Contact: John Culclasure, Southeastern States Assistant Director
In December, National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses Executive Council President and South Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Brian White introduced knife preemption legislation.
Preemption prevents regulation by local jurisdictions and creates uniformity across the state so knife owners are not subject to a confusing patchwork of local regulations.
Specifically, House Bill 3551 would add “knives” to the firearms preemption statute. Local governments would be prohibited from enacting any regulation or ordinance that regulates or attempts to regulate the transfer, ownership, carrying, or transportation of knives.
“This common-sense legislation would provide clarity for our state’s sportsmen and women, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Sportsmen’s Caucus to advance the bill this session,” said Representative White.
Knives are important tools for South Carolina’s 847,000 sportsmen and women that support more than 40,000 jobs across the state and contribute approximately $2.3 billion to the state’s economy.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
