News and Views from Around the State: June 2, 2025

"Catfish wrasslin'," more commonly known as noodling,
is a unique way of fishing for catfish by hand, typically 
done during their spawning season. Noodlers insert their hands 
into catfish burrows, often under logs or rocks, and attempt 
to "wrestle" the fish out. It's a risky activity, as catfish will 
defend their nests by biting, and other animals like alligators
can inhabit the areas. (Photo credit: Philip Gentry)

SC POLITICS: DID SC LAWMAKERS VIOLATE CONSTITUTION BY VOTING THEMSELVES A PAY RAISE? The South Carolina Constitution, Article III, Section 19, suggests that is the case.  “No General Assembly shall have the power to increase the per diem of its own members.” FITSNEWS reports Former Democrat Sen. Dick Harpoolitan is considering a lawsuit if Gov. Henry McMaster doesn’t veto the raise.

SOUTH CAROLINA: CRIME: JUDICIAL: WHEN AND WHY IS THE DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT IN SOUTH CAROLINA: 15 death sentences have been handed down in South Carolina since 2005. How is it determined which cases seek the death penalty in the state.  

GREENVILLE: EDUCATION: Greenville Technical College ranked among the top ten community colleges in the nation by Newsweek.

AIKEN COUNTY: SAVANAH RIVER SITE CELEBRATES 75 YEARS:  Savanah River Plant, now called the Savanah River Site started in 1950 at the request of President Harry Truman to support American nuclear weapons program during the Cold War. Seventy-five years later, South Carolina recognizes the positive impacts SRS has made and continues to make on behalf of American national security and families, US Congressman Joe Wilson writes in an op-ed.

HORRY COUNTY: CRIME: 11 INJURED IN MEMORIAL DAY SHOOTING IN LITTLE RIVER: Ten people suffered gunshot wounds during an altercation on a charter boat during a Memorial Day weekend private party in Little River. One other person suffered an “unknown non-gunfire related” injury, Horry County Police Department said.

SC POLITICS: GOVERNORS RACE: Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and potential candidate for Governor in 2026 told Aiken Republican Club members she supports a system where judges would be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. She also told the group as “an accountant by trade” she is a fan of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

AIKEN COUNTY: EDUCATION: PROPERTY TAXES: Aiken County Board of Education approved a budget increase of $26.1 million by a vote of 7-1. That’s 9.88% higher than last year’s budget. The board also increased the millage rate on property taxes for the first time in more than a decade. Here’s what’s in the budget and how the millage rate increase affects property taxes.

WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY: RULES FOR THEE NOT FOR ME: This is a county car, and I am a county employee. A county employee told a citizen that she could park wherever she wanted when confronted about using a handicap spot at the Williamsburg County Public Service Administration Building.  

SPORTS: COLLEGE BASEBALL: COASTAL CAROLINA ADVANCES TO FOURTH NCAA SUPER REGIONAL: A sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Sebastian Alexander in the bottom of the eighth inning was the only and winning run of the championship game Sunday night, as the Chanticleers defeated East Carolina 1-0 to win the Conway Regional. It’s the fourth time the Chanticleers is headed to the NCAA Super Regional and the first since their 2016 National Championship.

SPORTS: COLLEGE BASEBALL: CLEMSON GETS BLOWN OUT AND ELIMINATED FROM OWN REGIONAL TO END SEASON: Clemson hosted a regional only to be blown out 16-4 by Kentucky and eliminated from the NCAA tournament.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE: THE HISTORY OF FROZEN PIZZA THAT WAS ALMOST A NOTHING BURGER: Nearly one million Americans will eat a slice of frozen pizza today and never know that the lucrative industry was almost a flop. In fact, pizza as a whole was an exotic food brought to America by Italian immigrants at the turn of the 20^th century and never took off until American GIs returning from Italy after WWII craved it. J. Mark Powell explains more in Holy Cow! History.

OUTDOORSMEN: WRASSLIN’ CATFISH: It’s more commonly referred to as noodling, a unique late spring outdoorsmen sport that certainly has its followers, but not much of a mainstream appeal. My grandpa used to do it… You know, when men were men or.. uh.. whatever.

South Carolina Legislature Proposes Bill to Shield Gun Owners from Financial Tracking

Photo by Stephen Andrews

 
Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
April 1, 2025

COLUMBIA, SC – (PE) A bill aimed to protect the financial privacy of gun owners is gaining momentum in the South Carolina House, targeting credit card companies to stop them from using specific merchant category codes (MCCs) to track firearm and ammunition purchases in the Palmetto State.

The "Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act" (House Bill 3930), the legislation passed unanimously through a House Judiciary subcommittee last week and is now headed to the full House Judiciary Committee for further debate.

Introduced by Rep. Bobby Cox (R-Greer), a former Army Ranger, Iraq War veteran and strong Second Amendment advocate, the bill responds to growing concerns among gun rights supporters about potential "financial surveillance."

“South Carolinians shouldn’t have to worry about their constitutional rights being tracked by their credit card statements,” Cox said during a recent hearing. “The bill ensures that law-abiding citizens can exercise their freedoms without fear of a backdoor registry.”

Protective legislation similar to South Carolina’s proposal started to be introduced around the nation after the International Organization for Standardization, an international nongovernmental group based in Switzerland that creates international business standards, approved in September 2022 the creation of unique MCC for stores that sell guns and ammunition, a move that some fear could enable banks or even the government to monitor lawful gun buyers.

The legislation prohibits financial institutions operating in South Carolina from assigning MCCs that distinguish firearm retailers from other merchants. It also empowers the state Attorney General to investigate violations, with fines of up to $1,000 per instance after a 30-day warning period.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a vocal supporter, testified that such codes represent a "slippery slope" toward profiling gun owners, reinforcing the bill’s urgency.

Wilson was among 24 attorneys general nationwide who signed a letter to heads of American Express, Mastercard and Visa less than two weeks after the international group approved codes for gun stores that states the codes would “not protect safety” and unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers.”

“Purposely tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either unintentional or deliberate. Creating and tracking this data only matters if your institutions are considering using that information to take further, harmful action-like infringing upon consumer privacy, inhibiting constitutionally protected purchases by selectively restricting the use of your payment systems, or otherwise withholding your financial services from targeted ‘disfavored’ merchants,” the letter reads. “And generating a ‘list of gun buyers’ creates the obvious risk that law-abiding consumer’s information will be leaked, discovered, hacked, or otherwise obtained and misused by those who oppose Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights.”

Opposition to the bill has been minimal in South Carolina with most critics coming from national gun control advocacy groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety, who argue that MCCs is a safety measure that could help reduce mass killings and help detect illegal gun purchases, citing cases where transaction data aided investigations into mass shootings.

The killers in mass shootings such as the July 2012 Aurora, Colorado, movie theater; the June 2016 Orlando nightclub; and the 2017 Las Vegas music festival all bought thousands of dollars’ worth of guns ahead of the massacres, according to a report by The New York Times.

Banks in South Carolina have not and are currently not implementing MCCs and major card companies like Visa and Mastercard have paused a broader rollout making the South Carolina Bankers Association question the bill’s necessity.

"We do feel fairly confident that at least banks are not doing this in the state, or really anywhere right now, and right now, the card networks aren’t," said Neil Rashley, Senior Vice President, SCBA, suggesting the legislation might impose unneeded regulations.

 But supporters of the bill argue the measure is a proactive defense against future overreach.

"Even if banks aren’t using these codes now, we need to stop it before it starts," a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association said. The NRA has endorsed similar laws in 19 other states.

A nationwide ban on the tracking of gun purchases has been introduced in the U.S. House. One of the bills 95 co-sponsors includes South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson (R) SC-2.

California adopted legislation in September 2023 with opposite language where credit card companies are required to track firearm purchases. Colorado and New York followed. The codes must be assigned to gun stores in those states by May 1.

Legislators in North Carolina are considering a similar law.

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About the Author:

Tony Spain writes for his own website, Palmetto Examiner. He is a former candidate for Richland County Council 2020 and an award winning former military photographer and journalist while in the Public Affairs Office for the U.S. Army. His photos and writing have been published in numerous publications such as The Commercial News, Danville, Ill.; The Paraglide, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Soldier of Fortune Magazine; The State Newspaper, Columbia, S.C., and more. He currently writes for his own website, Palmetto Examiner

He lives in Columbia, S.C.

What Say You? Got something you'd like to say? Letter to the Editor (Guest Column), praises, criticism, hate mail, news story tip or just want to say, howdy. Send them to Tony@palmettoexaminer.com