Delaware Gun Laws
Gun Laws Overview
RIFLES & SHOTGUNS | HANDGUNS | |
---|---|---|
Licensing of Owners | No | No |
Permit to Carry | No | Yes |
Permit to Purchase | No | No |
Registration of Firearms | No | No |
The list and map below are included as a tool to assist you in validating your information. We have made every effort to report the information correctly, however reciprocity and recognition agreements are subject to frequent change. The information is not intended as legal advice or a restatement of law and does not include: restrictions that may be placed on non-resident permits, individuals under the age of 21, qualifying permit classes, and/or any other factor which may limit reciprocity and/or recognition. For any particular situation, a licensed local attorney must be consulted for an accurate interpretation. YOU MUST ABIDE WITH ALL LAWS: STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL. |
STATE STATUS | |
---|---|
Castle Doctrine | No Law |
No-Net Loss | No Legislation |
Right to Carry Confidentiality | Provisions Enacted |
Right to Carry in Restaurants | Legal |
Right To Carry Laws | Rights Restricted-Very Limited Issue |
Right To Carry Reciprocity and Recognition | Conditional Recognition |
Right to Keep & Bear Arms State Constitutional Provisions | With Provisions |
The list and map below are included as a tool to assist you in validating your information. We have made every effort to report the information correctly, however reciprocity and recognition agreements are subject to frequent change. The information is not intended as legal advice or a restatement of law and does not include: restrictions that may be placed on non-resident permits, individuals under the age of 21, qualifying permit classes, and/or any other factor which may limit reciprocity and/or recognition. For any particular situation, a licensed local attorney must be consulted for an accurate interpretation. YOU MUST ABIDE WITH ALL LAWS: STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL. RECIPROCITY NOTES: Colorado, Florida, Maine, and Michigan recognize Delaware RESIDENT permits ONLY. DELAWARE recognizes Idaho and South Dakota ENHANCED permits only, and only North Dakota CLASS 1 permits. http://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/criminal/concealed-carry-deadly-weapons-ccdw/ |
Laws on Purchase, Possession and Carrying of Firearms
Antiques and Replicas
The definition of a “firearm” under criminal law, 11 Del. C. § 222(f), includes any weapon, except a BB gun, “from which a shot, projectile or other object may be discharged by force of combustion, explosive, gas and/or mechanical means, whether operable or inoperable, loaded or unloaded.” Delaware defines an antique or replica generally as a firearm manufactured before 1898 or any replica of such firearm that does not fire “rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition” or uses such ammunition no longer manufactured in the U.S. and which is no longer readily available in the ordinary channels of commerce. MORE |
Carrying
It is unlawful for any person except a law enforcement officer (including a “qualified retired law enforcement officer” who meets the state law requirements) to carry any loaded or unloaded firearm concealed upon or about his person without a license to carry. Handguns may be carried in open view, or in an inaccessible area like the trunk of an automobile. Rifles and shotguns must be unloaded while being carried in or on any vehicle, farm machinery, motorboat while under power, or sailboat while under power. MORE |
Purchase
No permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. Purchasers of rifles and shotguns must be 18 years old. Handgun purchasers must be 21 years old. MORE |
Possession
There is no state licensing requirement for the possession of a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. MORE |
Firearm Storage
Delaware makes it a crime to intentionally or recklessly store or leave a loaded firearm within “easy access” of a child or a person prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm, where the gun is not stored in a locked box or container or disabled with a tamper-resistant trigger lock, or otherwise stored in a location that a reasonable person would have believed to be secure from access by an unauthorized person, and the child or prohibited person does obtain the gun. MORE |
Machine Guns, Assault Weapons, Magazines, etc.
Delaware has no laws regulating “assault weapons,” “large capacity” magazines, or ammunition by type. MORE |
Miscellaneous Provisions
It is a felony to knowingly transport or possess any firearm manufactured after 1973 on which the serial number has been altered or obliterated. 11 Del. C. § 1459. MORE |
Preemption
State law prohibits municipal governments from enacting a law, ordinance or regulation to prohibit, restrict or license the ownership, transfer, possession or transportation of firearms or components of firearms or ammunition. MORE |
Restoration of Rights
Delaware has a restoration of rights procedure for persons under a mental health-based firearm disability. Gun rights lost due to a criminal conviction may be restored through a pardon; for convictions for crimes that are not felonies, some prohibitions expire after a stated time. MORE |
Range Protection
Nuisance suits cannot be brought against any shooting range or hunting operation that has been in operation for at least a year if such properties did not constitute a nuisance when operations commenced. MORE |
SOURCES: Del. Code, Ann. 7-709, 7-726, 7-730, 11-222,11-1441 et seq., 22-838, 24-901, et seq. |
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is scheduled to hold ...
Thursday, November 6, 2014
On March 18, the Delaware Supreme Court struck a blow for gun rights, and against economic discrimination, when ...
Monday, June 23, 2014
Last Thursday, in an effort to pass anti-gun legislation in the waning days of the 2014 legislative session, ...
Friday, June 13, 2014
As previously reported, the Senate Public Safety Committee heard Senate Bill 137 earlier on Wednesday. It is now ...
Friday, June 6, 2014
On Wednesday, June 11, Senate Bill 137, sponsored by anti-gun state Senator Harris McDowell (D-1), will be heard ...
Monday, May 12, 2014
Last week, the Delaware House of Representatives passed House Bill 72 by a 22 to 17 vote. Sponsored ...
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
This week, NRA-ILA learned of a potential bill being circulated in the Delaware General Assembly that would prohibit ...
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Fairfax, Va. – Yesterday the Delaware Supreme Court found in the case Jane Doe v. Wilmington Housing Authority ...
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
So holds Tuesday’s Delaware Supreme Court decision in Doe v. Wilmington Housing Authority) (Del. Mar. 18, 2014). The ...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
As previously reported here, Senate Bill 23 was scheduled to be heard tomorrow in the Delaware Senate Judiciary ...