(USNewsMag.com) – Governor John Carney signed the Delaware Large Capacity Magazine Prohibition Act in June 2022. Months after the ban was created under Senate Bill 6, the Second Amendment Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to have the legislation overturned by a higher court. The lawsuit, known as Graham v. Jennings, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and alleged that the ban was unconstitutional. The suit also requests injunctions that prohibit the state from enforcing the law.
In a press release issued by the Second Amendment Foundation, the group’s founder and Executive Vice President, Alan M. Gottlieb, said the ban “criminalizes one of the most common and important means by which Delaware citizens can exercise their right of self-defense,” and “in effect […] makes self-defense a potentially criminal act.” In the same press release, the Foundation’s Executive Director Adam Kraut cited “reduced police manpower” as a reason that “citizens must be able to rely on their fundamental rights.”
When the law was signed, it authorized the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to conduct a buyback program for Delaware residents which promised to provide “fair market compensation” for magazines with a capacity higher than 17 rounds. The program did not apply to business entities that manufacture or distribute high-capacity magazines. Jeff Hauge of the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association led opposition to the buy-backs, stating that his organization’s position is that the ban is unconstitutional and that they had filed an injunction seeking to stop the program.
The Democratic Governor of the ‘First State’ claimed that the ban is intended to “prevent tragedies as we’ve seen around the country” and that the ban would make his “state safer.”
Senate Bill 6 was part of a package of gun safety bills signed in June. Other restrictions in the legislation included banning the sale of assault weapons, raising the age of firearms purchases from 19-21, strengthening background checks, banning the “use of devices that convert handguns into fully automatic weapons,” and new regulations intended to hold gun manufacturers and dealers liable for actions that lead to gun violence.
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