In proof that even small states that account for a small percentage of the total gun ownership in America can still pass laws that are a huge pain in the butt for said gun owners, NRA-ILA reported over the weekend that the Delaware Senate passed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) by a vote of 15 to 6. The purely anti-gun “legislation will impose a Maryland-style ‘handgun qualified purchase card’ and a handgun transfer registry, creating a perpetual cycle of costs and delays to maintain” a citizen’s ability to purchase a handgun.
“SB 2 now goes to Governor Carney for his expected signature,” NRA-ILA reported, urging members and all gun owners in Delaware for that matter to contact the governor’s office and urging him to oppose the bill.
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SB 2 requires citizens to obtain a deceptively named “handgun qualified purchaser permit” to purchase or receive a handgun, with an exemption for carry permit holders. To obtain a permit, an applicant is required to, at their own expense, take an approved training course and to submit fingerprints. The permits are to be renewed every two years, although the training course is valid for five years. The State Bureau of Identification has up to 30 days to issue a permit. Additionally, this legislation creates a registry of all lawful handgun transfers.
Surprisingly, Delaware rates 30th in states for gun ownership with 38.7 percent of residents in the state estimated to have at least one gun. That’s impressive that such a northeastern state ranks so high.
Delaware percentagewise has more gunowners than Florida, in which 28.8 percent of residents have a gun.
Of course, as of 2023, Delaware, our nation’s 45th most populous state, only had an estimated 1,031,890 residents compared to Florida’s 22,610,726 residents, according to Britannica. Florida is our country’s third most populous state coming in behind only Texas (2nd) and California (1st). That translates into roughly 399,341 gun owners in Delaware versus more than 6.5 million in Florida for those looking to compare solid numbers, but with so many Delaware residents among the gun-owning class, firearms are clearly an important topic to a sizable number of the state’s residents.