By Joseph Edelen

DOVER — Just one week after receiving passage in the House of Representatives, Senate Democrats on Thursday sent the heavily debated permit-to-purchase bill to Gov. John Carney’s desk for final approval.

The passage of the bill — which would require an individual buying a handgun to complete firearm training requirements and obtain a legal permit — follows numerous attempts over the last five years to establish such a law, which Democratic leaders have touted as one of the most effective policies to curb gun violence.

On the other hand, during Thursday’s lengthy Senate session, Republican lawmakers raised many of the concerns their House minority colleagues did last week. They questioned the constitutionality of the proposal, the stress administration of the law will have on the Delaware State Police, the creation of a firearm registry and the policy’s cost, which would be nearly $3 million in its first year and about $5 million three years from now.

The Senate minority caucus prefiled 15 amendments to address some of these issues, including shortening the time frame for appeal hearings in Justice of the Peace Courts and ensuring that a firearm registry would not be created.

The amendments also aim to delay implementation of the permitting process until the Firearm Transaction Approval Program is running and confirming that the law would not go into effect until regulations are officially published in the state registrar.

But each amendment was defeated by a 15-6 party line vote, except one that was stricken for technical reasons.

Lead sponsor of the bill, Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, D-Wilmington, deemed each proposal “unfriendly,” while stating that “the time has come for us to send this bill to the governor.”

“Senate Bill 2 was introduced last April, and we did pass it overwhelmingly in this chamber last May. It’s been awaiting final action for over 300 days,” she said several times on the Senate floor.

“We know that, thankfully, we have a very generous 18-month window ahead of us until the bill would take effect, and I’m willing to work with you and other colleagues on some of these ideas in crafting future legislation to make the law stronger, but I’m concerned that these are not being offered to make the bill stronger or better but merely as an effort to delay this lifesaving law even further.”

While Democrats applauded the passage, Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, who authored five of the amendments, said the process should be “deliberative” and that lawmakers should focus on getting the act right the first time, rather than revisiting it later.

“It’s very frustrating that, as we’re looking at a bill that is definitely going to pass — when we have some genuine, serious concerns about some aspects of the bill — that the majority just automatically says, ‘Nope, the clock has run out. You’ve had your time. We’re going to deem it unfriendly but come to us later, and we’ll entertain discussion.’ That is frustrating; it really is.”

How SB 2 works

Under the amended version of Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2, a Delawarean buying a handgun must have a qualified-purchaser permit at the point of sale.

The document can be obtained through the State Bureau of Identification by submitting a permit application. If an individual who applies has completed an approved firearm training course within the five years prior, the bureau would have a 30-day window to approve the person’s legal ability to buy a handgun, conduct fingerprinting and issue the permit.

While individuals would have to pay for the fingerprinting and training, the permit itself would be free.

The legislation would exempt the permit requirement for those with a concealed carry license, as well as qualified active and retired law enforcement officers.

The proposal was substituted last May and amended four times in the House last week. One of those amendments — led by the House’s lead sponsor, Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle — extends the validity of the permit to two years and removes the voucher program to cover firearm training for low-income individuals.

An amendment introduced by Rep. Jeff Spiegelman, R-Clayton, was also passed and attached to the bill. It provides exemptions for populations who have already received training, like correctional officers, constables and members of the military.

In addition, during the March 7 House session, Rep. Minor-Brown introduced another amendment, which later passed. It tightens Rep. Spiegelman’s measure by clarifying that the training would be waived if it matches requirements in the bill, which would extend to safe storage of firearms and ammunition, as well as child safety.

Another add-on — also led by Rep. Minor-Brown — clarifies personal information that can be retained by the Bureau of Identification, such as applicants’ names and dates of birth, while exempting application and personal information from the Freedom of Information Act.

Reaction

After more than five years of work on the permit-to-purchase bill, advocates like Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence executive director Traci Manza Murphy and Kristen Bruce, Delaware’s volunteer chapter lead of Moms Demand Action, said the policy is the “single-most important piece of gun violence prevention legislation we can pass.”

Both applauded the extensive work of Sen. Lockman and the number of other legislators who assisted in the effort.

With the permitting law’s 18-month implementation period, Ms. Murphy said she anticipates that, a year or two from now, Republican lawmakers and gun lobbyists will say the act was ineffective.

“Several years after (the stand-up period), the ‘time to crime’ elapses,” she said. “Let’s give it a chance to work because, over the 18 months, we’re going to sell guns in Delaware at a very high rate. … It’s going to be hard for families who have been begging for mercy in their communities, but that mercy is coming.”

On the opposite side, as House and Senate Republicans warned of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the permitting law, Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association president Jeff Hague said his organization will file its own suit as soon as possible.

“It’s extremely frustrating because I’ve always advocated for things that would reduce crime, and these laws are misplaced. What you do to reduce crime is you focus on the person because the person is the driving force behind; it’s not the object,” he said.

Mr. Hague referenced a 2023 Maryland 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which deemed that that state’s permitting law is unconstitutional, as well as North Carolina’s repeal of its permitting law earlier this year — one he called “a vestige of the old Jim Crow laws, plus it didn’t work.”

Elected officials weigh in

Gov. John Carney prioritized the passage of the permit-to-purchase bill in his State of the State address March 5.

Following its passage Tuesday, the governor said that “reducing gun violence in our communities is a shared priority.”

“We’ve made progress to keep our communities safe these past seven years. We’ve banned assault weapons, bump stocks, and high-capacity magazines. We’ve passed red flag laws and prevented straw purchases. Passing this piece of legislation is another important step,” he said in a statement.

“I want to thank the members of the Delaware Senate and Delaware House of Representatives for their leadership on this issue, along with the advocates who have supported gun safety efforts in our state. I look forward to signing this bill into law.”

Similarly, Attorney General Kathy Jennings, who vowed to fight any court challenges to the permitting law during her testimony on the House floor last week, said the General Assembly “passed the single most impactful piece of gun safety legislation available to our state.”

She also noted that states with permitting laws have 25% lower gun homicide rates and 50% lower gun suicide rates than those that don’t, while gun trafficking in those states reduced by 75%.

“This bill doesn’t ban anything. It simply says that owning a tool whose sole purpose is the ability to kill — and in particular owning a handgun, which is overwhelmingly the weapon of choice in gun crime — is a responsibility that ought to involve training,” Ms. Jennings said in a statement.

“Despite the gun lobby’s rhetoric, this is a fundamentally moderate, and clearly constitutional, proposal. One that has been on the books in this country for 30 years. And one that has already proven effective in our state: less than one percent of concealed carry license holders, whose required training is essentially identical to SB 2’s requirements, use their guns to commit a crime.”

Staff writer Joseph Edelen
can be reached at jedelen@iniusa.org.
Follow @JoeEdelenDSN on X.