SC attorney general and Columbia mayor at odds over capital city's gun measures

Kirk Brown | The Greenville News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Tuesday that gun restrictions approved by the city of Columbia earlier this year should be repealed because they violate both state law and the Second Amendment.

In September, the Columbia City Council approved a red-flag ordinance that would enable police to seize firearms from residents who are deemed to be an extreme risk. At the same meeting, another ordinance was approved prohibiting possession of firearms within 1,000 feet of private or public schools in the city.

The city council also approved a measure in July banning homemade guns without serial numbers, so-called "ghost guns."

Wilson's office issued a pair of legal opinions Monday stating that courts would likely find that the measures approved in September conflict with South Carolina law, which gives state legislators authority to regulate guns. Wilson's office issued a similar opinion in September regarding the city's "ghost guns" ordinance.

"Accordingly, in an effort to uphold the rule of law and to ensure protection of taxpayers, this office strongly urges that these ordinances be repealed," Wilson stated in a letter Tuesday to Columbia Mayor Steven Benjamin. "The ordinances not only undercut state law, but undercut the Second Amendment."

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Benjamin contended that the city's measures are legally valid.

"We would like to respectfully disagree with the Attorney General Office’s opinion that the City of Columbia does not have the authority to pass ordinances that protect its citizens from gun violence," he said.

Rep. Jonathon Hill, a Republican from Townville, requested the opinions from Wilson's office on the red-flag and ghost-gun ordinances.

In an emailed statement Tuesday on the city's red-flag ordinance, Hill said, “Mayor Benjamin and the Columbia City Council pose an extreme risk to the right to self-defense, not only in the city limits, but also statewide. Not only have they openly defied state law by passing this ordinance, but they have also completely circumvented the human rights protections afforded by the United States Constitution in the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments.”

As of this summer, 17 states and the District of Columbia had passed varying forms of red-flag laws involving the seizure of weapons from gun owners who are found to be a threat to themselves or others. More than half of these laws were approved after 17 people were killed and 17 others were wounded in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

At a March news conference in Greenville, Hill joined National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown in criticizing Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina for his support of red-flag laws.

Hill and other critics argue that seizing guns from people who have not been convicted of a crime is a violation of due-process rights.

National surveys have shown that at least 70% of American voters support red-flag laws. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in 2018 found that level of support at 85%.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM