UPDATED: Amended ‘Permit to Purchase’ Bill Passes DE State Senate
UPDATED – 03/15/24 – Several amendments by the State House to the “Permit to Purchase” (Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2) measure have been approved by the State Senate on a partisan vote of 15 to 6. This comes after 15 proposed amendments by Republican Senators were defeated or stricken on Wednesday. The measure creates an application process to obtain an handgun qualified purchaser permit to authorize the purchase of a handgun.
During his State of the State, Governor Carney emphasized this bill as a priority and after the measure was passed late Thursday afternoon, he said that he looks forward to signing the bill into law.
Governor John Carney issued the following statement on the passage of Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2.
“As I said in my State of the State Address, 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. 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.”
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ORIGINAL STORY – 03/08/24 – Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2 has been passed in both chambers. The State House passed an amended ‘permit to purchase’ measure Thursday with a 23 to 16 vote. It has been returned to the State Senate. Governor Carney made specific mention for passage of this measure during his State of the State address on Tuesday. Thursday the State House debated 9 amendments to the measure, eventually passing three of them. One earlier amendment, HA 2, was passed earlier in the session.
HA 2 – (passed 1/4/24) This amendment does the following: Extends from 1 year to 2 years the length of time a handgun qualified purchaser permit is valid from the date of issue. Makes a technical correction to language relating to the JP Court appeal process. Allows for local law-enforcement agencies to ensure surrender or removal of handguns purchased with a revoked permit. Removes the firearms training course voucher program and makes corresponding technical changes. Adds an explicit severability provision.
HA 6 – (passed 3/7/24) Numerous professions provide and require training equal to or in excess of that required by the original bill. Likewise, certified instructors and competitive shooters enjoy much higher levels of knowledge, experience and competency than is required by the training requirements contained in the original bill. This amendment recognizes that fact and provides an exemption for certain professionals and individuals for whom the training requirements contained in the original bill would represent meaningless redundancy and an unnecessary waste of time, money and human resources while adding no additional safety to the community. This amendment would eliminate from the training requirement the redundancy represented by the requirements of the original bill for certain qualified individuals, reduce the cost to the applicant and make the permitting process more effective, meaningful, accepted and respected by the general public.
HA 10 – (passed 3/7/24) This Amendment clarifies what information may be retained by SBI and explicitly exempts application and permit information from the Freedom of Information Act.
HA 11 – (passed 3/7/24) This amendment requires that a person identified in House Amendment No. 6 is exempt from the training requirement only if the firearm training they undertake as part of their employment meets the requirements for training set forth in this Act.
