Proposed legislation that would require a training course and permit to purchase a handgun in Delaware is sure to evoke a passionate response, local gun sellers said. “I don’t think it will help the crime situations that occur in the cities every night. It’s just going to upset law-abiding citizens,” Smyrna Sporting Goods owner Brian Brown said. Federal background checks — required before purchasing a gun — rose in Delaware from 46,427 in 2019 to 77,057 in 2020, an average increase of around 2,550 per month, according to data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, overseen by the FBI. Last year was a historic one nationally, as well — nine of the 10 top weeks for background checks since Nov. 30, 1998, came in 2020. The checks are at least being processed efficiently, according to Mr. Brown.
- So, I would need to take a class and acquire a permit for my own constitutional right? I would also have to pay for the class and to pay to obtain the permit out of my own pocket, too, I am sure, even though there is no mention of it in the article. In short, infringe my constitutional rights and tax me while doing it. — Jon Walczak
- Already have that in Maryland with the Handgun Qualification License. — Mark Everett
- They force you to do the same to drive a car. Drive a truck. Be a teacher! — John Smith
- More Black suppression, more unconstitutional attacks on law-abiding citizens and a continuation of felony pleas with those who use stolen firearms. Delaware liberals, hardly a friend to the citizen! — Howard Gaines III
- So just to be clear, you are against mandatory weapon-safety classes? — Rick Reed
- Intelligent people don’t need to be told they need training. Government has no right in our rights. — TwoSteel Ovaries
- And yet, government is trying to tell women what to do with their bodies, telling people if they have rights because they love someone of the same gender, telling people they have no rights if they are transgender. — John Smith
- Would you be for or against the government requiring you to take a class or apply for permission any time you want to utilize your First Amendment rights or invoke your Fourth or Fifth amendment rights? — Cody Cogar
- Those rights don’t require training to exercise safely. Guns aren’t even free in the first place. You have to buy a gun. You’re trying to compare something that simply isn’t comparable. — Jaden Blondin
