SC Lawmakers Advance Bill Allowing Guns Under Seat

South Carolina drivers would be allowed to carry handguns underneath their car seats under a bill advanced by a state House subcommittee Wednesday. Now, drivers are allowed to carry a guns in their cars if the gun is "secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle," according to state law.

Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark, the main sponsor of the bill, says, "It's a bill, for me, that's about gun owners' rights and individual freedoms and responsibility. I'm a concealed weapons permit holder. I would hope that I would carry responsibly, just as the next CWP holder and I think that, within your own car, individual gun owners should have that freedom to have their weapon under their seat."

The subcommittee sent the bill to the full House Judiciary committee without a vote. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Bruce Bannister of Greenville says lawmakers do have some safety concerns about the bill and wanted the larger group to debate its merits.

Law enforcement officers also have concerns. Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association, says officers already have one of the most dangerous jobs there is. "By allowing a handgun to be held underneath the seat instead of the proper storage compartments, it's just one more level of danger that is added to their job," he says. "And we're here to represent officers and make sure they come home safe to their family."

He says he will lobby against passage of the bill.

However one of the co-sponsors of the bill is Rep. Mike Pitts, a retired Greenville police officer. And Major Mike Lanier, training operations manager at the state Criminal Justice Academy, says a gun under the seat shouldn't be much different than one in the console or glove compartment.

"We tell our guys, you know, any potential traffic stop the guy may have a weapon and it could be anywhere inside the automobile," he says, adding the key for the officer is to first make a quick visual scan of the inside of the car as he approaches, making sure he can see the driver's hands.

"As long as we can control the hands, keep the hands where we can see them, then if that guy makes any kind of overt act, the officer has an opportunity to react or respond to it," he says.

If you are ever pulled over, he says you should keep your hands on the steering wheel. If it's night, you should turn on your inside light. The officer is trained to ask if you have any weapons in the car. If you do, you should tell him. He's then trained to ask you to step out of the car and stand at the back of the vehicle, Lanier says. If you don't have any weapons, you should stay inside the car.

Rep. Sellers says he's hopeful the bill can get enough support that it can pass the full House before the May 1 crossover deadline. A bill has to have passed one body or the other by then to have a realistic chance of becoming law.