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Committee advances ordinance to bar firearm discharge within 500 feet of homes, schools in unincorporated Beaufort County
Summary
After residents described rifle fire near homes, the committee voted to forward a draft ordinance banning firearm discharge within 500 feet of residences, schools and parks in unincorporated Beaufort County for first reading and further review by full council.
Beaufort County’s Community Services committee voted to forward a draft ordinance to full council that would prohibit the discharge of firearms within 500 feet of residences, buildings, schools and parks in unincorporated parts of the county.
Mister Holbert, who drafted the ordinance using Charleston County language as a starting point, told the committee it was revised after consultation with the sheriff’s office and that 500 feet was chosen as a compromise between a more restrictive municipal model and an enforceable county standard. “So 500 feet is the distance that we want to prohibit it,” he said.
The ordinance discussion followed several public comments from residents reporting rounds striking houses and playground areas. Resident Nicholas Lubert told the committee his home had seven bullet holes and that gunfire at times passed near his family; Port Royal Police Chief Jeff Myers confirmed deputies found rounds originating in unincorporated county and said it was “a miracle somebody didn’t die.” Chief Myers added he “highly endorse[d] that you passed this ordinance.”
Council members and the sheriff’s office debated whether 500 feet would be investigable and whether a 1,000‑foot buffer would be safer. Sheriff’s Office representatives warned that longer buffers through wooded areas would make identifying shooters and assembling witness testimony impractical; one law‑enforcement speaker said, “500 feet allows us to have the potential to have witnesses that could come in and corroborate the evidence that we need.”
Committee members emphasized that an ordinance can also deter unsafe behavior even if not every incident results in a charge. By consensus the committee approved moving the draft ordinance to full council for first reading, which begins the formal three‑reading process and public hearings.
Next steps include full council review, publication of the ordinance language in council backup materials and scheduled public hearings. County staff said they would provide the draft and supporting documentation to council and the public before the first reading.
