Last spring, Senate Democrats passed a bill that would require a Delawarean interested in buying a handgun to first acquire a permit and take safety courses.
But SB 3 has stalled for more than a year in the House, where it has yet to be heard in committee.
The mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman shot and killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers, has again prompted calls for gun reform, both nationally and here in Delaware.
Though the General Assembly has passed a number of gun reform bills in recent years, Democrats have found themselves at a standoff over two major pieces of legislation: The idea of requiring training and getting a permit to buy a handgun, and to ban the ownership and sale of high-capacity firearm magazines, which have been used in mass shootings.
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The clock is ticking as lawmakers have less than one month left of the session. If the House doesn’t pass these bills, lawmakers would likely have to start from square one next year. Republicans in both the House and Senate have been against the proposals.
The recent mass shootings have led to some Delaware Democrats calling out House leadership.
“The Senate passed SB 3 nearly 400 days ago,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement. “The House has the power right now to save lives by sending this bill to the Governor’s desk; in doing so it would have not only my support, but the support of 70% of our State.
“It is not too late for us to do the right thing.”
Sen. Sarah McBride, one of the highest profile lawmakers in Delaware, tweeted hours after the shooting that the state has not done enough to prevent a similar mass shooting in Delaware, specifically noting how SB 3 “continues to languish” in the House Appropriations Committee.
Gov. John Carney has supported gun reform in Delaware. Spokeswoman Emily David said Carney “believes it’s important that we get something done this session that will help prevent tragedies like we are seeing across the country.”
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She said Carney will work with the General Assembly on this in the coming weeks.
It’s unclear when, or if, this will happen.
Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst and Majority Whip Larry Mitchell said in a joint statement that the House has “tackled gun safety head on” since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.
House Democratic leadership noted the General Assembly strengthened background check laws following this shooting, as well as closing certain loopholes that allow people to buy guns and investing more in mental health services.
“We are reviewing all proposals and ideas out there, will discuss with colleagues and advocates,” they said in the statement, “and we will develop a plan of action to enact meaningful reforms that will protect against a senseless tragedy like this from taking place in Delaware.”
But they did not, in their statement, specify a timeline in which SB 3 will be considered in committee or voted on. The General Assembly returns from a two-week recess on June 7.
The General Assembly passed a law, which was sponsored by Longhurst, last year that bans owning or making homemade guns, known as “ghost guns.” It’s also now illegal for a person who has a protection from abuse order against them to purchase, possess or use a gun.
In tweets, McBride described them as “good bills, but not nearly enough – certainly not enough in a state where Democrats control everything.”
She specifically noted SB 6, a bill that would define and ban “large-capacity magazines” as a firearm with a capacity to hold more than 17 rounds of ammunition.
The bill would create a buyback program. require Delawareans to relinquish these weapons to the state.
“Unfortunately,” McBride wrote, “last year, the high capacity magazine bill was gutted in the other chamber and returned to us in the Senate, a shell of its former self and unworthy of the empty gesture of passage.”
“Our words are empty until we act,” McBride said. “How many must die before we do?”
When the legislation was being voted on in the House, an amendment was added that would allow for the ownership of large-capacity magazines but include a stricter punishment if used in a crime. It also changed the definition of what the bill defined as a “large-capacity magazine.”
A second amendment, which also passed in the House, would allow for a Georgetown firearm magazine manufacturer to produce and sell firearms to people outside of Delaware.
The Senate has yet to vote on the changes made to this bill. Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola said in an interview that he expects the Senate to vote to strip the amendments added in the House and send the bill back closer to its original form.
Lawmakers have tried, for years, to pass similar legislation banning these types of weapons.
“We’re trying to count noses,” Sakola said. “There are some people who believe that we can do it at this time.”
Mitchell, the House majority whip, introduced a bill in mid-May that would reinstate the state’s background check for guns. The Firearm Transaction Approval Program was scrapped in 2011, following legislation passed by the General Assembly.
Since then, Delaware has relied on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Sponsors of this legislation say reinstating a state background check will reduce straw purchase and the likelihood of certain people falling through the cracks. The federal background check can miss those with outstanding warrants or those convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.
It’s currently waiting to be voted on in the House Homeland and Safety committee.
Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 256-2466 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MereNewman.
