By Chip Campsen

I am a life-long outdoorsman, strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, and serial exerciser of my 2nd Amendment rights. I chair the Senate Fish, Game & Forestry Committee that has jurisdiction over hunting, fishing and forestry laws in South Carolina. I authored the Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing South Carolinians’ right to hunt and fish, I am a recipient of the NRA Rick Daniel Memorial Defender of Freedom Award, and I am the only state legislator in the nation to receive Ducks Unlimited’s coveted Conservation Service Award.

I could go on and on. The point is firearms have been a big part of life since early childhood. From the beginning of deer season in August, to the end of turkey season in May, rarely a week goes by without me bearing multiple classes of weapons. 

Yet, out-of-state dark money groups flooded my district with misleading mailers and social media, painting me as an anti-gun puppet of Joe Biden, and existential threat to 2nd Amendment rights.

Have I suddenly become gun control zealot? Not a chance. What’s really going on is out-of-state dark money groups were part of the push that we repeal our law requiring a Concealable Weapons Permit (CWP) to carry a concealable weapon (pistol) in public.

I supported the CWP requirement to carry concealable weapons and refused to be bullied into submission. So, they attacked me — relentlessly. This same tactic has been deployed in multiple states. Many caved. I did not.

CWP requirements included a clean criminal background check, live fire training, and instruction in complex laws governing when lethal force is justified. I supported this model since its inception in 1996. It advanced responsible gun ownership, prevented crime and saved innocent lives.

The criminal background check assured CWP holders were law-abiding. Range training assured they were less likely to injure innocent bystanders. Legal training assured they understood when lethal force was justified — important details when using a weapon in self-defense. CWP holders enjoyed reciprocity (the right to carry) in 35 other states, frictionless gun purchases, and respect of law enforcement.

I vigorously argued that this tried-and-tested model should not be discarded. Yet, the General Assembly eliminated the CWP requirement for carrying a concealable weapon in public. No criminal background check. No range training. No instruction in the law of self-defense. Nothing.

Proponents of trashing the CWP requirement strategically dubbed their proposal “Constitutional Carry” — as if the Constitution mandates their Wild West visions. It does not. In fact, South Carolina’s longstanding CWP requirement conformed hand-in-glove to the most important 2nd Amendment decisions authored by two of the most conservative justices in history.

In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), Justice Antonin Scalia crafted a tour de force of 2nd Amendment jurisprudence. Heller held the 2nd Amendment is a personal right for “law-abiding, responsible citizens” to bear arms “in defense of hearth and home.”

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), the Court struck down a law preventing New Yorkers from carrying concealable weapons unless they demonstrated an extraordinary self-defense need to the satisfaction of a government official. Justice Clarence Thomas held the 2nd Amendment is for “law abiding, responsible people” with “ordinary self-defense needs.” Requiring demonstration of extraordinary self-defense needs violated the 2nd Amendment.

Bruen specifically noted CWP laws like South Carolina’s were constitutional because they did not require a showing of extraordinary self-defense needs to government officials.

Heller and Bruen, in concert, demonstrated South Carolina’s CWP law was in one accord with the Constitution. Background checks assured holders were “law abiding.” Training assured they were “responsible.”

Law enforcement widely supported our current CWP law. Initially, they widely opposed the so-called “Constitutional Carry” bill that eviscerates it. So, proponents of Constitutional Carry brought law enforcement to heel by taking a hostage. They made it clear law enforcement’s top legislative priority — enhanced penalties for felons in possession of firearms — would not pass unless and until Constitutional Carry passed. This has gone on for years.

Enhanced penalties for felons in possession has been a top priority for Governor McMaster as well. He asked for it twice in his January State of the State Address. Yet hostage status persisted. Public safety was subordinated to politics.

Opponents were unable to stop the bill in the Senate. Improvements made by creating incentives to obtain a CWP. making renewing a CWP virtually effortless, and enhancing penalties for gun-related offenders who do not possess a CWP … they didn’t survive.

The bill made its way through the House and was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster.

Out-of-state agitators continued their campaign of lies and deceit, as they have in numerous states before us. I refused to cower to their demands by taking a wrecking ball to South Carolina’s time-tested CWP law.

See the Second Amendment Foundation’s experience with out-of-state agitators involved in this effort in South Carolina: https://saf.org/dudley-browns-despicable-deception/.

Senator Chip Campsen (District 43) represents Charleston, Beaufort, and Colleton counties in the South Carolina Senate.