Current law limits people to buying no more than one gun a month. Doing away with the nearly 30-year-old law could make the state the first in the nation to lift the cap.

The legislation, intended to help gun collectors, prompted little debate. The House passed it last year and the Senate approved it on a voice vote this week. It's now on Sanford's desk.

The Republican governor was endorsed by the National Rifle Association for his generally pro-gun-rights stances and record during his six years in the U.S. House. The group gave him an A rating in 2002 as he ran for governor, but endorsed Gov. Jim Hodges, the race's Democratic incumbent.

Sanford spokesman Will Folks would not say whether the governor would sign the act.

People who favor tougher gun laws think he shouldn't. They say South Carolina will again become the source of guns used in crimes in other states, one of the reasons for the 1975 cap. For instance, one study showed 10 percent of all the handguns used in violent crimes in New York City had been purchased in South Carolina.

The gun cap's repeal would be "unfortunate," Luis Tolley, state legislative director for The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said. "South Carolina passed this law because gun traffickers were buying handguns in bulk and driving them to Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago, where they were sold to street criminals," he said.

But a 2002 report from the U.S. attorneys office shows 12 percent of the pistols seized in New York City connected with violent crimes were from South Carolina, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said. "There's still a fairly high percentage of guns going to New York City from Southern states," Stewart said.

People circumvented the law, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said. "Those laws failed to deliver the desired outcome," Leatherman said.

"If law-abiding citizens go through a background check, I don't see anything wrong with them being able to purchase more than one gun a month," said Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia and a co-sponsor of the bill.

"There is no limit on the number of cars you can collect or the number of coins you collect a month. There should be no limit on the number of guns," Rutherford said.

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