At Sheriff's Urging, Women Rush to Get Guns

It seems women are listening to an Upstate sheriff who this week urged them to embrace a vigilante form of justice by carrying concealed weapons.

At a Monday news conference where he announced the arrest of an accused rapist, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said women should apply for concealed weapons and use them to protect themselves.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook since last night,” said David Blanton, a master instructor at Top Gun Shooting in Boiling Springs.

“I’ve had 16 women call … and maybe eight to ten husbands call who want their wives to go through my class,” Blanton said. “It’s been nuts.”

As he held up a fanny pack at his news conference yesterday the sheriff explained, "you can conceal a small pistol in them … they got one called The Judge that shoots a .45 or a .410 shell. You ain't got to be accurate. You just have to get close," the sheriff said.

Wright explained that the current “form of justice” wasn’t working, as he blamed the justice system for letting repeat offenders out of prison too early. And he said he was sick and tired of looking at women who’ve been victimized and trying to tell them that life goes on.

“It’s a shame somebody with a concealed weapons permit didn’t walk by and hear the cries [of the woman in the park Sunday],” he said. “That would have fixed this,” the sheriff said, referring to Walter Lance, 46, who’s accused of dragging the woman into the woods at Milliken Park and trying to rape her in broad daylight this past weekend.

Lance, the sheriff said, had recently been released from a federal prison for a gun violation and has been convicted of at least 20 crimes dating back to 1983.

Rep. Bill Chumley (R-Spartanburg) sent a statement Tuesday supporting Sheriff Wright's comments urging people to carry concealed weapons.

"As an elected official, I want my constituents and the people of South Carolina to know where I stand, Chumley explained.  "I wholeheartedly support Sheriff Chuck Wright and the comments he made yesterday concerning the people's right to keep and bear arms."

To apply for a concealed weapons permit in the state of South Carolina, you must:

• be 21 years old
• live in the state or have real estate on which you pay property taxes
• have a criminal-free background
• attend and pass a SLED-approved training course by a certified instructor.

To learn more on obtaining a CWP, visit SLED's web site.

Watch more of Sheriff Wright's news conference by clicking here.