to walk out to the mailboxes.
Why is that? Is that because I intending on going on a journey with a destination and going to the mailboxes is not? Throw me a bone here.
South Carolina statutes allow unlicensed carry in your home, your fixed place of business (as long as the business is not licensed to sell alcohol for on-premise consumption), your vehicle (in your glove box, center console, or a container with an integral fastener), a room for which an accommodations tax has been paid, or between your vehicle and any of the abovementioned locations. Method of carry to/from your vehicle is not specified. Carrying in public under any other conditions is only lawful when concealed and with a valid SC CWP.
 

Stamp Jockey

Newbie
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
1
Location
South Carolina
What I've learned...

thejax wrote:
South Carolina statutes allow unlicensed carry in your home, your fixed place of business (as long as the business is not licensed to sell alcohol for on-premise consumption), your vehicle (in your glove box, center console, or a container with an integral fastener), a room for which an accommodations tax has been paid, or between your vehicle and any of the abovementioned locations. Method of carry to/from your vehicle is not specified. Carrying in public under any other conditions is only lawful when concealed and with a valid SC CWP.

My daughter recently rented an apartment in Charleston, and in the lease agreement it states "You and your occupants/guests may not ... possess a weapon prohibited by state law; dischar a firearm in hte apartment community; display or possess a gun, knife, or other weapon in the common area "

I had to explain to her that this did not mean she could not possess or carry one. However my CWP instructor who is a close family friend suggested that even though you CAN carry it to your car, that concealing it is always the best option. I wear mine OC when working on the yard, hanging around the house, and sometimes on the rare occasion when my shirt hitches up getting out of the car and I dont realize it.
 

Grapeshot

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May 21, 2006
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35,317
Location
Valhalla
Read the thread and understand the difference between carrying in a common area and your personal residence. It is a matter of real estate law as much as anything else.
 

color of law

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Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
6,009
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Welcome to OCDO and to carrying a weapon in South Carolina. Your purposes might be better served by starting your own thread.

Openly carried guns not for special purposes like hunting, openly carried guns for self-defense are illegal in South Carolina.

SECTION 16-23-20. Unlawful carrying of handgun; exceptions.

It is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law:
[ ... ]
(8) a person in his home or upon his real property or a person who has the permission of the owner or the person in legal possession or the person in legal control of the home or real property;
[ ... ]"
OP would make a good attorney. Quoting part of a law, but leaving out the qualifier.
 

countryclubjoe

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
2,505
Location
nj
Heller and McDonald should put all these issues to rest. If not ,than surely the 2nd, 9th and 14th amendments would apply.

My .02
CCJ
 

OC for ME

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Jan 6, 2010
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White Oak Plantation
Wudda, shudda, cudda...you, my friend, are trapped in your east coast (NJ) conundrum. It is not your fault that you continue to reside in a anti-liberty state. Here in MO, which should be more like UT, individual liberty is cherished, not scorned. Charles chooses to reside in a very liberty centric state. I, on the other hand reside in a state that recognizes my individual liberty far more than my home state of SC. I envy Charles...I am to ingrained in my returning to my ancestral plot to move further west than Columbia SC.

We could all learn a great deal from the efforts of the citizens of UT. Me thinking "aloud" so to speak as I read of the latest events here in MO...STL area to be specific.
 

OC for ME

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
12,452
Location
White Oak Plantation
Wudda, shudda, cudda...you, my friend, are trapped in your east coast (NJ) conundrum. It is not your fault that you continue to reside in a anti-liberty state. Here in MO, which should be more like UT, individual liberty is cherished, not scorned. Charles chooses to reside in a very liberty centric state. I, on the other hand reside in a state that recognizes my individual liberty far more than my home state of SC. I envy Charles...I am to ingrained in my returning to my ancestral plot to move further west than Columbia SC.

We could all learn a great deal from the efforts of the citizens of UT. Me thinking "aloud" so to speak as I read of the latest events here in MO...STL area to be specific.
Sorry for the swerve into UT. Just thinking how I could motivate my kin folk into getting SC to be more like MO...heck, more like UT.
 
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