COLUMBIA — Academy Sports is open. Todd and Moore in downtown Columbia is not.

Both are sporting goods stores, which are categorized as nonessential under Gov. Henry McMaster's orders dictating which businesses must close to curb the spread of COVID-19 in South Carolina. But the one that sells guns can stay open.

That's just one example of seeming discrepancies in what stores can keep their doors open amid the pandemic.

The state Department of Commerce, tasked with providing guidance on business designations, has fielded nearly 4,650 questions, many of them duplicates, since April 4, just a couple days before the governors "home or work" order. In that time, nearly 250 entities were told they were non-essential and needed to close their doors to the public.

The Republican governor issued his most restrictive order on Monday that people stay home unless they're going to work or shop at essential businesses, as well as some other exceptions.

“Please understand that Gov. McMaster has asked Commerce to keep businesses open wherever possible and that if they are providing an essential product or service they should be authorized to remain open so long as they are otherwise in compliance with CDC guidelines,” the Commerce Department's chief counsel, Karen Manning, said in an email to Columbia officials.

Columbia let its own stay-at-home order expire, but now Mayor Steve Benjamin is concerned that broad exemptions for business may put people at risk.

For example, McMaster’s order, which is largely based on recommendations from the federal Department of Homeland Security, closes furniture and home-furnishings stores but allows mattress retailers to keep showrooms open.

Massage-therapy establishments were required to shutter. But some chiropractic offices, which are allowed, have massage therapists on staff.

And you can’t go to a barber but you can get your pet groomed.

Columbia Police Department contacted the Commerce Department about emails that local vape shops showed officers trying to enforce the governor's orders, which list the types of businesses considered nonessential. Because that list doesn't address vape shops at all, they are allowed to operate.

“This is laughable and intellectually dishonest with the people of South Carolina,” Benjamin, one of the state's leading Democrats, said in an email.

He stressed the importance of making the essential business designation easily understood and justifiable, though the city's own "stay at home" order also provided broad exceptions for businesses. But it did so in the opposite way — listing the types of businesses that can stay open versus those that must close.

"We need to make sure, through policy making, we're enforcing social distancing to flatten the curve and save lives," Benjamin said. "That's the goal here and the only reason we're concerned."

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S.C. Chamber of Commerce President Ted Pitts said most of his members are happy with the "business friendly" way the governor decided which companies can stay open, and he's satisfied with the guidance Commerce is giving.

Pitts said orders that list the types of businesses that can’t open, versus focusing on all that can, are easier for police departments to enforce.

No Bull Mattress, with several locations around the Lowcountry, kept showrooms open after it received a letter from Commerce saying it could. In the letter, the agency encouraged the company to do online sales as much as possible.

In contrast, at Columbia Mattress Firm locations, workers answering the phones cited the governor's order as their reason for showroom closure. Other locations of the nation's No. 1 mattress seller are still open.

"Some areas are permitting our stores to stay open based on local orders since furniture and bedding products are still a need for local consumers with family members who may be quarantined in the same home, family members who are sheltering together unexpectedly, and consumers who moved into new homes prior to the commencement of the crisis, among other reasons," Mattress Firm CEO John Eck said in emailed comments provided to USA TODAY.

Christie Bryant of Chiropractic Professionals of Columbia said the business has a massage therapist on staff but chose not to offer those services. She said many other chiropractic offices in the city have done the same.

The business has, however, changed its policies, which include booking only one appointment per hour and taking patients' temperatures as they walk in the door.

McMaster said Monday that gun stores are not on his list of nonessential businesses because of the Second Amendment.

"It’s a constitutional right to have and bear arms," he said.

Other sporting goods stores that sell guns staying open in South Carolina include Bass Pro Shops, in Myrtle Beach, and Cabela's, located in Fort Mill and Greenville. But company officials said they're limiting the number of customers allowed in the store at a time and enforcing six feet of social distance, as required by McMaster's orders.

Customers coming into Cabela's in Greenville are coming mainly to buy guns and ammunition, said general manager J.D. Large. But while there, they can still browse the fishing gear or clothing racks. Camping and survival gear also have been popular, he said.

Prior to the governor's order, DICK’S Sporting Goods, which has 13 locations across the state, had already closed its stores nationwide, with only curbside pickup, allowed under the governor's order, being offered at specified stores. Firearms are not being sold as those purchases would need to be made in-store and include background check requirements.

Field & Stream, a subsidiary of DICK'S which has a location in North Charleston, is also closed.

"Our company has always done what’s right for the safety of our communities. We look forward to re-opening and serving you in-person soon," CEO Ed Stack said in a statement.