By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Lawmakers in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware are sponsoring legislation that would require would-be gun buyers to first take a firearms safety training course and get a permit-to-purchase before they can actually buy a firearm.
Senate Bill 2(S) has been voted out of committee and has been placed on the “Ready” list. Like similar legislation proposed in other states, this bill will require Delaware residents to show proof of “an approved firearm training course within the last five years,” according to WRDE News.
The General Assembly reconvenes on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and backers of the bill are promising to push for its passage.
SB2(S) is a substitute for the original SB 2. According to the state’s legislative website, the bill “creates an application m process to obtain a handgun qualified purchaser permit.”
The state admits an applicant “will incur costs related to fingerprinting and required training.” However, there will be no charge for the actual permit.
The bill synopsis also notes, “Requires that an applicant complete a firearms training course within 5 years before the date of application, similar to what is required by Delaware’s concealed carry permit law.” But critics could argue this expansion of a training requirement relegates the exercise of a constitutionally-enumerated fundamental right to the level of a government-regulated privilege.
The Delaware Constitution states, “A person has the right to keep and bear arms for defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use.”
The bill synopsis also explains, “This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 2 as follows: (1) By increasing the time a handgun qualified purchaser permit is valid from 180 days to 1 year. (2) By requiring the Superior Court to schedule the de novo hearing within 15 days of the filing of the appeal rather than to hold the hearing within 21 days of the filing of the appeal. (3) By extending the implementation timeline of Sections 1 and 5 of this Act from a maximum of 6 months from the date of the Act’s enactment to a maximum of 18 months from the date of the Act’s enactment.”
WRDE News reported the bill had been released Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee, so action could come early next month.
A similar bill has been pre-filed in Washington State and in neighboring Oregon, a judge last month ruled that Measure 114, which included a permit-to-purchase requirement, was unconstitutional. That measure narrowly passed in 2022, and the state quickly filed an appeal.
As in those states, supporters of SB 2(S) allegedly confuse a right with a privilege. WRDE News quoted
House Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown asserting, “In almost every aspect of our lives, people must undergo some version of training: to operate machinery, for medical purposes, to drive, to serve alcohol, and many other activities. Requiring people who want to buy a firearm to take a training course isn’t some undue burden; it’s basic common sense to learn how to safely load, use, and store a lethal weapon. This will help us reduce straw purchases, keep firearms out of the wrong hands, and ultimately make both the gun owners and the public safer.”
