Bill would require training, permit to buy handguns

Delaware Democratic leaders have introduced a bill to require residents to complete a firearm training course and obtain a permit before purchasing a handgun.

Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth Lockman, D-Wilmington west, and House Majority Whip Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle, introduced Senate Bill 2 on April 19. If signed into law, the bill would add Delaware to a growing list of states that require training and a permit prior to buying a handgun.

“After more than 30 children and adults were murdered in Texas and New York, the Delaware General Assembly and Gov. John Carney took several historic steps last year to prevent the mass shootings that have gripped our nation for years from occurring here in the First State,” said Lockman in a press release. “What we haven’t addressed are the murders, suicides and gun crimes we see here in Delaware on an almost daily basis — the vast majority of them committed with handguns. This legislation will help to stem the incremental bloodshed and devastation that’s already occurring in Delaware by helping to keep deadly weapons away from people intent on harming themselves and others.”

Under SB2, most Delawareans could obtain a permit to purchase a handgun if they have completed an approved firearm training course in the last five years. Qualified law enforcement officers, qualified retired law enforcement officers and anyone permitted to carry a concealed deadly weapon would be exempt because they already have been required to complete training.

After a training course, residents legally eligible to purchase a handgun would then submit a permit application to the State Bureau of Identification. The bureau would then have 30 days to fingerprint the applicant, confirm they are legally allowed to own a handgun and issue a handgun-qualified purchaser permit required at the point of sale.

The legislation includes no application fees and places no restriction on the number of handguns that could be purchased during the 180 days that a qualified purchaser permit is valid.

The bureau would be required to notify applicants of a permit denial in writing. Anyone denied a permit would have 30 days to request a hearing before the Justice of the Peace Court, which would be required to schedule a hearing within 30 days.

Similar legislation introduced by Lockman in 2021 passed the Senate, but failed to reach Carney’s desk.

One notable change included in SB2 is a requirement that the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security provide vouchers to cover the full cost of firearm training for anyone whose household earns less than 200% of the federal poverty guideline.

“In 2021, we heard opponents argue again and again that the training requirement would create an undue financial burden for Delawareans living in low-income communities to obtain a handgun,” Lockman said in a press release. “The legislation I introduced today settles that debate by making access to a gun safety course absolutely free for anyone struggling to get by.”

To date, at least 14 other states and the District of Columbia have adopted some form of firearm permitting law, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

The Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, which has filed lawsuits against the state regarding other gun bills, has vowed to fight SB2. 

“Senate Bill 2 would require law abiding citizens wishing to exercise their constitutional right to purchase a handgun to defend themselves, their homes and families to obtain a state-mandated permit prior to doing so,” DSSA said in a statement. “In order to obtain the permit, the citizen would have to complete a training course – almost identical to that for a concealed carry permit – be fingerprinted, submit to a background check and be approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security – all of which takes both time and money. A right delayed is a right denied.”

DSSA, which aims to protect and defend the rights of Delaware’s law-abiding hunters, gun owners, sportsmen and women, also says the bill’s accommodations for poorer residents will not work. 

“Senate Bill 2 is not only discriminatory, but blatantly racist, disproportionately impacting the very citizens that are being most affected by violent crime,” DSSA said in a statement. “Contrary to the protestations of the bill’s sponsors, Senate Bill 2 will impose a heavy economic impact on those who can least afford it.”

SB2 is slated to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, April 26.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association.