Bill to ban high-capacity magazines to be introduced in Delaware General Assembly

Legislation that would end the sale of large-capacity magazines in Delaware will be introduced in the Delaware General Assembly on Thursday.

The bill is the latest in a series of gun-control measures now working their way through the Legislature.

"This is a substantial piece of legislation in Delaware's overall gun safety reform efforts that accommodates our law-abiding citizens while balancing public safety concerns," said its chief sponsor state Rep. Larry Mitchell, D-Elsmere.

House Bill 375 would outlaw the sale, transfer, delivery and – in some cases – possession of ammunition-feeding devices that can accept more than 10 rounds, regardless of whether it is used with a handgun or rifle.

Under the bill, the devices would be illegal to possess in public places, such as schools, hotels and parks, but only if someone also has a firearm capable of accepting them.

A draft of the measure provided Wednesday also contains provisions that would allow people who currently own large-capacity magazines to use them on private property or shooting ranges. Shooting ranges would still be allowed to rent the devices to their clients.

Police, retired law-enforcement officers and active military would be exempted from the ban.

A first-time violation of the proposed law would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,300 and a year in prison. Subsequent offenses would be a felony with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Eight states and Washington, D.C., already have banned large-capacity magazines, with most also limiting the devices to 10 rounds.

State Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, said the proposed high-capacity magazine ban would increase the effectiveness of a proposed assault weapon ban he introduced last month.

That legislation, Senate Bill 163, has attracted the wrath of Second Amendment advocates who say it would violate their state- and federally protected right to bear arms.

"Regulating high capacity magazines is a commonsense policy with broad public support, including among gun owners, and I'm glad that we're including it in our efforts to prevent gun violence in Delaware," said Townsend, the Senate prime sponsor of HB 375.

The Delaware State Sportsmen's Association, a local affiliate of the National Rifle Association, says the bill will have no impact on gun violence, however.

"In the other states that have tried this, there is no empirical evidence it does anything," said DSSA President Jeff Hague. "This is just another piece of legislation that feels good and sounds good but does nothing to reduce gun violence or get guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them."

Mitchell and other supporters of the bill say large-capacity magazines are often used in high-profile mass shootings, such as the 2012 murder of 20 young children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut and the 2017 slaying of 58 concert-goers in Las Vegas.

Smaller-capacity magazines will not eliminate mass shootings, but they could reduce the number of victims, they argue.

Mitchell, a retired New Castle County police sergeant, noted that smaller-capacity magazines have to be reloaded more frequently, providing more opportunities for someone to disarm and subdue a shooter.

"With this bill, we are taking a stand for public safety in Delaware by reducing the number of rounds available to shooters," Mitchell said.

A similar bill introduced by Mitchell in 2013 failed to come up for a vote in the state House – one of several gun control measures that failed to get out of the Legislature following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a year earlier.

Several gun control bills also have been introduced the current legislative session but have not reached the desk of Gov. John Carney.

They include a proposed ban on bump stocks and trigger cranks, a measure to raise the legal age at which someone can buy a rifle from 18 to 21 and legislation that would allow police to temporarily take guns from someone deemed a danger to themselves and others.

The most notable exception was a bill to raise the maximum prison sentence for an initial violation of the state's prohibition against "straw" purchases, a term that describes when someone barred from owning a gun gets someone else to buy a firearm for them.

That bill, also sponsored by Mitchell, easily cleared both chambers of the General Assembly but has yet to be signed by the governor.

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.