Did Las Vegas massacre stall SC gun bills for another year?

Last Sunday’s deadly shooting in Las Vegas continues to reverberate across the country, including in South Carolina.

The mass shooting, which left 59 dead and hundreds more injured, could impact gun-related legislation in South Carolina when lawmakers return to Columbia in January.

When the 2017 legislative session ended in May, several gun bills were sitting in the Senate. The proposals come at the guns-and-society issue from opposite sides.

Two of the proposals grew out of South Carolina’s most recent experience with massive gun violence – the 2015 laying of nine African-American worshipers by a white supremacist in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

State Senate proposals would close the so-called “Charleston loophole.” That loophole allowed convicted killer Dylann Roof to buy the gun used in the Emanuel slayings despite a prior arrest that should have disqualified him from buying a gun.

Two different proposals are in committee to speed up the reporting of criminal convictions to those conducting background checks and tighten requirements on gun sales involving a background check.

But one bill sponsor, state Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, isn’t convinced the massacre in Las Vegas will improve the chances of his proposal passing.

“I will continue to make the argument,” Kimpson said. “But the Republican majority is just tone-deaf to any evidence that we need to change our gun laws.”

At the same time, the Senate is expected to take up a different proposal allowing the open carrying of firearms without a permit. So-called “constitutional” carry already has passed the House. But the House bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, thinks the Las Vegas massacre will make it more difficult to get his proposal passed into law.

“I expect it will have more resistance from the Democrats’ side of the aisle, which in the Senate will make it more difficult,” Pitts said.

At the same time, Pitts doesn’t think the Republican-majority Legislature is likely to take any action restricting access to guns following the Las Vegas slayings. He argues the gun issue is one best dealt with by the federal government — not the state — and also should be addressed through better enforcement of existing laws.

“They didn’t do a good job tracking the number of guns this guy was purchasing,” Pitts said of the small arsenal stockpiled by the Las Vegas shooter. “As a former cop, that raises flags for me. I know it raised flags for the NSA.”

Of course, South Carolina’s Legislature isn’t the only place where Las Vegas will have an impact on lawmaking. In Washington, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens, is sponsor of a bill that would make it easier to buy a noise suppressor — or silencer — for a firearm.

However, in the aftermath of Vegas, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., indicated Duncan’s bill may not come up for a vote anytime soon.

“I mean, can you imagine what would happen if (the shooter) had a silencer on it?” said state Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, the sponsor of the second state Senate proposal to close the “Charleston loophole” — increasing the time that officials have to complete a background check before a gun sale is completed to 28 days from the current three.

Like Kimpson, Malloy is pessimistic about the chances of any gun-related bill passing next year, especially if it exposes Republican legislators to opposition in next June’s primaries.

Could tax reform mean you pay more?

What happens if a Republican-led tax reform effort at the federal level eliminates the current deductions for state and local taxes?

That’s what Republicans are proposing, and it could leave a hole in South Carolinians’ pockets. A study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government shows the deduction saved the average S.C. tax filer $1,619 in 2016.

Other states would have it worse, the study shows.

Taxpayers in Connecticut would face the biggest tax hike — about $4,286 per filer. Tennessee would fare the best, but taxpayers there still would face a $938 increase in their tax bill.

“As federal lawmakers continue to debate dramatic changes to the federal tax program, it is important for policymakers and the public to understand the impact of these potential changes,” said Jim Malatras, president of the Rockefeller Institute.

More nuclear fallout

Another week, another S.C. Legislature hearing on the failed attempt to expand the V.C. Summer nuclear plant.

Senators on that body’s nuclear project review committee will hear from executives of the state-owned Santee Cooper utility at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The hearing comes a week after their S.C. House counterparts grilled executives of the utility on the costs of the failed $9 billion project to S.C. ratepayers.

Senators also will hear from the state Office of Regulatory Staff, one of the agencies charged with regulating utilities.

This is the Senate panel’s third hearing on the nuclear project, and the seventh overall on the issue at the State House.

Also upcoming at the State House

▪ The state Education Oversight Committee will meet at 1 p.m. Monday to review community block grants for education, the state’s K-12 technology initiative and a program for children with exceptional needs.

▪ A House health care panel will discuss a study of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

▪ Senators will get an update on the education lottery at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

▪ The Agency Head Salary Commission will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday to consider salary requests for new heads at the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, Housing Finance and Development Authority, and ETV.

▪ Lawmakers will hold two meetings on sentencing reform: one on sentencing classification at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, and another on release mechanisms at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

▪ An ad hoc committee on the state’s local government fund meets at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Representatives of the Municipal Association of South Carolina and S.C. Association of Counties will speak about the state’s chronically underfunded aid to local governments, and the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs office will give an overview of the fund.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Did Las Vegas massacre stall SC gun bills for another year?."