Weighing guns and growth, county considers crackdown on firing weapons

It’s no longer the size of the neighborhood that matters, but how guns are discharged that county officials say they will try to regulate when it comes to firing weapons on private property.

Anyone who carelessly or recklessly discharges a weapon anywhere in unincorporated Horry County while disregarding the safety of life or property would face jail and a fine, according to an ordinance under consideration by the county.

“We have to keep it as simple as possible,” said Horry County Councilman Al Allen, after the new proposed ordinance was introduced Monday morning at the council’s Public Safety Committee hearing.

County officials have grappled with a proposed firearm ordinance for more than a year to address complaints by some residents who say that guns are fired too close to populated subdivisions endangering lives, and other county residents who are frustrated by the noise.

The council kicked the ordinance back to committee in May after failing to reach agreement on numerous details of an earlier draft that would have made it illegal to fire a weapon within 900 feet of a neighborhood with more than 11 houses in it.

The original version got too bogged down in details, and police officers said it would be difficult to enforce, Allen said.

“The feedback I have gotten from our county law enforcement is that they don’t carry tape measures in their vehicles,” Allen said. “They don't’ need a complicated ordinance where they have to count houses or have to measure feet.”

“It’s very convoluted and very confusing,” Allen said.

The ordinance will not apply to hunters who answer to state safety laws, to the protection of one’s homes, or violate Second Amendment rights, Allen said.

The council has been working on the ordinance since August 2016. One previous draft under consideration tried to ban target practice on private property with guns or bow and arrow.

One county resident, William Woods, objected to the new language because it did not restrict gunfire on the basis of noise.

“You’re missing the point,” Woods said. “Something has to be done about the excessive noise.”

Councilman Danny Hardee agreed, and said he’s had complaints from a resident who said repeat gunfire noise from an adjacent farm shakes the windows and drowns out the television.

Horry County Attorney Arrigo Carotti said it’s difficult to enforce noise ordinances because of differing opinions on what constitutes excessive noise.

Councilmen Johnny Vaught and Bill Howard agreed with Allen that trying to insert a noise regulation into a gun safety ordinance would further muddy the waters.

The new proposed ordinance was passed by the committee, and will go to first reading before the council on Oct. 3. A public hearing on the new draft will be held during the second reading on Oct.17, and the third reading for final passage would be held Nov. 14.

The maximum fine for violating the ordinance is 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Weighing guns and growth, county considers crackdown on firing weapons."