Charleston County, South Carolina – On Tuesday night, Charleston County leaders adopted an amendment to the firearm discharge rule for the county’s unincorporated areas.
Following the third reading, council members agreed unanimously to support the modification. The legislation aims to reduce the random discharge of weapons in urban areas.
A public hearing at 6 p.m. before to the vote allowed community members to express their views on the proposed ordinance revisions.
District 9 Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt stated that if a structure in an unincorporated region is 100 feet away from another structure, a person would be forbidden from discharging a gun at random unless they have the approval of the other structure’s owner. Honeycutt stated that County Council initially considered using zoning as part of these rules, but eventually determined that those guidelines would not be effective.
Costa Honeycutt stated that the County Council first became aware of the problem following a scenario in a West Ashley area where an owner was utilizing their backyard for target practice. She stated that a concerned resident informed her that there were families with small children nearby who heard gunshots at random while their children were playing in the street. There was also a preschool at a church nearby.
“Council looked at a number of different ways of addressing this issue, so to be the least impactful,” Costa Honeycutt informed the media. “Obviously, there’s a balance between property rights and gun rights as well as that of people living in urban close quarters that we wanted to make sure that we struck a proper balance.”
She stated that if the amendment is enacted, it will not impair the right to own a gun.
“Bringing matters like this to council, by residents, is what we handle, and this was the most balanced approach to handling that,” she informed us.
