Nikki Haley: Let people carry guns without training or a permit!

The Tea Party-aligned governor of South Carolina is worried it's too hard to get a gun in her state

Published February 12, 2014 9:10PM (EST)

Of all the ways one might improve South Carolina, you wouldn't think making it easier for people to acquire guns would be at the top of the list. But while it's not her number one priority, Gov. Nikki Haley let it be known on Tuesday that she wanted to do just that.

According to a reportfrom the State, Haley voiced her support for a bill moving through the state Senate that would "eliminate the state’s current permitting and training requirements for citizens who wish to carry firearms."

She did so after signing another bill, this one to allow license-holding gun owners to bring their weapons into businesses that sell alcohol, just so long as they themselves don't drink and the businesses in question don't ban firearms.

“Criminals are dangerous, and I think that every resident should be allowed to protect themselves from criminals,” Haley said in defense of her support for the pending "Constitutional Carry Act" (CCA).

If the CCA becomes law, the State says, "permits no longer would be required to carry a concealed firearm [in South Carolina]. The state also no longer would require training for carrying firearms."

Writing on Wednesday at the National Review's blog, The Corner, writer Charles C.W. Cooke approvingly quoted a description of the law from Gunlaws.com.

“No tests," explains Gunlaws.com. "No taxes. No paperwork. No fingerprints in the criminal database. No photographs. No expiration dates. No plastic-coated permission slip. Just rights. For all law-abiding adults.”

"Sounds good to me," wrote Cooke. Evidently, Gov. Haley agrees.


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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