The Effort to Close the 'Charleston Loophole' at the State House

Senator Marlon Kimpson (Left), Senator Greg Hardee (middle), and Senator Greg Gregory (right)

I�m not going to lie, I have stopped following the daily actions and tweets of our President. This is not an intentional act, but the sensationalism that President Trump creates is so tiring, so repetitive, and so predictable that I have stopped clicking on articles detailing something �crazy� that he said or did. It is an old, worn-out cycle of news that has no significance on the real issues. I have not even sat down to watch the Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes that everybody has been talking about this week and that is because I simply do not care.

            Is that a bad thing? I do not know. In a way, I am normalizing the bizarre and disruptive leadership that Trump exhibits by becoming numb to it. We have been reading these ridiculous headlines for almost three years now and it used to be exciting and outrageous, but now it is just bland. My ability to react to each and every unprecedented development in this recurring circus of news stories has worn down like a tire on a car that is constantly braking and accelerating. This behavior should not be something that is normalized. However, perhaps it is a good thing because the media paints a picture that our country is in complete anarchy because of these crazy stories and by ignoring it, one can remain somewhat sane.

            In other (and more important) news there is currently a bill in the South Carolina Senate that would close the �Charleston Loophole.�

            You might be asking, �What is the �Charleston Loophole�?�

            Current South Carolina law allows for anybody to buy a gun after a three day waiting period if the FBI does not complete a background check within three days of its submission from a gun seller. After three days, anybody can walk out of a gun store with any gun if the FBI cannot complete the check in 72 hours. This is the loophole that allowed Dylann Roof to buy the gun that he used to kill nine churchgoers at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston back in 2015.

            The bill was filed in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida by Democratic Senator Marlon Kimpson and Republican Senator Greg Gregory and extends that waiting period to five days, an extra 48 hours. This might seem like no big deal. Why do the senators not ask for a longer waiting period or demand that the waiting period last until the FBI can complete the background check?

            Consider the legislature that the Senators are pitching this bill to. It is no secret that South Carolina is a heavily-Republican state with a very Republican-leaning legislative body. All other gun reforms that have been discussed on the national level have died in the subcommittee phase following Parkland. This bill has survived the subcommittee phase and will be up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 10^th. Senator Kimpson told me that he is confident that the bill will reach the Senate floor and he hopes to pass the bill to the House by April 17^th.

            The next question is, �Will Governor McMaster sign this bill?� If not, there is no reason to go forward with the bill unless the Senate overwhelming votes to pass it. According to Senator Kimpson, McMaster is, �Not on board.� However, there is a chance that he might quietly sign it because it is a, �No brainer� according to the Senator.

Supporters of S.516 in Greenville

            Whether or not the Governor signs this bill, it is causing a stir in Columbia because it has come this far and has received bipartisan support. We shall see what its future holds.

            There are many roadblocks in the way of this bill�s route to the Governor�s desk. The most obvious and overarching roadblock is the pro-gun majority within the General Assembly. Beyond that, time is the next largest obstacle that facing this legislation. Since the legislative session for this year ends the second week of May and the bill will not potentially reach the Senate floor until April 11^th, there is not much time for this bill to go through the legislative process.

            We shall see where this bill goes in the next few weeks. There will be continued coverage of gun reform at the State House as more developments arise. That�s all for this week.