Could off duty and reserve police officers carry concealed handguns on South Carolina school property?

Plain-English summary

A legislator asked whether off duty police officers and reserve officers could carry concealed weapons on school property. The AG read the school property firearm law as expressly exempting law enforcement officers, and treated reserve police officers as law enforcement officers for that purpose.

The opinion also read the general handgun law as allowing regular and reserve South Carolina officers to carry regardless of duty status. It distinguished the phrase requiring official duties for officers from other jurisdictions. On that reading, the AG concluded that the school property prohibition and ordinary concealed weapons restrictions did not apply to those officers.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2007. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did the 2007 school property firearm ban apply to off duty South Carolina police officers? A: The AG said no. It read the statute's law enforcement exception together with a handgun provision that did not require those officers to be on duty.

Q: Did a reserve officer count as a law enforcement officer? A: The opinion said yes, despite the reserve role's limited and part time nature.

Q: Did the opinion apply the same duty status rule to out of state officers? A: No. It said the statute's official duty phrase referred to federal and out of state officers, not the South Carolina officers at issue.

Background and statutory framework

The AG compared the school property prohibition and its law enforcement exception with the general handgun carrying statute and the then existing concealed weapon provisions.

Citations and references

The opinion discussed S.C. Code Ann. § 16-23-420(A) and S.C. Code Ann. § 16-23-20.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/june-4-2007/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/crawford-k-r-6-4-07-os-8397-off-duty-police-reserve-officers-concealed-weapons-school-property.pdf

Original opinion text

June 4, 2007

The Honorable Kristopher R. Crawford
Member, House of Representatives
327-D Blatt Building
Columbia, South Carolina 29211
Dear Representative Crawford:
In a letter to this office you questioned whether off-duty police officers and reserve officers are allowed to carry concealed weapons on school property. You particularly referenced the provisions of S.C. Code Ann. § 16-23-420(A) which states
[i]t is unlawful for a person to possess a firearm of any kind on any premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publiclyowned building, without the express permission of the authorities in charge of the premises or property. It is specifically provided, however, by Section (D) that “[t]his section does not apply to a guard, law enforcement officer, or member of the armed forces, or student of military science.” Therefore, law enforcement officers are not prohibited from possessing a firearm on the premises of or on property owned, operated or controlled by a school. While it is obvious that a police officer would be considered a law enforcement officer, a reserve officer would also come within the definition of a “law enforcement officer”. The term “reserve police officer” is defined by S.C. Code Ann. § 23-28-10 as “...persons given part-time police powers without being regularly assigned to full-time law enforcement duties.” Therefore, reserve police officers are generally considered “law enforcement officers” even though they serve in a limited capacity. See: Op. Atty. Gen. dated February 16, 1995. See also: S.C. Code Ann. § 2328-70(A) (“Reserves shall serve and function as law enforcement officers only on specific orders and directions of the chief or sheriff.”); § 23-28-100 (“Reserves shall wear uniforms which will identify them as law enforcement officers.”).

The Honorable Kristopher R. Crawford
Page 2
June 4, 2007
As noted, you specifically questioned whether the term “law enforcement officer” as used in subsection (D) in exempting such officers from the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons on school property encompasses off-duty officers and reserve officers. As to the authority of a law enforcement officer and a reserve officer to carry weapons generally, S.C. Code Ann. § 1623-20 states that
[i]t is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law: (1) regular, salaried law enforcement officers, and reserve police officers of a state agency, municipality, or county of the State, uncompensated Governor’s constables, law enforcement officers of the federal government or other states when they are carrying out official duties while in this State, deputy enforcement officers of the Natural Resources Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and retired commissioned law enforcement officers employed as private detectives or private investigators. Therefore, such provision specifically authorizes law enforcement officers and reserve police officers to carry a weapon whether concealed or not. A prior opinion of this office dated February 1, 1995 noted that pursuant to the authority granted by Section 16-23-20 to carry a weapon,
...there is no requirement that the officer be on duty. Similarly, the statute does not require the officer to be in uniform. The reference in the statute to “when they are carrying out official duties while in this State” regards only “law enforcement officers of the federal government or other states”.... Therefore, law enforcement officers and reserve police officers are authorized to carry a handgun, whether concealed or not, anywhere in this State and there is no requirement that such officers be on duty. See: Ops. Atty. Gen. dated January 16, 2007 and May 12, 2006. As to any impact of this State’s concealed weapons law, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 23-31-205 et seq. generally provide for the carrying of concealed weapons by individuals in this State and include the general requirement for a permit in order to carry such weapons. However, Section 23-31-217 states that “[n]othing in this article shall affect the provisions of Section 16-23-20.” As referenced above, by Section 16-23-20 law enforcement officers and reserve police officers are authorized to carry a handgun, whether concealed or not. A prior opinion of this office dated March 8, 2000 concluded that the restrictions of Sections 23-31-205 et seq. “...do not apply to those carrying a weapon in a manner allowed by Section 16-23-20.” Therefore, the restrictions of this State’s concealed weapons law are inapplicable to law enforcement officers and reserve police officers.

The Honorable Kristopher R. Crawford
Page 3
June 4, 2007
Consistent with the above, in the opinion of this office, off-duty police officers and reserve officers are allowed to carry weapons on school property. The prohibitions of Section 16-23-420(A) are inapplicable to such officers. With kind regards, I am, Very truly yours, Henry McMaster Attorney General

By:

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

______
Robert D. Cook
Assistant Deputy Attorney General

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General