SC Gov. McMaster urges lawmakers to act on illegal guns, bond reform

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster held a news conference Tuesday to speak about penalties for people who have guns illegally. He also urged legislators toward bond reform before the end of this year’s session.

“Close the revolving door of repeat offenders by increasing penalties for illegal gun possession, and also fix broken the bond system in our courts,” McMaster said.

McMaster was joined by Kevin Cornett, the police chief of Isle of Palms, Mark Keel, the chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and other local officials.

The news conference was scheduled after police said six people were hurt in a shooting on April 7 at an Isle of Palms beach. An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old are facing charges in connection to the incident.

On Tuesday, the governor asked the General Assembly to pass legislation that increases the criminal penalties against illegal gun possession. McMaster and the two chiefs said those two suspects, both teens, had illegal guns. It’s a trend they said the state must crack down on.

“The criminal justice system only works when every part of the system works together to protect our citizens,” Chief Keel said.

Chief Cornett said 2021 marks eight straight years since there’s been an increase in weapons law violations. He said in 2021, there were 9,728 weapons law violations -- of those, 5,117 were committed by people under the age of 25.

McMaster also asked lawmakers to pass bond reform. He mentioned an incident in Richland County where the suspect accused of shooting and killing a man was out on bond for a murder charge.

“What do you tell the family of someone who had been caught arrested, put in jail once, twice, three times -- who then shows up and killed your loved one? What do you tell them?” McMaster asked.

House Bill 3532 would address many of those issues. A person convicted of a violent crime while out on bond for a previous offense would have their sentence enhanced by five years. Anyone who commits a violent offense while on bond for a previous offense would have to pay 100% cash bond, and magistrates and summary court judges would have to deny bail for all violent offenses.

Bond would be immediately revoked if a person commits a violent crime while out on bond.

“All too often, law enforcement makes good arrests, only to find the offender got a low bond and is out terrorizing the same community they came from the next morning,” Keel said. “This must stop.”

Several local House members voted in favor of HB 3532. It passed the House but the Senate has not voted on it just yet.

There are also several other bills in the House and the Senate that could address these issues.

According to SLED, there were 566 murders in South Carolina in 2021 -- the most ever in a year. Of those, 322 -- more than half -- were committed by people under the age of 25. And over the past decade, SLED says murders have increased by 52.2%.

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