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AMENDED
May 12, 1999
H. 3419
Introduced by Reps. Klauber, Cooper, Lanford, Fleming, Taylor, Limehouse, Altman, Knotts, Hawkins, Loftis, Sandifer, Harrison, Lucas, Robinson, Witherspoon, Hinson, Vaughn, Keegan, Riser, Wilkins and Young-Brickell
S. Printed 5/12/99--H.
Read the first time February 2, 1999.
TO AMEND TITLE 31, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT BY ADDING CHAPTER 18 SO AS TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA SHOOTING RANGE PROTECTION ACT OF 1999"; TO DEFINE "SHOOTING RANGE" AND "SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN USE"; TO REGULATE NUISANCE ACTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY NEAR EXISTING SHOOTING RANGES, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SHOOTING RANGES NEAR EXISTING PROPERTY, AND DORMANT SHOOTING RANGES; TO PROVIDE CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS FOR REGULATION OF NOISE CONTROL OF A SHOOTING RANGE BY COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL ORDINANCES; AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT PROHIBIT A LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM REGULATING THE LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF A SHOOTING RANGE AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 31 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 31-18-10. This chapter may be cited as 'The South Carolina Shooting Range Protection Act of 1999'.
Section 31-18-20. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'shooting range' or 'range' means an area that is:
(a) designated, utilized, and operated by a person for the firing of firearms; where,
(b) the firing of firearms is the usual, regular, and primary activity occurring in the area; and where,
(c) the improvements, size, geography, and vegetation of the area ensure that a projectile discharged from a firearm in the general direction of a target does not escape its boundaries by virtue of the trajectory of the projectile, or by virtue of a backstop, burm, bullet trap, impact barrier, or similar device designed to prevent the escape of such projectiles.
(2) 'person' means an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, club, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(3) 'substantial change in use' or 'substantial change in the use' means that the current primary use of the range no longer represents the activity previously engaged in at the range or an expansion of the activity at the shooting range.
Section 31-18-30. (A) Except as provided in this subsection, a person may not maintain a nuisance action for noise against a shooting range located in the vicinity of that person's property if the shooting range was established as of the date the person acquired the property. If there is a substantial change in the use of the range after the person acquires the property, the person may maintain a nuisance action if the action is brought within three years from the beginning of the substantial change.
(B) A person who owns property in the vicinity of a shooting range that was established after the person acquired the property may maintain a nuisance action for noise against that shooting range only if the action is brought within five years after establishment of the range or three years after a substantial change in use of the range.
(C) If there has been no shooting activity at a range for a period of three years, resumption of shooting is considered establishment of a new shooting range for purposes of this section.
Section 31-18-40. (A) A county or municipal noise control ordinance may not require or be applied to require a shooting range to limit or eliminate shooting activities that have occurred on a regular basis before January 1, 1999.
(B) A county or municipal noise control ordinance may not be applied to a shooting range that was in compliance with a noise control ordinance as of the date of its establishment, provided there is no substantial change in the use of the range subsequent to its initial compliance.
(C) Nothing in this section limits the ability of a county or municipality to regulate noise produced by the expansion of activity at a shooting range.
Section 31-18-50. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or the law of this State, this chapter does not prohibit a local government from regulating the location and construction of a shooting range after the effective date of this chapter."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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