County looks at ‘maximum’ punishment for ‘reckless’ firearm, nail gun, BB gun use

Horry County wants to regulate your firearms — as well as your nail guns and BB guns.

The proposed ordinance that passed its second reading during Tuesday’s county council meeting imposes a $500 fine for people using a “firearm or other mechanical device” that shows a “reckless, willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons property or domesticated animals.”

A second offense is $500 and 30 days in jail, according to Horry County Police Chief Joe Hill.

The ordinance states the definition of a mechanical device includes potato guns, air guns and air nail guns, as well as any other device that launches a projectile by compressed air, flammable fluids, gasses powders.

“Pellet guns are considered a firearm,” said Hill.

So what is a “reckless, willful or wanton disregard?”

The police get to decide. The definition of reckless is “determined by county law enforcement,” according to the ordinance.

“Just to be very simple, make it easy for the officer, was a home or structure hit, was somebody in danger of being struck? Those are kind of the two baselines,” said Hill, who added that police would look at violators on a case-by-case basis. “Beyond that, we would go talk to the people, show them the ordinance.”

Is the ordinance effective?

The opposition doesn’t think so.

“I don’t think there are enough teeth in it,” said 61-year-old Socastee resident James Millward. “We’re getting too overpopulated for people to go into their back yards and shoot a gun at cans and at a tree. All it takes is one ricochet and somebody dies. A $500 fine is not going to make people stop shooting their guns in their backyard.”

District 3 councilman Dennis DiSabato, the one dissenting council vote, said the standard of recklessness was difficult to adjudicate.

“If we’re not going to take a stronger approach than recklessness, then we at least need to revise the statute to add stricter standards to show that the person who is acting recklessly actually knows the course of conduct that he’s involved in will result in a probability of injury and chose to act anyway,” DiSabato said.

But $500 is the maximum fine that a county can impose, said District 11 councilman Al Allen.

“We’re doing everything to the maximum that we are allowed to,” Allen said. “We’re only asking you to use good common sense and be safe in the handling shooting and discharging on your firearms. And that is what we’re trying to achieve here tonight.”

Chairman Mark Lazarus said the proposal wasn’t a “cure-all,” but was the closest the council has ever gotten to passing a gun ordinance.

“We’ll continue to look but I think it’s a good start for law enforcement, for the citizens to at least be able to have a place to call in because you know we do have something on the books,” he said.

The ordinance will still have to pass a third reading before it goes into effect.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 9:36 PM with the headline "County looks at ‘maximum’ punishment for ‘reckless’ firearm, nail gun, BB gun use."