Did South Carolina's handgun-sales restriction prohibit police use of the Stinger S-200 device?

Plain-English summary

Bishopville's police chief asked whether officers could use the Stinger Systems S-200 electronic control device, whose dart-propulsion method raised a question about South Carolina's restriction on certain dealer-held handguns. The Attorney General's office concluded in 2008 that S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31-180 did not prohibit police possession or use. It addressed licensed retail dealers' possession or sale of certain pistols and handguns at their places of business.

The office did not decide whether the S-200 actually met the statute's physical description of a prohibited handgun for dealer-sale purposes. It said that required facts about the device's frame or receiver and melting temperature, which an AG opinion could not determine. The letter's description of a federal firearm classification did not itself answer the state-law physical test.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2008. 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

Did the cited handgun statute prohibit an officer from using the S-200?

The AG said no. The statute addressed licensed retail dealers' business possession and sale, not police use.

Did the opinion approve every dealer sale of the S-200?

No. It left open whether the device had the die-cast metal-alloy frame or receiver and temperature characteristic specified by the dealer statute.

Did a federal firearm classification settle the state-law question?

No. The opinion treated the device's physical characteristics under the specific South Carolina statute as the unresolved issue.

Background and statutory framework

S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31-180 prohibited a licensed retail dealer from possessing or selling at its business a pistol or other handgun with a die-cast metal-alloy frame or receiver that melted below the specified temperature. The office distinguished this dealer rule from police possession and use, consistent with an earlier AG opinion about tasers. It declined the requested factual determination about the S-200's construction.

Citations and references

• S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31-180: the licensed-dealer handgun restriction discussed in the opinion.

Official title

Questioning whether the Stinger System S-200 electronic control device can be used by law enforcement in this State.

Requester

John E. Ewing Jr., Chief of Police, City of Bishopville

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/october-28-2008-1/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ewing-j-e-jr-os-8671-10-28-08-stinger-systems-s-200-electronic-control-device.pdf

Original opinion text

HENRY MCMASTER
ATH>RNEY GENERAL

October 28, 2008

John E. Ewing, Jr., Chief of Police
City of Bishopville
112 E. Council Street
Bishopville, South Carolina 29010
Dear Chief Ewing:
In a letter to this office you questioned whether the Stinger Systems S-200 electronic control device can be used by law enforcement in this State. Your letter indicated that you are considering purchasing such device which is sold by Southeastern Public Safety which has an office in Piedmont, S.C. According to your letter, The Stinger Systems S-200 is a device used to subdue a person much the same way as the Taser, with the major difference being the cartridge and method of dart propulsion: Stinger uses a primer and the Taseruses nitrogen capsules ... The ECO is classified as a firearm as described by ATF, because according to Southeastern Public Safety, when fired the two dart projectiles are propelled up to 22 feet by a primer cap much like the ones used in ammunitions, however, it is not constructed of any die-cast nor does it have any metal alloy frame, but can withstand high temperatures for a limited period oftime... (W)e discovered that since the Stinger is classified as a firearm as described by ATF due to the fact that it is propelled by a primer cap, this device may be in violation of SC State Statute 23-31-180. S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31-180 states that
[n]o licensed retail dealer may hold, store, handle, sell, offer for sale, or otherwise possess in his place of business a pistol or other handgun which has a die-cast, metal alloy frame or receiver which melts at a temperature of less than eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit. A pistol or other handgun possessed or sold by a dealer in violation of this article is declared to be contraband and must be forfeited to or seized by the law enforcement agency in the municipality where forfeited or seized or to the law enforcement agency in the county where forfeited or seized if forfeited or seized outside a municipality. As set forth by such provision, the prohibition regarding the pistols or handguns described restrict the holding or sale by a licensed retail dealer in his place of business. This office in an REMBERT C. l)ENNJS BUILDING .. POST OFFICE Box I 1549 .. COLUMBIA. SC 29211-1549 ° TELEPJIO:-,iE 803-734-3970 .. FACSIMILE 803-253-6283

Chief Ewing
Page2
October 28, 2008
opinion dated March 15, 2005 stated that as to the question of whether a taser was included within the prohibition of Section 23-31-180,
.. .it must be noted that...(Section 23-31-180) ... never prohibited the possession or use of a taser by law enforcement officers in this State. The statute referenced in the opinion only prohibited the possession in a place of business or sale of the weapons prohibited by such provision and had nothing to do with the legality of law enforcement's use of any weapon. Consistent with such, as to the Stinger Systems S-200 electronic control device, Section 23-31-180 does not prohibit the possession or use of such device by law enforcement but only goes to the question of the possession in a place of business or sale of the weapon. As to the question of the possession in a place of business or sale of the weapon, Section 233 l-l 80's prohibition goes to "a pistol or other handgun which has a die-cast, metal alloy frame or receiver which melts at a temperature ofless than eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit." In your letter you indicated that the ATF has classified the device as a firearm so the question to be resolved is whether it "has a die-cast, metal alloy frame or receiver which melts at a temperature ofless than eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit." Such a determination is beyond the scope of an opinion of this office inasmuch as this office cannot in an opinion determine facts. I can only suggest that you consult with the distributor for a resolution of that issue to assist in determining whether the device can be possessed or sold by a place of business in this State due to the specific prohibitions of Section 23-3-180. With kind regards, I am, Very truly yours, Henry McMaster At-"1ey General

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By:

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:
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+R~D.Cook
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Deputy Attorney General

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General