COLUMBIA, SC (WCBD) – Law enforcement across South Carolina may soon have the right to seize firearms and ammunition.
A bill filed at the State House provides law enforcement with tools to intervene if someone has mental health or substance abuse issues.
Probable cause must be established and presented to a judge before anything is seized.
The bill’s sponsor says he simply wants to provide officers with tools to keep people safe.
“I think with every right there comes responsibility, so if we are going to exercise the right in society to have guns, to own them and operate them, we also have to look at what are the associated responsibilities that we have ensuring that,” said SC Rep. Ivory Thigpen.
Before a judge could issue a warrant, several things would be taken into consideration.
They include a history of using physical force and psychiatric disabilities.