Ban on Firing Guns Near Residential Roads Moves Forward

Dorchester County Council gave second reading to an ordinance that would make it illegal in the county to discharge firearms within 500 feet of roads.

The vote was 6-0, with Councilman David Chinnis absent from the meeting.

No one spoke during the county's public hearing on the ordinance Monday during council's regular meeting.

The new ordinance affects residentially zoned districts in the county, so primarily unincorporated Summerville and North Charleston. There is no zoning above Four Hole Swamp. The ordinance also does not prohibit airguns, CO2 guns or BB guns. 

First reading was Aug. 13. Council Chair Larry Hargett said the ordinance was spawned from citizen complaints in the lower part of the county.

"A number of citizens in the lower southeastern corner of the county have been hearing gun shots close to subdivisions," Hargett told Patch. He added the City of North Charleston has an ordinance against firing guns anywhere in the city.

Hargett said this ordinance will not affect hunters on public lands, since the zoning is not residential, and it will not affect firing of firearms off the roads.