Proposed gun fees would support school resource officers in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, SC (WCBD) – South Carolina lawmakers are set to consider a new 7% fee to be added for every gun sale.

State Representatives Wendy Brawley and Ivory Thigpen say the gun fee would generate another $22 million in revenue every year.

They’re proposing that money go to pay for school resource officers.

Governor Henry McMaster promised to add SROs in every school while on the campaign trail.

“This gives us a very good head-start toward getting to that goal and we are hoping that he will support this and will encourage others in his party to do the same,” said Rep. Brawley.

“A life is precious and in this climate, that we’ve seen more and more school-related mass shootings, we cannot idly stand by and do nothing,” said Rep. Ivory Thigpen.

Both Brawley and Thigpen say right now more than 600 schools are operating without SROs mainly due to a lack of funding.