The Charleston Police Department is encouraging residents to call their state senators and urge them to vote against the open-carry bill that the House approved last month.
If the Senate approves the bill, anyone who is legally allowed to own a gun would be free to openly display it or conceal it without a permit. The police chief says the law would hinder law enforcement's ability to do their job. They would no longer be allowed to question people for openly carrying a weapon.
The representative who sponsored the bill says police are against it because "it's difficult to control people who are armed and will resist." No hearing has been scheduled for the Judiciary Committee to vote on the bill.
The governor has said he would approve the proposal if it made it to his desk.