South Carolina

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South Carolina

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to South Carolina. It supports research on the state’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the colonial period through statehood to the present.

Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, militia and frontier records, coastal and port archives (e.g., Charleston), manufacturing and agricultural collections, and oral histories tied to South Carolina people and places.
Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the state.

Cite the Firearms Research Center and the item’s handle/DOI when using materials. Rights and licensing vary by item.

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Now showing 1 - 40 of 49

9 Stat. at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 358 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1792)
"[A]ll free negroes and Indians, (nations of Indians in amity with the State excepted,) Moors, mulattoes and mestizoes, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, shall be obliged to serve in the said militia.
9 Stat. at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 665-75 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1778)
Applied to "all male free inhabitants ... from the age of sixteen to sixty years." Every militiaman had to "constantly keep in good repair, at his place of abode ... one good musket and bayonet, or a good substantial smooth bore gun and bayonet, a cross belt and cartouch box" that could hold thirty-six rounds, "twelve rounds of good cartridges," plus "half a pound of spare powder and twenty-four spare rounds of leaden bullets or buck-shot," a cover for the gunlock, wax, worm picker, and "one screw driver or substantial knife." Instead of the musket plus bayonet, a militiaman could choose "one good rifle-gun and tomahawk or cutlass."
9 Stat. at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 689-90 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1784)
"Excused from militia duty, except in times of alarm ... all persons under the age of eighteen years or above the age of fifty years."
9 Stat. at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 643 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1739)
"all persons who are liable to bear arms, shall constantly keep in their houses such arms, furniture, ammunition and accoutrements.
8 The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Corporations and the Militia 485 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1794)
Organized its militia "in conformity with the act of Congress." The South Carolina militia was "every citizen who shall, from time to time, arrive at the age of eighteen years." It excluded "all persons under the age of eighteen, and above the age of forty-five years." Additionally, "all free white aliens or transient persons, above the age of eighteen and under the age of forty-five years, who have resided or hereafter shall or may reside in this state for the term of six months [were] subject and liable to do and perform all patrol and militia duty which shall or may be required by the commanding officer" of the district." The required arms were the same as the federal Uniform Militia Act.
9 The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 666-72 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1778)
Applied to "all male free inhabitants . . . from the age of sixteen to sixty years."391 Every militiaman had to "constantly keep in good repair, at his place of abode . . . one good musket and bayonet, or a good substantial smooth bore gun and bayonet, a cross belt and cartouch box" that could hold thirty-six rounds, "twelve rounds of good cartridges," plus "half a pound of spare powder and twenty-four spare rounds of leaden bullets or buck-shot," a cover for the gunlock, wax, worm picker, and "one screw driver or substantial knife." Instead of the musket plus bayonet, a militiaman could choose "one good rifle-gun and tomahawk or cutlass.
9 The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 691 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1791)
The necessary arms were revised in 1791. Firearms were "a good musket and bayonet . . . or other sufficient gun." Edged arms were "a good and sufficient small sword, broad sword, cutlass or hatchet." Along with the usual cartouch box, powder horn or flask, shot bag or pouch, spare flint, and ammunition.
9 The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Containing the Acts Relating to Roads, Bridges and Ferries, With an Appendix, Containing the Militia Acts Prior to 1794, at 645-47 (David J. McCord ed., 1841)
(1747)
Affirmed that it was "lawful to . . . call together all male persons in this Province, from the age of sixteen to sixty years." It also made "every person liable to appear and bear arms . . . keep in his house, or at his usual place of residence, and bring with him to such muster, exercise or training, one gun or musket, fit for service, a cover for his lock, one cartridge box," twelve cartridges, horn or flask filled with at least a quarter pound of gun powder, a shot pouch with appropriate bullets, "one girdle or belt, one ball of wax . . . to defend his arms in rain, one worm and picker, four spare flints, a bayonet, sword or hatchet.
1931 S.C. Acts 78
(1931)
No. 58, § 1: Prohibited the setting of any loaded trap gun or spring gun. Punishable by a fine of $100-500 or imprisonment of 30 days to 1 year.
1923 S.C. Acts 221
(1923)
No. 148, § 19 (¶ 3): Prohibited the selling or giving to a minor a pistol or pistol cartridge, brass knucks, Bowie knife, dirk, loaded cane or slingshot. Also prohibited a parent from giving such a weapon to their child under 12 years old. Punishable by fine up to $50 or imprisonment up to 30 days.
1934 S.C. Acts 1288
(1934)
No. 731, §§ 1–6: Prohibited transporting, possessing, selling, renting, or giving a firearm or machine gun. Punishable by fine up to $1,000 and imprisonment with solitary confinement up to 20 years.
1901 S.C. Acts 748
(1901)
No. 435, § 1: It shall be unlawful for any one to carry about the person whether concealed or not any pistol less than 20 inches long and 3 pounds in weight.
1923 S.C. Acts 19-20
(1923)
No. 11, § 11: There shall be levied, assessed, collected and paid upon all ammunition, including shells for shotguns and cartridges for rifles, pistols, revolvers, automatic pistols, rifles and machine guns, and upon such shells and cartridges partially prepared for use but lacking powder or shot or other necessary constituent, and upon blank shells and cartridges (but not upon powder or shot or caps not prepared and not in form to use in modern firearms), when sold at retail or to the ultimate consumer, the following: Upon all shotgun or other shells, two ($2.00) dollars per thousand rounds; Upon all cartridges, twenty-five (25) caliber or greater, two ($2.00) dollars per thousand rounds.
1918 S.C. Acts 723
(1918)
No. 393, § 1: Provided further, that it shall be unlawful to at any time use any automatic or pump gun while hunting birds in said county. Any person violating any of the provisions hereof shall upon conviction in any Court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty dollars, or be imprisoned at hard labor not less than ten days nor more than twenty days for each and every offense.
1903 S.C. Acts 124
(1903)
No. 82, § 1: Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, That no person shall sell, deliver or dispose of dynamite or similar powerful explosives, except ordinary gunpowder, unless such person knows the purchaser or the party to receive the same and is satisfied that the explosive is not to be used for killing fish, and then only upon a written application from party desiring to purchase, stating the purpose for which he desires to use the said explosives; and a person selling, delivering or disposing of such explosives, shall keep a book in which shall be recorded the name of the purchaser or party to whom the explosive is delivered, the quantity so sold or delivered, and the date of such sale or delivery.
1910 S.C. Acts 694
(1910)
No. 859, § 1: That from and after the approval of this Act it shall be unlawful for any person to present or point at any other person any loaded or unloaded firearm, and any one, on conviction therefor, shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; provided that nothing contained herein shall be construed to abridge the right of self-defense or to apply to theatricals or like performances.
1899 S.C. Acts 97
(1899)
No. 67, § 1: Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, That any person who shall engage in any boisterous conduct, under the influence of intoxicating liquors, or while feigning to be under the influence of such liquors, or without just cause or excuse, shall discharge any gun, pistol or other firearms while upon or within fifty yards of any public road, except upon his own premises, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
1897 S.C. Acts 423
(1897)
No. 251, § 1: Prohibited the concealed carry of a pistol, dirk, dagger, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon usually used for the infliction of personal injury. Violators fined not more than one hundred dollars and not less than twenty dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty nor less than days.
1891 S.C. Acts 1101–02
(1891)
No. 703: Prohibited the sale of any pistol, rifle, cartridge, or pistol cartridge less than 45 calibre, or metal knuckles without obtaining a license from the county the person or corporation is doing business in. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor, fined not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both.
1894 S.C. Rev. Stat. 431, ch. 28, § 490 (Vol. 2)
(1890)
No person or corporation within the limits of this State shall sell or offer for sale any pistol, rifle, cartridge or pistol cartridge less than .45 caliber, or metal knuckles, without first obtaining a license from the county in which such person or corporation is doing business so to do.
1903 S.C. Acts 127-28
(1903)
No. 86, § 1: [I]t shall be unlawful for any one to carry about the person, whether concealed or not, any pistol less than twenty inches long and three pounds in weight; and it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to manufacture, sell or offer for sale, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport for sale or into this state, any pistols of less length and weight.
1900 S.C. Acts 449
(1900)
No. 254, § 1: That any person who shall, without just cause or excuse, or while under the influence, or feigning to be under the influence of intoxicating liquors, engage in any boisterous conduct, or who shall, without just cause or excuse, discharge any gun, pistol or other firearm while upon or within fifty yards of any public road or highway, except upon his own premises, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall pay a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or beimprisoned for not more than thirty days.
1893 S.C. Acts 426
(1893)
No. 309, § 2: That the County Commissioners of the Several Counties of the State be, and they are herby, authorized to issue licenses in their respective Counties for the sale of pistols and pistol cartridges upon the payment to County Treasurer by the person or corporation so applying for said licenses of the sum of twenty-five dollars annually.
1878 S.C. Acts 724
(1878)
No. 602: It shall not be lawful for any person on the Counties of Horry, Marion, Darlington, Clarendon, Chesterfield, Georgetown, Marlboro, and Williamsburg to fish with nets or gigs, or set traps, or shoot fish with any kind of gun, in any of the fresh water rivers, creeks, lakes or other streams in said Counties, between the first day of May and the first day of September in any year hereafter.
1870 S.C. Acts 403
(1870)
No. 288, §4: Granted "Trial Justices" the authority to arrest all "affrayers, rioters, disturbers and breakers of the peace, and all who go armed offensively to the terror of the people." Including those who make threatening speeches, dangerous person, and disorderly persons.
1873 S.C. Rev. Stat. 404, ch. 77, § 21
(1873)
That it shall not be lawful for any non-resident of this State to use a gun, set a trap or decoy, or to employ any other device for killing or taking deer, turkeys, ducks or other game, not to set a trap, seine, or net, or draw or use the same, or any other contrivance for taking or killing fish, within the territorial limits of this State.
1873 S.C. Rev. Stat. 710, ch. 138, § 7
(1873)
Whoever shall challenge another to fight at sword, pistol, rapier, or any other dangerous weapon, or who shall accept any such challenge, shall, for every offense, on conviction thereof, be deprived of the right of suffrage, and be disabled forever from holding any office of profit or honor under this State, and shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding two years, at the discretion of the Court.
Ordinances of the Town of Columbia 61-62 (1823)
(1823)
No. 41: That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any person to fire or discharge any gun, pistol or other small arms within the limits bounded by Henderson, Blossom, Lincoln and Upper streets
An Ordinance to Prohibit the Carrying of Concealed Weapons Within the Corporate Limits of the Town of Allendale, §§ 1-3, in Edgefield Advertiser, May 13, 1880, at 4.
(1880)
That on and after the passage of this ordinance the carrying concealed about the person of any pistol, dirk, butcher-knife, sword or spear-cane, metal knuckles or other weapons of offence is hereby prohibited within the corporate limits of the town of Allendale, under a penalty of not less than ten dollars fine or ten days' imprisonment for each and every offence, upon conviction thereof; Provided, that this ordinance shall not apply to the sheriffs of this State or their deputies, or to any special or regular constable, or to the town marshal or his duly appointed assistants, in the discharge of their respective duties as such.
A Handbook of Politics for 1868, at 36 (1868)
(1866)
Order of General Sickles, Disregarding the Code, January 17, 1866 – General Order No. 1, § 16: The constitutional rights of all loyal and well-disposed inhabitants to bear arms will not be infringed; nevertheless this shall not be construed to sanction the unlawful practice of carrying concealed weapons, nor to authorize any person to enter with arms on the premises of another against his consent. No one shall bear arms who has borne arms against the United Stales, unless he shall have taken the amnesty oath prescribed in the proclamation of the President of the United States, dated May 20, 1865, or the oath of allegiance, prescribed in the proclamation of the President, dated December 8, 1863, within the time prescribed therein. And no disorderly person, vagrant, or disturber of the peace, shall be allowed to bear arms."
By-Laws of the University of South Carolina, Regulations of the Faculty 35-37 (1867)
(1867)
§ 6: Students are strictly forbidden to visit bar-rooms, grog-shops, or disorderly houses; or to use, or bring within the precincts of the University, any intoxicating liquors; or to have about their persons, or keep in their rooms, any deadly weapon, which may be secretly carried: upon pain of admonition, suspension, or report for expulsion, at the discretion of the Faculty. Any student who shall be guilty of any atrocious or infamous offence, who shall fight a duel, or give or accept a challenge to fight a duel, or who shall carry any challenge to fight a duel, or act as a second to those who shall give or accept a challenge, shall be forthwith suspended from the University, and reported for expulsion."
William Rice, A Digested Index of the Statute Law of South Carolina From the Earliest Period to the Year 1836, at 356 (1838)
(1835)
Prohibited any "free negro or other free person of color" from carry firearms without a ticket.
1894 S.C. Rev. Stat. 307, tit. 2, ch. 9, § 129 (enacted 1880)
(1880)
Prohibited the carrying of a concealed pistol, dirk, dagger, slungshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon. Punishable by fine up to $200 and/or imprisonment up to 1 year.
1866 S.C. Acts 275
(1865)
§§ 34–44: Prohibited any "[p]ersons of color" from being a part of the militia and from keeping a firearm, sword, or other military weapon without permission.
Ordinances of the Town of Columbia 75-76 (1823)
(1823)
Ordinance no. 57: No merchant, retailer, dealer in powder, or any person or persons whatever, within the said town, shall retain, keep or have in his, her or their possession, at any time, a greater quantity of gunpowder than fifty pounds weight.
1882 S.C. Gen Stat. 699, tit. 1, ch. 100, pt. 4, § 2472
(1882)
Prohibited the concealed carry of any pistol, dirk, dagger, slung-shot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon used for the infliction of personal injury. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by confiscation of the weapon, and fined no more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than twelve months, or both fined and imprisoned.
4 Stat. at Large of S.C. 343-44 (1838)
(1776)
An Act to Prevent Sedition, and Punish Insurgents and Disturbers of the Public Peace, § 1: Prohibited any person to "take up arms with a hostile intent."
The General Ordinances of the City of Charleston, South Carolina 199–200 (1895)
(1815)
ch. 15, §§ 566-570: Sec. 566.[1] It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to carry gunpowder without a secure and proper covering, in any wagon, cart, dray, or otherwise, through the streets, lanes, or on the wharves of this City, and any person or persons so offending, shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of fifty dollars. Sec. 567.[2] It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell any gunpowder, which may at the time be within the City of Charleston, in any quantity, without having first obtained a license to keep and sell gunpowder, the said license to be issued by the Clerk of Council, who shall receive, for the use of the City, from the person obtaining the license, the sum of one dollar for each license so issued, and every such license shall be in force for one year from the date thereof, unless previously annulled by the City Council, and no longer; and every person or persons offending herein shall forfeit and pay for the said offence the sum of one hundred dollars. Sec. 568.[3] It shall not be lawful for any merchant, factor, retailer, or dealer in gunpowder, or any person or persons whomsoever, to retain, have, or keep in his, her, or their possession, any quantity of gunpowder exceeding one pound in weight, unless the same shall be well secured in a tin canister or canisters, which said canisters shall be plainly marked or labelled on the outside thereof, with the word "Gunpowder," and shall be deposited and kept on the right side of the principal door or entrance to the store, shop, or premises wherein the same may be; and any person or persons offending against any of the provisions of this section, shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, the sum of one hundred dollars. Sec. 569.[4] No merchant, factor, retailer, or dealer in gunpowder, or any person or persons whomsoever, within this City, shall retain, keep, or have, in his, her or their possession, at any one time, a greater quantity of gunpowder, than twenty-five pounds weight; and, on information given to the Mayor, or the same coming by any means, to his knowledge, of a greater quantity than twenty-five pounds weight, in the possession of, or within the enclosure or enclosures of any person or persons whomsoever, the Mayor is hereby required and directed to prosecute such person or persons so offending, in any court of competent jurisdiction, when, on conviction of the same, the party shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars. Sec. 570.[5] It shall not be lawful to establish or keep within the limits of the City, any magazine, or place for the storage of gunpowder, nor to keep any gunpowder in any place within the said limits, excepting in small quantities, as herein provided, under a penalty or fine not exceeding five hundred dollars
Ordinances of the City Council of Charleston 153 (1802)
(1802)
No. 145, § 5: That it shall and may be lawful for the fire-masters to enter into the houses, out-houses, stables and yards of every owner or tenant of the same in Charleston, wherever they shall see occasion and enquire, search, and examine if any quantities of gun-powder ,hay, straw, fodder, pitch, tar, rosin, turpentine, hemp, oil, tallow, or other combustible matter, are lodged in any such place within the said city, which may be in danger of taking fire; and if the said fire-masters shall find there is apparent danger that fire may be communicated by such combustibles, they shall admonish the owner or the tenant of such house or houses, to remove the same
The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Edited Under Authority of the Legislature 417 (1840)
(1743)
"every white male inhabitant of this Province... who shall, on any Sunday or Christmas day in the year, go and resort to any church or any other public place of divine worship within this Province, and shall not carry with him a gun or a pair of horse pistols, in good order and fit for service, with at least six charges of gun-powder and ball, and shall not carry the same into the church or other place of divine worship as aforesaid, every such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty shillings, current money, for every neglect of the same."

South Carolina

South Carolina

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