DOVER — Gov. John Carney partnered with House and Senate Democratic leadership to announce a gun safety package on Thursday, just weeks after the deadly mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.

The package will contain six pieces of legislation, including two existing bills, two newly introduced bills and two that have not yet been introduced.

Of the existing legislation, Senate Bill 6 would limit high-capacity magazines and House Bill 423 would strengthen background checks by reinstituting the Firearm Transaction Approval Program.

The legislation that has not yet been introduced would hold gun manufacturers and dealers liable for reckless actions that lead to gun violence and ban the use of devices that convert handguns into fully automatic weapons.

The legislation introduced Thursday included HB 450, which would ban the sale of assault weapons, and HB 451, which would raise the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21 years old.

The joint agreement between House and Senate leadership has received Gov. Carney’s support, just over a week after stating his intention to work with the General Assembly to prevent these “shameful, appalling, unnecessary tragedies” from happening.

“We have an obligation to do everything we can to prevent tragedies like we’ve seen across the country from happening here in Delaware,” Gov. Carney said in a press release.

“This is a historic, meaningful package of legislation and I look forward to seeing these bills on my desk this session.”

Of the newly introduced legislation, both HB 450 and HB 451 seek to tighten the accessibility to firearms, specifically assault weapons. HB 450 is sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, and Sen. Nicole Poore, D-New Castle, and received support from various Democratic representatives and senators, as did HB 451, which is sponsored by Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, and Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Dave Sokola, D-Newark.

HB 451 would raise the age limit to purchase firearms to 21 from 18, the age of the perpetrators in both the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the Tops Supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York.

Current federal law requires those purchasing handguns to be at least 21 years old, however, it permits those purchasing rifles or shotguns to buy the weapons at just 18 years old. Six states require buyers to be at least 21 to purchase a “long gun,” according to the Giffords Law Center, which found that the remaining states follow the federal requirement of 18 years old.

Similar changes have been made nationwide. In 2018, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods raised their minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21 after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three adults were killed.

Despite the restrictions in the legislation, HB 451 does provide exceptions to the age limit in certain circumstances. Active military members, law enforcement officers and people with concealed-carry licenses who are 18 or older are exempted from restrictions relating to the purchase of shotguns, rifles, ammo or any “long gun” accessory.

President Pro Tempore Sen. Dave Sokola, D-Newark, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, and Senate Majority Whip Sen. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, D-Wilmington, all provided additional sponsorship to the legislation, stating that it was time to address the mass shootings that have plagued America.

“From news cycle to news cycle and elections cycle to election cycle, Delawareans have been steadfast in their desire to see us take action that will reduce the gun violence plaguing our communities and address the wave of mass shootings gripping our nation,” Sens. Sokola, Townsend and Lockman said in a joint statement on Thursday.

“Gov. Carney and the advocates who built consensus around this package of strong, public safety bills deserve a tremendous amount of credit for demanding action after the latest round of horrific mass shootings,” the statement said.

“The safety of our children and our communities simply cannot wait for endless debate and fence sitting. After working for years to raise the level of responsible gun ownership in our state, we and our colleagues in the Senate Majority Caucus stand ready to pass these critical, lifesaving measures this year. If we are not doing everything we possibly can to end gun violence, we are not doing enough.”

HB 450, or the Delaware Lethal Firearms Safety Act of 2022, was also introduced in the package and would prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase, possession, receipt, transfer and transportation of assault weapons in Delaware.

The bill states that the use of assault weapons poses a threat to the health, safety and security of all Delawareans. The legislation contains a compiled list of firearms that fall under the criteria of being an assault weapon, such as those with the addition of an “ammunition feeding device,” which refers to any magazine, drum or similar attachment that holds ammunition.

According to the language within the bill, the legislature found the use of these firearms for sport or recreation is outweighed by the danger that can be caused to humans due to the high rate of fire and capacity of these firearms.

Delawareans were previously prohibited from possessing or selling assault-style weapons as a result of federal legislation in the 1990s. The Clinton Administration passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 which banned the possession and sale of these weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. The Senate version of the act was drafted by then-Senator and current President Joe Biden. During the decade the bill was in law, there were fewer than 20 mass shootings.

After the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 expired in 2004, the rate at which mass shootings occur in the United States has gone up drastically, including 233 in 2022 alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an online, nonprofit research group that tracks gun violence incidents in the U.S.

Some exceptions to the possession or use of assault weapons were provided in HB 450, which include allowing members of the U.S. government, U.S. Armed Forces, the National Guard and law enforcement officers to engage in this activity under the scope of business.

Additionally, licensed firearms dealers with an assault weapon they legally purchased prior to the effective date of HB 450 would be permitted to possess the weapon at their home, place of business or their property, while also allowing dealers to sell these weapons only on the premises of a shooting range.

Those who already own a legal assault weapon would be required to file for a certificate of possession with the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security within a year of the bill’s effective date.

Owners of an assault weapon would be required to carry it in secure storage anytime the weapon is being transported, though the legislation only allows these weapons to be transported to or from a National Institute of Justice-approved ballistics testing laboratory or any facility that manufactures or researches personal protective equipment or vehicle protection systems.

“Taken together, these bills will have a significant and meaningful impact in combating gun violence and preventing future tragedies from happening in Delaware. While we can’t change the past, we can learn from it and try to prevent it from happening here. We are committed to passing strong firearm legislation that will make our communities safer,” Rep. Schwartzkopf, Rep. Longhurst and Rep. Larry Mitchell, D-Elsmere, said in a joint statement.

Traci Murphy, executive director of the Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence, said the recent mass shootings should motivate lawmakers to get away from the complacency label they have been given when it comes to preventing these incidents legislatively. She said people are desensitized to mass shootings and gun violence in America, and that tightening up gun sales could lead to drastic changes.

“There are so many different factors to this issue. Policy solutions are incredibly meaningful and important, they’re part of all of the different things that need to happen,” Ms. Murphy said.

“We need to better regulate what kind of guns we sell. People will come back and say this is a gun rights issue, but no, it’s not. This is a sales issue. You can have access to a gun, but what we’re saying is you can’t have access to a military-style weapon. That does not have to do with gun rights. It has to do with gun sales.”

In a statement from the House of Representatives, Ms. Murphy applauded lawmakers for pushing forward with this legislation.

“Advocates for gun violence prevention have done critical work in recent years, and this is exactly what we had in mind — two chambers coming together to pass strong, meaningful policies that will save lives in Delaware, and protect our children and communities from the trauma of gun violence.”

Delaware’s gun safety package comes just a day after the latest mass shooting in America. On Wednesday, a 45-year-old man entered Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing four and injuring less than 10.

Of the previously introduced legislation, HB 423 has been assigned to the House Public Safety & Homeland Security committee for a hearing, while SB 6 has already passed through the House and the Senate, though House amendments to the bill require another vote on the Senate floor.

HB 450 and HB 451 have been assigned to the House Administration Committee and will be heard on Wednesday, June 8, at 11 a.m. If the first bill passes through committee, it will be sent to the House floor for a hearing on Thursday, June 9. Should the bills pass in the House, they will immediately be sent to the Senate for consideration.

The two bills within the package that have yet to be introduced, which hold gun manufacturers and dealers liable for reckless actions that lead to gun violence and ban the use of devices that convert handguns into fully automatic weapons, will be assigned and considered by the House and the Senate before the end of session.