HB 357 Would Redefine “Firearms” in Delaware
Legislation has been introduced to the Delaware General Assembly that would legally define a firearm in the First State. House Bill 357 will go before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 11am. Representative Jeff Spiegelman is one of the sponsors of the measure and says this could potentially reform multiple aspects of state law and align Delaware with the rest of the nation. Delaware’s definition is very broad – basically defining a firearm as “any weapon 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. It does not include a BB gun.” It does include a nail gun – which would leave a former felon working in construction unable to legally use one of his tools of the trade.
The legislation would also create the new term “projectile weapon,” which includes bows, crossbows and airbows. Spiegelman says this new measure considers and addresses all of the valid concerns expressed by prosecutors while protecting Delaware citizens from being unfairly charged with firearms crimes for unintentional acts that do not involve guns.
Additional information from the Delaware House:
Delaware is the only state where firearms are defined so broadly, which has wide-ranging implications. According to data supplied by the General Assembly’s Division of Research, the term “firearm” appears 389 times in the criminal code (Title 11).
“Essentially, our law says that anything that fires anything is a firearm,” said State Rep. Jeff Spiegelman (R-Townsend, Clayton, Smyrna), one of the prime sponsors of House Bill 357. “That’s a problem because it encompasses a lot of other technologies and devices that most people do not think of as firearms and are not considered as firearms anywhere else in the nation. Under the Delaware Code, a slingshot is a firearm; a crossbow is a firearm, and a Punkin Chunkin catapult is a firearm.
“With our all-inclusive definition, firearms legislation often has unintended negative consequences,” Rep. Spiegelman said. “For instance, because compound bows are technically firearms, they are subject to safe firearm storage laws. Nail guns cannot be legally used by former felons working legitimate jobs on construction sites. We cannot legalize airbows for hunting, even though they would be ideal for controlling deer numbers in populated areas. In many instances, minors could not legally use a paintball gun.”
The new legislation is the outcome of the collaborative efforts of the Firearms Definition Task Force, which met nine times over the last eight months. The group included bipartisan membership from both legislative chambers and key stakeholders such as the Department of Justice, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security (DSHS), the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. The Department of Justice cast the only vote against sending the reform bill to the General Assembly for consideration.
“The Department of Justice does not support any change because the broad definition gives prosecutors a wide amount of latitude to charge people with firearms crimes, even when a gun was not involved,” said State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown), a prime sponsor of HB 357. “During the task force’s work on this issue, the DOJ argued for maintaining the status quo, promising they would not abuse their power. That’s problematic, not only because of the potential for citizens to wrongfully be charged with crimes but because it leaves a great deal of ambiguity in the Delaware Code.”
Both Rep. Spiegelman and Sen. Pettyjohn said the bill strikes a balance, defining firearms as most people perceive them while allowing state prosecutors the tools they need to protect the public from people who pose a danger to themselves and others.
Under the bill, the definition of a firearm would be closely aligned with that used by the federal government: “A weapon from which a shot, projectile or other object is designed or may readily be converted to be discharged by force of an explosive, whether operable or inoperable, loaded or unloaded.”
The legislation would also create the new term “projectile weapon,” which includes bows, crossbows, airbows, weapons capable of firing an arrow, crossbow bolt, or spear, and air guns larger than .177 caliber. The approach is similar to how the Delaware Code defines “deadly weapon.”
“This is a thoughtful approach to bringing order to a situation that has grown increasingly awkward,” Rep. Spiegelman said. “I had been working on this for eight years before the task force started its deliberations,” he said. “We passed a bill through the House last year to redefine a firearm, but it failed to gain traction in the Senate. This new measure is more nuanced and well-considered. It considers and addresses all of the valid concerns expressed by prosecutors while protecting Delaware citizens from being unfairly charged with firearms crimes for unintentional acts that do not involve guns.”
Sen. Pettyjohn agreed. “This definition has been on the books in Delaware since the 1980s, and it has become more and more of a problem over the last decade as the General Assembly has demonstrated an increased interest in passing new gun laws,” he said. “Federal officials, as well as those in 49 other states, are quite capably enforcing gun laws and protecting the public using a relatively uniform and straightforward approach. There is no legitimate reason that Delaware needs to remain the only national outlier regarding this aspect of the law.”
