When and how you shoot guns in Lancaster County could change. Here’s what we know.
The changing landscape in Indian Land could lead to a new ordinance that directs when and where residents across Lancaster County can shoot their guns.
The county public safety committee met Tuesday to talk about the ordinance after complaints came from people living in the Indian Land area.
“There have been some citizens up in the panhandle that have been complaining about neighbors that have been shooting in their backyard,” said County Administrator Steve Willis.
He said there has been at least one case where law enforcement was called. A ricocheted bullet damaged a neighbor’s property, he said.
“Somehow some bullets actually ended up striking their house,” Willis said.
There haven’t been many people complaining, he said, but the complaints are consistent.
“It’s bothersome, it’s noisy, I don’t feel safe people shooting that close to a house,” Willis said.
If a new shooting ordinance makes it to a Lancaster County Council vote, it wouldn’t happen until January at the earliest.
“It’ll be up to council,” Willis said. “Whether they have the political will to do something, I have no idea.”
Indian Land gun complaint
On Aug. 11, an Indian Land resident addressed the county public safety committee with concerns about gun safety in neighborhoods. She told the committee neighbors shoot within her neighborhood and at times toward her home. She talked about an incident where one homeowner filed a report with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re trying to address some issues of where you should be shooting,” said Brian Carnes, the councilman who represents Indian Land. “We’ve had an incident in a subdivision where there was a neighbor shooting toward a berm, and it hit a house.”
According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, a 22-year-old was charged with malicious injury to property after a bullet he shot hit a neighboring home on Southwinds Drive. The incident happened April 3. A homeowner was operating a sewing machine, per the report, when a bullet entered the screened-in patio. The bullet fragmented and entered the home in two places.
Officers determined the shooting was unintentional. The shooter told officers, per the report, that he thought a backstop created on his own property would stop the bullets.
Carnes said that case involved acre to two-acre lots in a mobile home subdivision off S.C. 160. No one was injured, he said, but a bullet passed where one of the homeowners had been not a minute earlier.
“If it had been about 10 or 15 seconds earlier,” Carnes said, “it wouldn’t have been very good.”
County attorney John DuBose updated the committee Sept. 15 about rules in Horry and Richland counties, plus a draft ordinance for Lancaster County. DuBose told the committee that state rules address deliberate, but not careless, discharge of firearms -- which the Lancaster County ordinance could address.
The committee met again Oct. 13 to review Horry and Richland county rules. A version of the proposed Lancaster County ordinance prohibited shooting in any direction where a bullet could possibly strike a person or property, either directly or due to ricochets. The proposed ordinance also limited shooting at a backstop, berm or device that could not stop a bullet. It prohibited shooting while under the influence of alcohol, illegal or prescription drugs, or over-the-county medication that impairs judgment.
As written the proposed ordinance would cover careless and negligent discharge of firearms during non-hunting activities. It would cover handguns, shotguns or rifles. Except for hunting, shooting wouldn’t be allowed from sunset to sunrise. Shooting wouldn’t be allowed “without due caution or circumspection” on whether it would endanger another person or property.
The rule doesn’t apply to law enforcement in the act of duty. It doesn’t prohibit target firing or ranges permitted by the county and federal regulation. It doesn’t apply to lawful self-defense.
The rule doesn’t impact the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying or transportation of firearms. It doesn’t impact a state statue that owners of 25 or more acres of land can discharge firearms on their property to protect against animals or a variety of other threats.
Violation of the proposed ordinance would be a misdemeanor.
Threat of shots fired
Accidental shootings from neighboring properties aren’t common, but can be deadly.
In 1987, a 16-year-old girl was killed and a 6-year-old girl wounded at Carowinds when stray bullets came from nearby target practice in Mecklenburg County. Similar complaints to what Indian Land has now have come in Horry County and Beaufort County.
Then, there are accidental discharges.
Last year Rock Hill police banned gun cleaning in the police station except in the back armory after an officer’s weapon fired through a window into a public area. The bullet ricocheted and went within a few feet of someone in the station lobby. Just last month, a teen was killed near McConnells when a gun fired while someone was cleaning it.
The more dense an area’s population, the more likely they are to have regulations on when and where shooting is allowed. Most municipalities have rules that prohibit gun shots within their limits. It can be different in urban and rural areas.
“You don’t have to worry about hunting inside the City of Charlotte, the City of Lancaster, that sort of thing,” Willis said.
Then, there’s Indian Land.
“Indian Land is an urbanized area, but it’s an unincorporated urbanized area,” Willis said. “The needs and expectations are just different.”
Countywide gun mandate
Fort Mill, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie are good York County comparisons. All three are high residential growth areas. Subdivisions dot all three. Fort Mill and Tega Cay respectively are a town and city. They have rules that prohibit firearm discharges. Lake Wylie, an unincorporated place, adheres to the York County ordinance.
Gone are the days when Indian Land was a rural stretch between Charlotte and Lancaster. Indian Land is one of the highest-growth areas in the region and state. Two years ago some Indian Land residents pushed for incorporation as a town.
Because the area remains unincorporated, Willis said whatever ordinance Lancaster County would enact likely would apply there.
“My understanding is it’s going to have to be countywide,” Willis said.
With so much interest in Second Amendment rights, hunting and gun use in general throughout the county, Willis said he expects a full house if council takes up the issue. The ordinance would require a public hearing.
“That’s probably going to be well attended,” he said.
Doug Barfield with the sheriff’s office said prior to Tueaday’s meeting that discussion on a possible gun ordinance started with county council. The sheriff’s office participated in recent discussions. Barfield said his office saw drafts but no set rule prior to the meeting.
Carnes said the county is getting closer to a version that could come up for vote. County leaders have been working with at least one Second Amendment rights advocate from another part of the county, he said, to aim for an ordinance that’s fair and legally defensible.
“I think once we get the right version, the feeling is it’ll pass with council,” Carnes said. “It’s something that needs to be addressed. We’re not trying to infringe on anybody’s Second Amendment, but we’re definitely trying to make it safer for everyone involved.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 1:18 PM.
