South Carolina law attempts to keeps guns out of the hands of the mentally ill

Aug. 09--A South Carolina law requiring probate courts to report the names of residents adjudicated mentally ill over the past decade has seen moderate success since it was signed into action in May of last year.

House Bill 3560 effectively created a clearinghouse for information on people who have been found mentally incompetent by a court.

Though laws preventing the mentally incapable from handling a firearm have been in the books for years, State Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, said the bill provided courts and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division the mechanism it needed to properly report its findings to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

More than a year after the law was enacted, Taylor said he's happy with what he sees.

As of Aug. 1, more than 52,837 entries were sent to SLED, which then forwarded the information to NICS, according to SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson. Probate courts had until August to submit records. While some courts struggled to meet the deadline, Aiken County Probate Judge Angela Little said Aiken County met it.

She said the county hasn't tracked how many entries were sent to SLED.

As of July 9, 136 in-state residents and 21 out-of-state residents have been denied a gun purchase due to the new law. The law also prevented 34 people from applying for a concealed weapons permit.

"I'm delighted with the results because it shows the law is working," Taylor said. "... This really bolsters the arguments across the board that we need to enforce the laws that we have because we had this on the books, we just didn't have the mechanism to report those names."

Another side effect of the law dealt directly with permit holders, Richardson said, as 145 South Carolina concealed weapons permits have been revoked.

Chris Medlin, owner of Your Best Defense in Aiken, said those numbers are staggering considering the fact he has no way to ensure his trainees are, in fact, mentally ill.

Concealed weapons permit instructors like Medlin rely on gut instincts when it comes to their students.

"There is no way for an instructor to know that unless they volunteer the information," he said. "SLED leaves that up to the discretion of the instructor to evaluate these people because we're spending the whole day with them. We're the first line of filters in the system."

Taylor, who himself has a concealed weapons permit, said he considers the law a victory, as it has empowered the government a little more when it comes to responsible gun sales.

"This is all about gun safety, not gun control," he said.

Others, like Gun Owners of South Carolina President Gerald Stoudemire, said they struggle to see the results.

"I don't see a great change in gun safety," Stoudemire wrote in an e-mail. "The people that have been denied purchases and the permits that have been revoked under the enforcement of the law have evidently not caused any problems previously.

"The misconception that the passage of laws will affect the crime rate is a fabrication of information and has constantly been proven to be wrong."

The law doesn't necessarily prevent the mentally ill from ever purchasing a gun, Medlin said. Gun sales in South Carolina always require people to disclose their mental health, but private party sales can be conducted without first consulting SLED or NICS.

"There's no documentation required on a private sale of any gun," he said. "It is the duty of the seller to be as sure as they can that they're not transferring a gun to a prohibited person."

Regardless, Medlin said he supports the law as long as it provides an appeals process, which it does.

"If this is applied properly, it will be a good thing," he said.

Columbia County Probate Judge Alice Padgett said Georgia has had a similar law for several years, though she rarely, if ever, has to turn away a person for their mental health.

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