The Greenville County Council is reportedly considering adoption of an ordinance declaring the South Carolina county a “Second Amendment Sanctuary,” a measure approved unanimously by the council’s Public Safety Committee and supported by County Sheriff Hobart Lewis.
According to the Greenville Post and Courier, the ordinance would be “largely symbolic,” but it “would declare the county’s support for the right to keep and bear arms.” That right is protected by the Second Amendment in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
The proposed ordinance represents the fulfillment of a campaign promise made by Councilman Steve Shaw, a “gun rights attorney,” according to the newspaper.
If the council adopts this ordinance, it would not be the first time such thing has occurred. Counties across the country have adopted resolutions or taken other actions in support of Second Amendment rights. Several entire states have adopted such sanctuary positions including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, West Virginia and South Carolina.
Most counties in Oregon, Nevada and Washington state have also adopted “2A Sanctuary” status, according to a map published at Wikipedia.
According to the Post and Courier, Sheriff Lewis told the council that adoption of the ordinance “wouldn’t affect any current operations by the Sheriff’s Office and would comply with the state’s open carry with training law that is set to go into effect Aug. 15.”
The newspaper said the current version of the proposed ordinance was “watered down” from Shaw’s original draft. Most importantly, a provision that would have held county employees criminally liable if they spent money to enforce a “restrictive federal gun law” was removed, the newspaper reported.
Also removed were mentions of specific restrictions covering all sorts of things including magazine capacity, suppressors, bump stocks, ammunition or accessories.
At least two other South Carolina counties—Anderson and Horry—have adopted similar ordinances and another is under consideration in Newberry County, the newspaper said.
Before the ordinance could become law, there will be at least a public hearing and two more readings.
