Horry County is looking into tightening its gun laws.
In 2017, council passed an ordinance making it illegal to fire a weapon “recklessly” within county limits.
News13’s Maggie Lorenz went to Tuesday’s public safety meeting, where members talked about a new option.
Some council members told the public safety committee they’re still getting complaints of people firing guns in subdivisions and neighborhoods.
The committee said it needs to look into some sort of further restriction around communities with a lot of people.
Members talked about a permanent ban on firing a gun in certain subdivisions and neighborhoods.
The 2017 ordinance made it illegal for someone to shoot a gun before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. in Horry County except at an indoor shooting range.
When it was passed, some council members worried the ordinance would be difficult to enforce.
Horry county police chief joseph hill brought that concern up Tuesday, and said it’s sometimes hard for law enforcement to figure out who actually pulled the trigger.
The committee said while a permanent ban in rural parts of the county would be difficult, it would look at restrictions in more populated areas.
“I think some of the examples that were used were long-range weapons where we don’t know where the bullet came from and that kind of stuff, so we need to really look after that and be careful about that. But, your right to have your weapon and your right to fire your weapon, we certainly want to preserve that, but we also want to keep our neighbors safe,” said Johnny Gardner, Chairman of Horry County Council.
Last year, the county voted to permanently ban open burning in unincorporated parts of the county east of the intracoastal, and in major residential areas.
The county attorney said that map could serve as a good starting place for where the county could apply gun law changes.
He said he’ll bring some different options to the public safety committee at the next meeting.
