Can You Conceal Carry in South Carolina Without a Permit? What the 2024 Law Changed, Who Still Can’t Carry, and What a Concealed Weapon Permit Still Does

Firearm Law & Criminal Defense · North Charleston, SC

Updated October 2026 · 26 min read · By Rad Deaton, Deaton Law Firm, LLC

Can you conceal carry in South Carolina without a permit? Yes. Since March 7, 2024, Act 111 has let adults 18 or older who are not legally barred from having a gun carry a handgun, openly or concealed, without one. S.C. Code § 16-23-20(A) still bans carry in listed places, permit or not. North Charleston defense lawyer Rad Deaton explains.

This page used to answer a different question. When it first went up in January 2017, carrying a handgun on your person in South Carolina generally took a concealed weapon permit, a permit holder had to keep the gun out of sight, and the application cost money. The Legislature has rewritten that law twice since then. If you came here to find out how to apply for a permit, that answer is still here, updated for 2026. But for most people the first question is now a different one: do I need a permit at all?

For most adults, no. That is the short answer, and it is where a lot of people stop reading. The longer answer is where people get charged. The law still decides who may carry, where they may carry, and what happens when they get either one wrong. A first violation of the carry statute is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and a third is a felony. Some people who believe they are covered are not, because of an old conviction, a domestic-violence case or a protective order, and very often the rule that catches them is federal, not state.

Here is the whole picture: what changed, who still cannot carry, where carrying is still a crime, what it costs, and what a permit still does for you.

Key points at a glance

• Permitless carry has been the law since March 7, 2024. Section 3 of Act 111 (H.3594) rewrote S.C. Code § 16-23-20. SLED’s guidance to law enforcement says the Act “allows individuals 18 years old and older to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit.”
• The condition is “not otherwise prohibited.” Act 111 gave no new right to anyone state or federal law already bars from having a firearm.
• An ordinary permit opens no door § 16-23-20(A) closes. Law-enforcement and detention facilities, courthouses while court is in session, polling places on election days, daycares and the rest of the list are off-limits either way (§ 23-31-215(M)).
• Unlawful carry is graded by offense number: a first offense carries up to a $1,000 fine and one year; a second, up to three years; a third or later is a felony with up to five years (§ 16-23-50(A)(2)).
• A permit still matters in other states that recognize it, and it shields you from the extra prison term of up to three years that § 16-23-495 adds for certain weapons crimes committed without one.
• Getting a permit has changed: the minimum age is now 18, there is no application fee, and SLED offers a free training course.
• Act 111 opened two expungement doors for gun-possession convictions: § 22-5-910(A) and § 17-1-65.

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What Changed on March 7, 2024 — Permitless Open and Concealed Carry Under Act 111, and Why “South Carolina Is Not an Open-Carry State” Is Out of Date Twice

South Carolina’s permitless-carry law is 2024 Act No. 111, House Bill 3594, which the General Assembly titled the “South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024.” It was ratified and signed by the Governor on March 7, 2024, and it took effect that day. Section 27 of the Act says it “takes effect upon approval by the Governor” (bill history; ratified text).

What the old law said

Before the Act, § 16-23-20 started from a ban. It read: “It is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows.” The exceptions that followed included a person with a valid concealed weapon permit, a person in his own home or on his own property, and more than a dozen others. If none of the exceptions fit you, carrying a handgun on your person was a crime.

What § 16-23-20 says now

Section 3 of Act 111 rewrote § 16-23-20 from the ground up. The statute no longer bans carrying a handgun in general. It bans carrying one into particular places:

“It is unlawful, whether or not the person has a concealed weapon permit, for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law into a …”

What follows is a list of eleven kinds of places, covered in the third section below (S.C. Code Title 16, Chapter 23).

The permit statute now says the same thing from the other direction. Under § 23-31-215(O)(2), the availability of a permit “must not be construed to prohibit the permitless transport or carrying of a firearm in a vehicle or on or about one’s person, whether openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded, in a manner not prohibited by law” (S.C. Code Title 23, Chapter 31). Section 15 of the Act repealed § 16-23-460, the old general offense of carrying a concealed weapon.

SLED, the State Law Enforcement Division, runs the permit program. Its guidance to the state’s police chiefs and sheriffs sums up the change this way: the Act “authorizes individuals who are not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm, to legally possess a firearm openly or concealed without training and without a concealed weapons permit issued by SLED.” The same guidance draws the age line: “It allows individuals 18 years old and older to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit.” Separately, § 16-23-30 makes it unlawful for a person under eighteen to possess or acquire a handgun, apart from the narrow military and supervised-instruction situations that section describes. Act 111 did not change § 16-23-30.

Why “South Carolina is not an open-carry state” is out of date twice

You will still find older guides, including the 2017 version of this page, that say South Carolina is not an open-carry state. That was accurate when they were written. It stopped being accurate in two steps:

The 2021 step is recorded in the Code itself. The Open Carry With Training Act, effective August 15, 2021, changed the definition of a “concealable weapon” in § 23-31-210(5) from a firearm that “must be carried” in a manner hidden from public view to one that “may be carried openly on one’s person or” hidden. The 2024 step removed the permit requirement altogether.

Do you have to tell a police officer you are carrying?

Not under South Carolina law. Act 111’s own title says it deleted “the provisions requiring permit holders to carry permits while carrying weapons and identifying themselves as permit holders to law enforcement officers.” SLED’s guidance is blunt about it: “A CWP holder or a person carrying a firearm without a permit pursuant to this law DOES NOT have a duty to notify a law enforcement officer that they are carrying a firearm.”

Act 111 also added § 23-31-245. It says that openly carrying a weapon in accordance with the law “does not give a law enforcement officer reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search, detain, or arrest the person.” That is not a shield against every stop. The same section keeps an officer’s power to act when “he has a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.”

Earlier versions of this page suggested what to say to an officer if you are stopped while carrying under a permit. Before Act 111, South Carolina required permit holders to identify themselves to officers; it no longer does. Other states set their own rules, and in another state, that state’s law controls.

What Act 111 did not change

• It gave no right to carry to anyone prohibited from having a firearm. That is the next section.
• It did not open the places on the § 16-23-20(A) list, the school-property statutes or the federal-facility statute.
• It did not take away a property owner’s or employer’s right to say no (§ 23-31-220).
• It did not change federal law.
• It did not erase cases that were already pending. Section 25 of the Act says its repeals and amendments do “not affect pending actions” and do not “extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law.”

One more change is worth knowing. Under § 16-23-20(D), “a person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from carrying a firearm may lawfully store a firearm anywhere in a vehicle whether occupied or unoccupied.” School and college property still has its own vehicle rule, which is explained below.

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Who Still Can’t Carry: Prohibited Persons, Domestic-Violence Convictions and Protective Orders (§ 16-25-30), and the Federal Overlay After United States v. Rahimi (2024)

Every permitless-carry sentence in the law has the same condition built into it: not otherwise prohibited. If you are prohibited, Act 111 changed nothing for you. And getting it wrong is not just a carry violation. It is a possession crime, and often a felony.

South Carolina’s own prohibited-person laws

A conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year (§ 16-23-500). Section 16 of Act 111 rewrote this statute. It now makes it unlawful for anyone “convicted of a crime punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than one year to possess a firearm or ammunition within this State.” Subsection (F) carves out three things:

• offenses relating to the regulation of business practices, such as antitrust and unfair trade practices;
• any offense “classified by the laws of this State or another jurisdiction as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of five years or less”; and
• a conviction that has been expunged or set aside, or one for which the person has been pardoned or had civil rights restored, unless the pardon, expungement or restoration expressly keeps the firearm bar in place.

A violation is a felony. For a first offense, the range is up to five years. For a second, it is a mandatory minimum of five years and up to twenty. For a third or later offense, it is a mandatory minimum of ten years and up to thirty.

The handgun-specific list (§ 16-23-30). It is unlawful for the people this section names “to possess or acquire handguns within this State.” They include a person convicted of a “crime of violence” as § 16-23-10(3) defines it, a fugitive from justice, a “habitual drunkard,” a “drug addict,” a person adjudicated mentally incompetent, a member of a “subversive organization,” a person under eighteen, and a person a circuit judge has adjudged unfit to carry or possess a firearm. A violation is a felony carrying a fine of up to $2,000, up to five years, or both (§ 16-23-50(A)(1)).

Domestic violence and protective orders (§ 16-25-30)

South Carolina’s domestic-violence firearm statute, § 16-25-30, was not amended by Act 111. It bars a person from shipping, transporting, receiving or possessing a firearm or ammunition in the situations below, and subsection (E) sets how long each state ban lasts:

A second-degree conviction also triggers the state ban when the court found that the person caused moderate bodily injury to a household member (§ 16-25-30(A)(2)).

Possessing a firearm in violation of § 16-25-30 is its own crime. After a high-and-aggravated or first-degree conviction, it is a felony carrying a fine of up to $2,000, up to five years, or both. After a second- or third-degree conviction, it is a misdemeanor carrying up to $1,000, up to three years, or both. Under a protective order, it is a misdemeanor carrying up to $500, up to thirty days, or both.

Three details in the statute matter in real cases:

• A conviction only counts if certain protections were in place. Under subsection (C), the person must have had a lawyer or knowingly waived one, and where a jury trial was available, the case must have been tried to a jury or the person must have knowingly waived one. An expunged, set-aside or pardoned conviction does not count.
• The state right comes back automatically. Under subsection (F), once the period ends, if there has been no other domestic-violence conviction, no domestic-violence charge is pending and no other state law bars you, the right “shall be restored.” On a written request, SLED notifies the federal background-check system (NICS).
• Don’t mix up the clocks. The five-year wait in § 22-5-910(B) for expunging a third-degree conviction is an expungement waiting period, not a firearm period.

If you are facing a domestic-violence charge or a protective-order hearing, the firearm consequences are part of what is at stake in how the case resolves. Our domestic violence defense page explains how we approach those cases.

The federal overlay

Federal law runs alongside state law, and South Carolina’s 2024 law did not change it. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), it is a federal crime for a prohibited person to possess a firearm or ammunition “in or affecting commerce.” A knowing violation carries up to 15 years in federal prison (§ 924(a)(8)). Three of the federal categories matter most here.

Section 922(g)(1): a conviction for “a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” Federal law excludes a state misdemeanor only if it is “punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or less” (§ 921(a)(20)(B)). South Carolina draws its own line at five years. That gap matters. A South Carolina misdemeanor that carries up to three years can fall outside the state ban in § 16-23-500 and still trigger the federal one. Two examples are a second unlawful-carry conviction under § 16-23-50(A)(2)(b) and a second-degree domestic-violence conviction under § 16-25-20(C).

Section 922(g)(8): a qualifying protective order. The order must have been issued after a hearing the person had actual notice of and a chance to take part in. It must restrain the person from harassing, stalking or threatening an “intimate partner” (federal law defines that as a spouse, a former spouse, the other parent of the person’s child, or someone the person lives or has lived with) or that partner’s child. And it must either include a finding that the person “represents a credible threat to the physical safety” of that partner or child, or explicitly prohibit the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against them. The federal ban turns on what the order says. It applies whether or not a family court judge also ordered a ban under § 16-25-30(A)(4).

Section 922(g)(9): a conviction for a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” as federal law defines it in § 921(a)(33). For a spouse, former spouse, co-parent or someone who lived with the victim as a spouse, that federal ban has no built-in end date. It lifts only in the circumstances § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii) lists, such as an expungement, a set-aside or a pardon. Since 2022, federal law has offered a five-year path back only to a person with a single dating-relationship conviction who meets that subparagraph’s conditions (§ 921(a)(33)(C)).

The point to take from this: the state and federal clocks do not match. A restored state right under § 16-25-30(F), or the end of a state ban, does not by itself answer the federal question. Have a lawyer check both before you assume you can have a firearm again.

What United States v. Rahimi decided

On June 21, 2024, a little over three months after Act 111 took effect, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a facial Second Amendment challenge to § 922(g)(8), the federal protective-order prohibition, in United States v. Rahimi. The Court described its own holding narrowly: “we conclude only this: An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”

For South Carolina readers, the practical point is simple. The federal protective-order ban survived that challenge, and nothing in South Carolina’s permitless-carry law overrides it.

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Where You Still Can’t Carry, Permit or Not — Schools, Courthouses, Law-Enforcement and Detention Facilities, Posted Private Property and the Rest of the Statutory List — and What Unlawful Carry Costs

Act 111 kept a list. Section 16-23-20(A) makes it unlawful, “whether or not the person has a concealed weapon permit,” to carry a handgun, concealed or not, “unless otherwise specifically authorized by law,” into:

1. a law enforcement, correctional or detention facility;
2. a courthouse, courtroom or other publicly owned building where court is held, “during the time that court is in session”;
3. a polling place on election days;
4. an office of, or a business meeting of, the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality or special purpose district;
5. a school or college athletic event not related to firearms;
6. a daycare or preschool facility;
7. any place where carrying firearms is prohibited by federal law;
8. a church or other established religious sanctuary, “unless express permission is given by the appropriate church official or governing body”;
9. a hospital, medical clinic, doctor’s office or any other facility where medical services or procedures are performed, “unless expressly authorized by the appropriate entity”;
10. another person’s residence or dwelling, without the express permission of the owner or the person in legal control or possession of it; or
11. a place “clearly marked with a sign prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon on the premises in compliance with Section 23-31-235.”

An ordinary permit does not open any of these doors. Section 23-31-215(M) says a permit “does not authorize a permit holder to carry a concealable weapon into any place listed in Section 16-23-20(A) except as permitted by law.” Except for the posted-sign item, a permit holder who willfully violates it can be charged under § 16-23-20, and the court can also revoke the permit for up to five years. The list does not bind the people § 16-23-20(B) exempts: law enforcement officers and certain retired officers, employees of those facilities whose jobs require a firearm, members of the armed forces, National Guard, organized reserves or State Militia when on duty, and the officials described in § 23-31-240 below.

Schools, colleges and publicly owned buildings: a separate felony

Two older statutes reach further than § 16-23-20 and carry heavier penalties.

Section 16-23-420 makes it unlawful to possess “a firearm of any kind” on property “owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly owned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge.” It is a felony with up to a $5,000 fine, five years, or both. For school and college property, the statute does not apply when the firearm “remains inside an attended or locked motor vehicle and is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle.” Before Act 111, that vehicle exception belonged only to permit holders; Section 6 of the Act opened it to everyone. Public roads that run through or alongside a campus and are open to traffic full time are not “property” under the statute, and interstate rest areas are exempt.

Section 16-23-430 covers elementary and secondary school property. It reaches firearms and other weapons, including a knife with a blade over two inches long, and it has the same closed-compartment vehicle exception. A violation is a felony with up to a $1,000 fine, five years, or both.

Notice the difference from the general vehicle rule. On school and college property, “anywhere in a vehicle” is not enough. The vehicle must be attended or locked, and the firearm must be in one of the closed places the statute names.

Businesses that serve alcohol

Under § 16-23-465, knowingly carrying a firearm into a business that sells alcoholic liquor, beer or wine for consumption on the premises is a misdemeanor with up to a $2,000 fine, two years, or both, on top of any other penalty. A permit holder convicted under the section also loses the permit for five years.

The statute does not apply to “a person otherwise lawfully carrying a firearm who does not consume alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine while carrying the concealable weapon on the business’ premises.” That exception falls away in three situations, and each one “may be charged with a violation of subsection (A)”: drinking while carrying there, carrying into a business that has posted a sign complying with § 23-31-235, or refusing a request to leave or to remove the weapon. Before Act 111, the exception depended on having a permit. Section 8 of the Act removed that requirement.

Posted property, workplaces and other people’s homes

Private property owners and employers keep the right to prohibit carrying, whether concealed or open, on their premises (§ 23-31-220(A)). The sign has to meet § 23-31-235: one at each entrance, clearly visible from outside, eight inches wide by twelve inches tall, with “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” in black one-inch capital letters and a slashed handgun silhouette inside a circle, placed between forty and sixty inches from the bottom of the entrance door. Premises without doors have their own, larger sign rules.

Ignoring a compliant sign is charged as trespass under § 16-11-620, not as unlawful carry. Section 16-23-20(A)(11) says such a person “only may be charged with a violation of Section 16-11-620.” (At a business that serves alcohol, a posted sign also opens the separate § 16-23-465 charge described above.) Trespass carries a fine of up to $200 or up to thirty days. Under § 23-31-220(B), the charge requires that the person “knowingly” brought the weapon onto the premises, and a second or later conviction costs a permit holder the permit for one year.

Someone else’s home is different. Carrying into another person’s residence without the express permission of the person in control of it is a § 16-23-20(A)(10) violation, with the graded penalties below.

Federal buildings

Item (7) of § 16-23-20(A) adopts federal law’s own no-carry places. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, knowingly possessing a firearm in a “Federal facility” (a building or part of one owned or leased by the federal government, where federal employees regularly work) carries up to one year in federal prison. In a federal court facility, it carries up to two years. Both rules are subject to the exceptions listed in § 930(d), such as officers performing official duties, and to a notice requirement: notice must be posted at each public entrance, and a person cannot be convicted under those subsections where it was not posted unless the person actually knew the rule (§ 930(h)). A South Carolina permit, or eligibility to carry without one, is not itself an exception.

What unlawful carry costs

Act 111’s Section 4 rewrote the penalties for violating § 16-23-20 into a ladder by offense number (§ 16-23-50(A)(2)):

These are statutory maximums, not expected sentences; South Carolina judges sentence within the range. In every case, the statute adds that “the handgun involved in the violation of this article must be confiscated” (§ 16-23-50(B)).

The sentence is not always the biggest cost:

• A second offense can create a federal disability. Because it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years, it can count under federal § 922(g)(1), as explained above.
• A third offense is a felony punishable by up to five years. That brings in the state ban in § 16-23-500 as well as the federal ban.
• Section 16-23-495 adds prison time for some offenders without a permit. This section was added by Act 111. A person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a crime involving a concealable weapon, in violation of an offense in Chapter 23 of Title 16 (the chapter that holds the unlawful-carry, school-property and prohibited-person statutes) or § 10-11-320, faces up to three additional years. That term is served consecutively and may not exceed the sentence for the underlying offense. It must be charged as a separate count in the indictment, and it does not apply to a person whose permit was valid at the time. Whether it applies in a given case depends on the charge and on how the indictment is drawn.
• A permit holder can lose the permit. That is up to five years for a willful § 16-23-20(A) violation, five years under § 16-23-465, and one year on a second posted-sign conviction.

If you have been charged, the details decide the case. Was the place really on the list? Did the sign meet § 23-31-235? Was “express permission” given? Were you ever actually prohibited? And how would a plea land under both state and federal law? Those are the questions a North Charleston criminal defense lawyer works through with you. (When you may lawfully use a firearm in self-defense is a separate question under different statutes; see our post on South Carolina’s castle doctrine.)

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What a Concealed Weapon Permit Still Does in 2026 — Reciprocity, the Rules the Permit Still Carries, and the First-Offense Expungement Door Act 111 Opened (§ 22-5-910)

Act 111 left the permit program in place. SLED’s guidance says it “leaves in place the CWP program run by SLED for individuals who wish to continue carrying a firearm pursuant to a permit.” Here is what the permit still does, and what it no longer does.

Carrying in other states: reciprocity

SLED’s guidance says the permit “will continue to give the individual reciprocity with other recognizing states.” Reciprocity runs in two directions, and South Carolina law controls only one of them.

Which out-of-state permits South Carolina honors. Under § 23-31-215(N)(1), South Carolina honors a valid out-of-state permit held by a resident of a reciprocal state, as long as that state requires a criminal background check and a firearm training and safety course. SLED “shall maintain and publish a list” of those states. Under (N)(2), South Carolina “shall automatically recognize concealed weapon permits issued by Georgia and North Carolina.” Under (N)(3), reciprocity covers only handguns. A visitor carrying here under an out-of-state permit must follow South Carolina’s law.

Whether another state honors your South Carolina permit. That is decided by the other state’s law, not ours. Reciprocity lists change. A count on an older page, including the “22 states” that appeared in the 2017 version of this one, is not a number to rely on. Check the destination state’s own law and official list before you carry there. Its rules on where you may carry, and on what you must tell an officer, may differ from South Carolina’s.

The extra-penalty shield

The most concrete advantage Act 111 gave permit holders is § 16-23-495(B). The extra prison term of up to three years described above “does not apply to a person with a valid permit to carry a concealable weapon … provided that the permit was valid at the time the crime was committed.” The Act makes sure gun buyers hear about it: the same section requires SLED to give licensed gun dealers a notice for buyers and to run a statewide campaign explaining that the extra penalty may apply to someone without a permit.

Other things a permit still does

• Buying a gun. SLED says the permit “makes purchasing a firearm from a dealer easier.”
• A short list of officials. Under § 23-31-240, judges, solicitors, public defenders, clerks of court and certain other officials who hold a valid permit “may carry a concealable weapon anywhere within this State.” Public defenders may not carry into a local or state correctional facility.

What a permit no longer does

An ordinary permit, by itself, does not let you into any place on the § 16-23-20(A) list (§ 23-31-215(M)); the § 23-31-240 officials above are the exception. It no longer controls the school-property vehicle exceptions or the alcohol-business exception; Sections 6, 7 and 8 of Act 111 removed the permit requirement from §§ 16-23-420, 16-23-430 and 16-23-465. And in SLED’s words, “a CWP holder is not required to carry his/her CWP or disclose his/her status as a CWP holder to a law enforcement officer.”

The rules a permit holder still lives with

• Report a lost or stolen permit card to SLED within 48 hours of when you knew or reasonably should have known. Failing to is a misdemeanor with a $25 fine (§ 23-31-215(K)).
• Report a lost or stolen firearm to the local police department or sheriff’s office within ten days of discovery. This rule in § 23-31-215(K) applies to anyone lawfully in possession of a firearm, permit or not.
• Know what revokes a permit. Under § 23-31-215(J), a permit is revoked if the holder becomes prohibited under state law, moves out of state and no longer owns South Carolina property, surrenders it, or is “charged with an offense that, upon conviction, would prohibit the person from possessing a firearm.” If the person is later found not guilty, the permit “must be reinstated at no charge.” A revoked permit must be surrendered, and failing to do so carries a $25 fine.

The expungement doors Act 111 opened

A gun-possession conviction does not have to be permanent. Act 111 created two ways to clear one.

1. A first unlawful-possession conviction, after three years (§ 22-5-910(A)). Section 17 of Act 111 added “a first offense for unlawful possession of a firearm or weapon carrying a penalty of not more than one year or a fine of one thousand dollars, or both” to South Carolina’s general expungement statute (S.C. Code Title 22, Chapter 5). Three years after the conviction, you may apply to the circuit court. The first-offense penalty for a § 16-23-20 violation, up to $1,000 and one year, fits that ceiling, and the Act itself describes a § 16-23-20 conviction as one for “unlawful possession of a handgun” (§ 17-1-65). The court “may” grant the order if you have had no other conviction, including out-of-state convictions, during the three years. You cannot have charges pending (unless they have been pending more than five years), and you can use § 22-5-910 only once.

2. One pre-2024 unlawful-carry conviction (§ 17-1-65). Section 20 of the Act created a separate door: “A person may apply for an expungement of one conviction for unlawful possession of a handgun as provided in Section 16-23-20, if the conviction occurred prior to the enactment of the S.C. Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024.” The application “must be made within five years of the enactment of this section” (S.C. Code Title 17, Chapter 1). The Act took effect in March 2024, so that window runs to March 2029.

The Supreme Court of South Carolina approved the paperwork for both, effective July 1, 2024. It revised the general expungement order form (SCCA223A1) to add the firearm clause and created a separate form (SCCA223C) for § 17-1-65 (order). Both are a right to apply, not an automatic result. For the whole map of what can and cannot come off a South Carolina record, see our guide to what can be expunged in South Carolina.

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How to Get a South Carolina Concealed Weapon Permit in 2026: Age 18, No Application Fee, Free SLED Training

If you decide a permit is worth having, the process is simpler and cheaper than the 2017 version of this page described. The rules are in § 23-31-215 and § 23-31-210.

Who qualifies

SLED “must issue” a permit to a resident or a “qualified nonresident” who is at least eighteen and “who is not prohibited by state law from possessing the weapon,” once the application is complete and the background check is favorable (§ 23-31-215(A)–(B)). A qualified nonresident is someone who lives in another state but owns real property in South Carolina (§ 23-31-210(2)). Section 23 of Act 111 lowered the age from twenty-one to eighteen.

What you submit

Under § 23-31-215(A), an application includes:

1. a completed, signed application;
2. a photocopy of a driver’s license or photo identification card;
3. proof of residence, or for a qualified nonresident, proof of South Carolina property ownership;
4. proof of vision, or for a person licensed to drive in South Carolina, a valid driver’s license;
5. proof of training; and
6. a complete set of fingerprints.

SLED’s site lets you start a new application online and book an appointment at an IdentoGo (IDEMIA) site, where you submit your documents and your fingerprints are taken and sent to SLED electronically. If you apply by mail, SLED asks for two completed and signed fingerprint cards (SLED concealed weapons permit page).

Proof of training — and the free SLED course

Training is still required for a permit. In general, proof of training means completing a handgun education course within the three years before you apply. The course must cover South Carolina’s handgun and deadly-force law, handgun safety, safe storage, and de-escalation, and it must include firing at least twenty-five rounds in front of the instructor (§ 23-31-210(4)(a)). The statute also accepts other forms of proof. One example is a DD214 showing completion of basic military training, which still requires the South Carolina law component.

Act 111 also required SLED to provide a training course that satisfies the requirement without charging participants. In the statute’s words, “SLED may not charge participants a fee of any kind for the concealed weapon permit training course,” and the course must be offered “in every county in South Carolina at least twice per month” (§ 23-31-215(V)). SLED announced the free program on October 24, 2024. According to SLED, the program includes:

• at least four hours of instruction, including the law of self-defense and the laws on carrying a firearm safely and legally in South Carolina;
• a 50-question multiple-choice test and a 25-round qualification, passed at 70% or better;
• eligibility for students who are at least 18 and, in the words of SLED’s current registration page, “have a South Carolina Driver’s License/ID or own real property in South Carolina”; and
• a requirement to bring a handgun and 25 rounds of ammunition (SLED calls it “the same CWP program only free for the instructional part of the course”). If you do not own a gun, the registration page says to “contact the instructor in the confirmation email to arrange to rent a gun for the course,” and it adds that you do not need prior experience with a gun.

Private certified instructors may still run their own classes and charge for them (§ 23-31-215(V)(3)). The General Assembly added its own view in Section 24 of the Act. It said it “encourages all gun owners to pursue and receive appropriate gun safety training before carrying a firearm or weapon.”

What it costs, and how long it takes

• No application fee. The 2021 Open Carry With Training Act deleted the old fifty-dollar application fee. Section 23-31-215(C) now says “SLED may not charge a fee of any kind for a concealable weapon permit.” A law enforcement agency may charge up to five dollars to take your fingerprints.
• A ninety-day decision. SLED must give an applicant it denies a written statement of its reasons within ninety days of receiving the application; otherwise, it issues the permit (§ 23-31-215(C)). A denial can be appealed in writing to the Chief of SLED within thirty days, and from there to the Administrative Law Court (§ 23-31-215(D)).
• Renewals. SLED’s course page says an expired permit holder does not have to retake the class. You can renew online for up to 18 months past expiration, and by paper application after that.

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FAQ: Can You Conceal Carry in South Carolina Without a Permit? Frequently Asked Questions

Is open carry legal in South Carolina now?

For a person 18 or older who is not otherwise prohibited, yes, since March 7, 2024, with or without a permit. Permit holders have been allowed to carry openly since August 15, 2021. Either way, the places listed in § 16-23-20(A) and the school, alcohol-business and federal-facility statutes still apply.

Can I keep a gun in my car without a permit?

Section 16-23-20(D) says a person “who is not otherwise prohibited by law from carrying a firearm may lawfully store a firearm anywhere in a vehicle whether occupied or unoccupied.” On school or college property, though, the stricter vehicle rule in §§ 16-23-420 and 16-23-430 applies: the vehicle must be attended or locked, and the firearm must be in a closed glove compartment, console or trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and carried in the luggage compartment.

Can an 18-year-old carry a handgun in South Carolina?

Under South Carolina law, yes, if the person is not otherwise prohibited. SLED’s guidance says the Act “allows individuals 18 years old and older to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit,” and 18 is now the minimum age for a permit. A person under eighteen may not possess or acquire a handgun, apart from the narrow situations § 16-23-30 describes.

I was charged with carrying without a permit before March 7, 2024. Does the new law end my case?

Not by itself. Section 25 of Act 111 says its repeals and amendments do “not affect pending actions” and that the old laws remain in force “for the purpose of sustaining any pending … criminal prosecution.” How a pre-Act case should be handled now is a conversation to have with your lawyer.

Can a pre-2024 unlawful-carry conviction come off my record?

Possibly. Section 17-1-65 lets a person apply to expunge one conviction for unlawful possession of a handgun under the old § 16-23-20, if the conviction came before the Act. The application must be made within five years of the section’s enactment in March 2024. It is a right to apply, using the court-approved form SCCA223C, not an automatic result.

Does a pending domestic-violence charge affect my permit?

It can. A permit is revoked if the holder is “charged with an offense that, upon conviction, would prohibit the person from possessing a firearm,” and it “must be reinstated at no charge” if the person is later found not guilty (§ 23-31-215(J)(4)). Beyond the permit, the triggers differ. A qualifying domestic-violence conviction can bring the state ban in § 16-25-30 and the federal ban for a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” in § 922(g)(9). A protective order can bring the state ban when the family court judge makes the required findings and orders it, and the federal ban in § 922(g)(8) when the order meets the federal conditions.

South Carolina honors North Carolina and Georgia permits automatically. Does that work in reverse?

Not because of South Carolina law. Section 23-31-215(N)(2) controls only which permits South Carolina honors. Whether North Carolina or Georgia honors a South Carolina permit, or lets a visitor carry without one, depends on that state’s law.

Did Act 111 change when I can use a gun in self-defense?

No. Act 111 is about who may carry and where. None of the sections it amended is a self-defense statute. When force is justified is governed by separate law; see our post on South Carolina’s castle doctrine.

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Charged With Unlawful Carry or a Gun-Possession Offense in North Charleston? Talk to Rad Deaton

A gun charge often lands on someone who believed they were following the law: someone who carried into a place they did not know was on the list, walked past a sign, or never realized an old conviction or a family court order still barred them. The stakes are real. A carry conviction climbs with each offense, a prohibited-person charge can carry a mandatory minimum, and federal law can attach consequences South Carolina’s statute does not mention.

Every case turns on its facts. We look at where you were and whether that place was actually on the statutory list, whether any sign complied with § 23-31-235, whether you were in fact a prohibited person under state law, federal law or both, how any plea would affect your future right to have a firearm, and whether an expungement door under § 22-5-910 or § 17-1-65 is open to you. We cannot promise an outcome. What we can do is make sure every one of those questions is asked and answered with the actual statute in hand.

If you or a family member has been charged in North Charleston, Charleston or anywhere in the Lowcountry, call Deaton Law Firm at (843) 225-5723 or request your free consultation. You can also learn more about our Charleston criminal defense practice.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change and every case turns on its facts. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney about your situation.