South Carolina S 18: Driver's license suspension due to DUI

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 18 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 11, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 18

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
16-23-540 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT STORAGE OF A 
FIREARM, DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS, AND ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 5, Chapter 23, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
16-23-540. (A) For purposes of this 
section:

 (1) 
"Child" means a person younger than eighteen years of age.

 (2) 
"Criminal negligence" means the reckless disregard of the safety of others.

 (3) 
"Firearm" has the meaning provided in Section 16-23-490(D).

 (4) 
"Immediate family" means a person's spouse, parents, children, brothers, 
sisters, grandparents, grandchildren, and mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, 
brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law.

 (5) 
"Readily dischargeable firearm" means a firearm that is loaded with ammunition, 
whether or not a round is in the chamber.

 (6) 
"Secure" means to take steps that a reasonable person would take to prevent a 
child's access to a readily dischargeable firearm including, but not limited 
to, placing a firearm in a locked container or temporarily rendering the 
firearm inoperable by a trigger lock or other means.

 (7) 
"Serious bodily injury" means a physical condition that creates a substantial 
risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment 
of the function of a bodily member or organ.

 (B) A 
person commits an offense if a child gains access to a readily dischargeable 
firearm, and the person, with criminal negligence:

 (1) 
failed to secure the firearm; or

 (2) 
left the firearm in a manner that the person knew or should have known a child 
would be able to gain access to the firearm.

 (C) 
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the child's 
access to the firearm:

 (1) 
was supervised by a person eighteen years of age or older, and was for hunting, 
sporting, or other lawful purposes;

 (2) 
consisted of lawful defense by the child of people or property; or

 (3) 
was gained as the result of an unlawful entry by any person.

 (D)(1) Except as provided in item (2), a 
person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor 
and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or 
imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

 (2) 
For violations of this section in which the child discharges the firearm and 
causes death or serious bodily injury to himself or another person, a person 
who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, 
upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned 
for not more than three years, or both.

 (E) A 
law enforcement officer may not arrest a person who violates the provisions of 
this section until the seventh day after the date on which the offense is 
committed if:

 (1) 
the person who violates the provisions of this section is a member of the 
immediate family of the child who discharged the firearm; and

 (2) 
the child in discharging the firearm caused death or serious bodily injury to 
himself.

 (F)(1) Any retail or wholesale store, 
shop, or sales outlet that sells firearms shall conspicuously post at each 
purchase counter the following warning in block letters not less than one inch 
in height the phrase: "IT IS UNLAWFUL TO STORE OR LEAVE A FIREARM THAT CAN BE 
DISCHARGED IN A MANNER THAT A REASONABLE PERSON SHOULD KNOW IS ACCESSIBLE TO A 
MINOR."

 (2) 
Any retail or wholesale store, shop, or sales outlet that sells firearms shall, 
upon the sale or transfer of a firearm, deliver a written copy of the warning 
language in item (1) to the purchaser or transferee.

 (3) 
A person who knowingly violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of 
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one thousand 
dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on December 11, 2024 at 04:19 PM