In a heated debate Monday night, city officials welcomed community members to a public forum to discuss gun control.
The forum included four speakers: David Collins, an investigator with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department who works as firearms examiner in the forensic lab; Terry Davis, a filmmaker who directed a film about gang violence in South Carolina; Darring Hicks, a sergeant from the Columbia Police Department; and J. Todd Rutherford, South Carolina General Assembly Minority Leader.
The four panel members were moderated by Don Frierson, a local radio show host.
During the panel, Frierson posed several questions to the panel and each gave their answer. Topics ranged from concealed weapons permits to background checks for gun owners to trying to reduce the rate of gun-related crimes in South Carolina.
Special-interest groups and concerned community members gave their opinions during the open discussion about gun control with the community officials.
Moms Demand Action, an organization that pushes for common sense gun laws, was there to promote the idea of deeper background checks for those who wish to purchase a firearm, especially semi-automatic rifles.
“In South Carolina, when you buy from a licensed dealer, you have to do a background check, but if you buy from a private dealer you don’t,” Moms Demand Action volunteer Sylvie Dessau said. “I can buy an AR15 and magazines ... That doesn’t make me comfortable.”
Collins, who said he was a supporter of the second amendment, said that he believes background checks and more education would be beneficial in cutting down on gun violence.
“I believe it’s more of an issue of education and safety to prevent discharges in the household and proper storage,” he said.
A hot topic during the forum was that of stolen goods. According to the law enforcement officers on the panel, a significant number of crimes involving guns were committed with stolen guns.
Frierson told an anecdote during the discussion about him asking a kid how long it would take him to get a stolen gun and the child responded with “30 minutes.”
It’s responses like that which worry Dessau.
“All of these guns were once legal,” Dessau said. “All of the ones that were stolen and ended up in the wrong hands were legal at some point. If we restrain the means that these bad guys can get guns, that will help. Right now, we are really making their lives easy.”
Concealed weapons permits (CWPs) were also discussed. Some restaurants and bars in the area, including Five Points, do not allow CWP holders to bring in guns, even though they are allowed by law to carry them.
Collins believes that CWPs are a “valuable tool for people to defend themselves.” He believes that they could cut down on violence that has surrounded the Five Points area.
“There’s been a lot of publicity in Five Points about restaurants and bars putting up signs that don’t allow concealed weapons," Collins said. "That’s their prerogative. I think that a concealed weapon can be a deterrent against being a victim of a crime.”
Moms Demand Action provides businesses that don’t wish to allow firearms with signs outlawing them on the property. Dessau said that numerous Five Points bars have contacted them for signs, saying that it is too much of a risk to have guns in the bars.
“There are a lot of bars that contacted us for a sign," Dessau said. They don’t want patrons with guns; not because they get drunk and shoot someone, but because accidents can happen.”
While heated, many different opinions were shared at the meeting and the panel believes that while they need to cut down on gun violence, they must enforce the laws that they have and continue to get stolen guns off the street.
“I think the simple step would be to try and curb the number of stolen guns on the street," Frierson said. "The next step would be to enforce the laws that are on the book. I’m not sure about harsher punishments [for gun-related offenses] but I think we have to enforce the laws we have.”