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Tougher Delaware gun laws proposed
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Tougher Delaware gun laws proposed
'If you want to carry a gun, go somewhere else,' lawmaker says
By Randall Chase
Associated Press
Originally published May 26, 2002
CHESWOLD, Del. - David Lawson glanced around his empty gun shop and furrowed his brow.
"It's been like this since February," Lawson said, adding that the traditional summertime lull at Shooter's Choice began early this year because of the sluggish economy. "We may all go fishing," he said.
Lawson and other gun dealers may soon have even more time on their hands, according to critics of legislation before the General Assembly.
Legislation
Lawmakers will consider one bill that, according to its sponsor, would give Delaware the toughest penalties in the country for using a gun while committing a felony.
Another bill would require gun dealers to include locking devices in all handgun sales. It would prohibit the sale of any handgun made before Dec. 31 of this year without an external safety lock. Any handgun manufactured after Dec. 31 could not be sold unless it has a built-in mechanical safety device.
"What that's going to result in is that many, many manufacturers are just not going to sell their handguns in Delaware," said John Thompson, president of the Delaware State Sportsman's Association.
Coupled with a similar law in Maryland, the Delaware bill could put a dent in regional handgun sales, Thompson said.
"A manufacturer is not going to redesign his handgun to suit Delaware and Maryland," he said.
Sen. Robert Marshall, a Wilmington Democrat, said he introduced the measure after members of the Million Mom March organization appealed to him to help prevent accidental shootings involving children.
'About public safety'
"It's strictly about public safety within a home," Marshall said. "It has nothing whatsoever to do with firearms control."
Some gun dealers aren't so sure. "Looking at some of the sponsors, you sort of have to question their agenda," said Lawson, a former state trooper.
Lawson said Marshall and some of his co-sponsors have a history of supporting anti-gun legislation. Marshall's latest bill is unenforceable and unnecessary, and will lead to higher prices for handguns, he said.
According to state and federal statistics, firearms account for a small percentage of accidental deaths among children in Delaware, ranking behind car crashes, fires, drowning, suffocation and poisoning.
"We're not requiring locks on drug cabinets. We're not requiring locks on soap bottles," Lawson said. "Where does common sense come in?"
Marshall said his bill is about safety and is not an attempt to reduce gun sales. "All we need to do is speak with one family that has experienced the tragic loss of a child," he said.
Dealers argue that new guns already come with trigger locks and many manufacturers are building locking mechanisms into new products. But even integrated mechanisms are ineffective if gun owners don't use them, Lawson said.
Marshall's bill is on the Senate agenda for June 6.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Terry Spence, a Stratford Republican, is pushing a bill that toughens penalties for criminals who use guns. Under current law, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony carries a minimum sentence of 3 years. Spence's bill would retain the three-year minimum for possession, but calls for a minimum sentence of 15 years for displaying a gun, a minimum of 25 years for firing it, and life in prison for wounding someone with it.
Spence said he isn't worried his bill might contribute to prison crowding and that, even if it doesn't pass, it will send a message to criminals packing heat. "I want them the hell out of the state," he said. "If you want to carry a gun, go somewhere else."
http://www.sunspot.net/news/custom/guns/bal-ca.guns00may26.story
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
'If you want to carry a gun, go somewhere else,' lawmaker says
By Randall Chase
Associated Press
Originally published May 26, 2002
CHESWOLD, Del. - David Lawson glanced around his empty gun shop and furrowed his brow.
"It's been like this since February," Lawson said, adding that the traditional summertime lull at Shooter's Choice began early this year because of the sluggish economy. "We may all go fishing," he said.
Lawson and other gun dealers may soon have even more time on their hands, according to critics of legislation before the General Assembly.
Legislation
Lawmakers will consider one bill that, according to its sponsor, would give Delaware the toughest penalties in the country for using a gun while committing a felony.
Another bill would require gun dealers to include locking devices in all handgun sales. It would prohibit the sale of any handgun made before Dec. 31 of this year without an external safety lock. Any handgun manufactured after Dec. 31 could not be sold unless it has a built-in mechanical safety device.
"What that's going to result in is that many, many manufacturers are just not going to sell their handguns in Delaware," said John Thompson, president of the Delaware State Sportsman's Association.
Coupled with a similar law in Maryland, the Delaware bill could put a dent in regional handgun sales, Thompson said.
"A manufacturer is not going to redesign his handgun to suit Delaware and Maryland," he said.
Sen. Robert Marshall, a Wilmington Democrat, said he introduced the measure after members of the Million Mom March organization appealed to him to help prevent accidental shootings involving children.
'About public safety'
"It's strictly about public safety within a home," Marshall said. "It has nothing whatsoever to do with firearms control."
Some gun dealers aren't so sure. "Looking at some of the sponsors, you sort of have to question their agenda," said Lawson, a former state trooper.
Lawson said Marshall and some of his co-sponsors have a history of supporting anti-gun legislation. Marshall's latest bill is unenforceable and unnecessary, and will lead to higher prices for handguns, he said.
According to state and federal statistics, firearms account for a small percentage of accidental deaths among children in Delaware, ranking behind car crashes, fires, drowning, suffocation and poisoning.
"We're not requiring locks on drug cabinets. We're not requiring locks on soap bottles," Lawson said. "Where does common sense come in?"
Marshall said his bill is about safety and is not an attempt to reduce gun sales. "All we need to do is speak with one family that has experienced the tragic loss of a child," he said.
Dealers argue that new guns already come with trigger locks and many manufacturers are building locking mechanisms into new products. But even integrated mechanisms are ineffective if gun owners don't use them, Lawson said.
Marshall's bill is on the Senate agenda for June 6.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Terry Spence, a Stratford Republican, is pushing a bill that toughens penalties for criminals who use guns. Under current law, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony carries a minimum sentence of 3 years. Spence's bill would retain the three-year minimum for possession, but calls for a minimum sentence of 15 years for displaying a gun, a minimum of 25 years for firing it, and life in prison for wounding someone with it.
Spence said he isn't worried his bill might contribute to prison crowding and that, even if it doesn't pass, it will send a message to criminals packing heat. "I want them the hell out of the state," he said. "If you want to carry a gun, go somewhere else."
http://www.sunspot.net/news/custom/guns/bal-ca.guns00may26.story
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878