South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson issued an opinion on City of Columbia Ordinance 24-264, concluding that the the courts would most likely rule that this ordinance violates a state law that preempts the local regulation of firearms (SC Code of Laws, § 23-31-510).
The opinion further states that the City Council’s attempted distinction between regulating the storage of a class of firearms, instead of the firearms themselves, is a “distinction without a difference.”
Rep. Jonathon Hill, who requested the opinion on July 25th, 2019 after Mayor Steve Benjamin’s announcement, said: “This opinion by Attorney General Wilson’s office reaffirms that attempts by local governments to ban certain types of guns are illegal and are not likely to stand up in court.”
Hill continued, “I appreciate this thorough examination of this ordinance and of the laws of this state, and I now call on Attorney General Wilson, as chief prosecutor of South Carolina, to take the necessary legal actions to enforce state law and prevent further overreaches by local government officials.”
Rep. Hill is now requesting an additional opinion from the Attorney General’s office on the City’s “red flag” ordinance (2019-056) which passed last week.
RSS - Posts