COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - People as young as 18 can now buy and own handguns in South Carolina.
Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill into law Wednesday to lower the minimum age from 21.
"People who are old enough to fight and die in the military should be able to purchase handguns, and the bill will put our laws more in line with those of other states," Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said.
The law went into effect immediately.
South Carolina is one of 18 states - and the only one in the South - that had set 21 as the age for handgun ownership, according to the National Rifle Association. The group says Wyoming has no handgun age requirement. In Montana, it's set at 14; in Vermont, 16.
Rep. Mike Pitts, a Laurens Republican and retired police officer, had filed the bill to help out a national gun wholesaler located in Lexington County where employees younger than 21 were filling orders over the phone. A legal opinion by state Attorney General Henry McMaster had said that was not allowed because of their age and Pitts argued it would cost half the company's workers their jobs.
Pitts said gun retailers will still have to comply with state and federal firearms laws.
He said he sees no need to change the minimum age of 21 for a concealed weapons permit in South Carolina.
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