South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

H 3440 — Stand Your Ground and Churches

Last action — Referred to Committee on Judiciary

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 05, 2024. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 18% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    3 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 16-11-440, RELATING TO THE PRESUMPTION OF REASONABLE FEAR OF IMMINENT PERIL WHEN USING DEADLY FORCE AGAINST ANOTHER UNLAWFULLY ENTERING A RESIDENCE, OCCUPIED VEHICLE, OR PLACE OF BUSINESS, SO AS TO ADD CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP TO THE LOCATIONS WHERE A PERSON, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, HAS NO DUTY TO RETREAT; AND BY ADDING SECTION 16-11-445 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A PRESUMPTION THAT A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED IN USING DEADLY FORCE IN SELF DEFENSE IF THE PERSON IS IN A CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

40 added · 12 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment to Bill H 3440 adds churches and places of worship to the list of locations where individuals have no duty to retreat when using deadly force in self-defense. This means that if a person is in a church and believes they face an imminent threat, they can respond violently without needing to first try to escape the situation. This change is significant because it expands the legal protections for individuals in these settings, potentially impacting how self-defense cases are handled in South Carolina.

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2025-2026 Bill 3440 Text of Previous Version (Dec.
06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 3440Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates New Matter(Text matches printed bills.
Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)                 A bill   TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 16-11-440, RELATING TO THE PRESUMPTION OF REASONABLE FEAR OF IMMINENT PERIL WHEN USING DEADLY FORCE AGAINST ANOTHER UNLAWFULLY ENTERING A RESIDENCE, OCCUPIED VEHICLE, OR PLACE OF BUSINESS, SO AS TO ADD CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP TO THE LOCATIONS WHERE A PERSON, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, HAS NO DUTY TO RETREAT;
AND BY ADDING SECTION 16-11-445 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A PRESUMPTION THAT A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED IN USING DEADLY FORCE IN SELF DEFENSE IF THE PERSON IS IN A CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  Section 16-11-440(C) of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      (C) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in another place where he has a right to be, including, but not limited to, his place of business, church, or place of worship, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or another person or to prevent the commission of a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60.
  SECTION 2.  Chapter 11, Title 16 of the S.C.
Code is amended by adding:
      Section 16-11-445.
A person is presumed to be justified in using deadly force in self defense or the defense of another person, if the person is in a church or place of worship and reasonably believes that another person is using or is about to use physical force against an employee, volunteer, member of the church or place of worship, or any other person authorized to be on the premises of the church or place of worship while committing or attempting to commit a crime involving death, serious physical injury, robbery, or kidnapping.
This presumption does not apply if the person who uses deadly force is engaged in an unlawful activity.
  SECTION 3.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on December 06, 2024 at 11:59 AM
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Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  2. Introduced and read first time

  3. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  4. Prefiled

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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3 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 167 not signed on

Sponsors (3)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (167)

167 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 167 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does H 3440 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 16-11-440, RELATING TO THE PRESUMPTION OF REASONABLE FEAR OF IMMINENT PERIL WHEN USING DEADLY FORCE AGAINST ANOTHER UNLAWFULLY ENTERING A RESIDENCE, OCCUPIED VEHICLE, OR PLACE OF BUSINESS, SO AS TO ADD CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP TO THE LOCATIONS WHERE A PERSON, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, HAS NO DUTY TO RETREAT; AND BY ADDING SECTION 16-11-445 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A PRESUMPTION THAT A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED IN USING DEADLY FORCE IN SELF DEFENSE IF THE PERSON IS IN A CHURCH OR PLACE OF WORSHIP IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
Who sponsors H 3440?
H 3440 is sponsored by Representative Neal A. Collins, Representative Thomas E. "Tommy" Pope, and Representative John R. McCravy III.
What is the current status of H 3440?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 05, 2024. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track H 3440?
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