South Carolina Republican state senators approved a bill Tuesday that would make every state resident eligible to own a gun above the age of 17 a member of an “unorganized militia.”


The bill was approved Tuesday by a 2-1 vote at a Senate subcommittee meeting and is now heading to a full-committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The bill was originally introduced Feb. 25 and draws on Article 13 of the state’s constitution. This article allows the governor to call up an “unorganized militia” of “able-bodied male citizens” between ages 18 and 45, the Associated Press reported.

The bill is sponsored by Republican South Carolina state Sen. Tom Corbin and a group of other state GOP senators and proposes an automatic expansion of the membership to every state citizen over 17 years of age, which is intended to prevent federal disarmament.