How to Buy a Gun In South Carolina

JC Leahy

Visiting Myrtle Beach this week, Dali and I went to the Myrtle Beach Indoor Shooting Range.  Located right on Route 17 in Myrtle Beach, the range, owned and operated by Connie and Ted Gragg, includes an extensive gun store.  They also have an adjoining Civil War Museum.

While I was there, I interviewed staff about how to buy a gun in South Carolina.  For South Carolina residents, you just bring your drivers license to the store, fill out a Form 4473, and buy your gun.  This refreshingly simple procedure applies to both long guns and handguns.  There is a Federal background check which from my understanding is more or less instant.  For out of state buyers, the procedure is exactly the same for a long gun.  Out of state residents cannot buy handguns in South Carolina.

At the range, I introduced Dali to firearms safety and handgun operation.  We used my Beretta Tomcat .32 ACP semiautomatic pistol. This is a small weapon with relatively minimal noise and kickback. Mine is stamped "Made in Maryland," which is where I bought it.  It was her Dali's first time to fire a gun.  I can't say exactly that she took to it like a duck takes to water.  In fact,  I can't say, at a range of 30 feet, that she hit the target.  She did, however, learn the basics of gun safety and how to operate that particular pistol.  Afterwards, she purchased a copy of The Guns of the Pee Dee, a book apparently about archaeological history written by Ted Gragg, owner of the shooting range.  Needless to say, she had Mr. Gragg autograph her copy of the book.


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