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Sitting in her car in the parking lot of Miller's Gun Center near New Castle on Wednesday afternoon, Valisa Noel waited in the warmth as her husband stood in line inside.

He was one of about a dozen people at the New Castle County store to buy firearms and ammunition. The line moved slowly, but the customers, many of whom donned medical gloves and masks, waited patiently, knowing Miller's could close at any minute.

His shop and at least one other were breaking the rules under Gov. John Carney's emergency order, which had ordered them closed.

Tiring of the wait, Noel went in to check on her husband's progress in line.

"I feel that (firearms stores) should be open," Noel said. "People are terrified. They're beyond scared. They're terrified, and they should be able to keep protecting themselves."

That sentiment is being echoed among gun rights advocates as they push back against part of Carney's Sunday afternoon order closing all "nonessential" businesses. The order went into effect Tuesday at 8 a.m. and is intended to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Update:Gun stores issued cease-and-desist orders after defying governor's order to close

Under Delaware business code, most firearms stores are given the same North American Industry Classification code as sporting goods stores, which are deemed "nonessential."

Thus, they've been told to close, though some have not abided by that order.

A NATIONAL DEBATE:Are gun stores and golf courses ‘essential businesses’ during coronavirus shutdowns? It depends where you live.

The issue, gun rights advocates say, is the forced closures are a "direct infringement" on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 20 of the Delaware Constitution. Both grant citizens the right to bear arms.

By closing firearms stores, someone who does not have a firearm now cannot get one and is thus "unable to practice (their) rights," said Mitch Denham, founder of Delaware Gun Rights, a 21,000-member Facebook group.

That's been a big topic of discussion in the group the last several days, especially because Pennsylvania backtracked on their order Tuesday.

"We want people to be able to have access that don't have access," Denham said. "Maybe you're anti-gun and never saw a reason to have one until now, so you've never had one. Now you don't have access to protect yourself and your family, and that's what we're fighting against."

READ:Shelves clear as coronavirus fears fuel sales of firearms, ammunition

In the two weeks since Delaware announced its first case of coronavirus and watched cases climb to 119 Wednesday, sales of firearms and ammunition have gone through the roof, according to several store owners.

A large amount of those sales are fueled by coronavirus fears — and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.

"There's an inherent fear with something that you can't see," Denham said. "If you can't see a virus, you don't know if you're going to get it. You don't know if you're susceptible to it; you, you don't know if you're a carrier — there are a lot of unknowns."

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It's not the virus itself that's driving the firearms and ammunition sales, Denham said: A firearm can't prevent a person from falling ill.

It's the concern that society's collective fear is "going to make people crazy."

"I’ve seen people that fight over TVs or something on Black Friday," Middletown resident Joe Cael said last week. “Right now, there’s a crisis. People have to think. You have to make decisions. I worry about people. They get a bit cagey, so I want some protection.”

That protection, with some exceptions, is guaranteed under the U.S. and Delaware constitutions.

Taking that away, by virtue of closing firearms stores, means "you are depriving every citizen in the state of Delaware the ability to exercise their right to keep and bear arms," said Jeff Hague, president of the Delaware State Sportsmen's Association.

"We feel that's wrong," Hague said. "We feel that that's unconstitutional. But there's a solution."

That would be amending the list of nonessential businesses to make an exception for firearms stores.

Individual businesses can submit requests to have their business status changed from "nonessential" to "essential," though there is "not a guarantee that a petition will be successful," Carney's office said.

Hague said the governor should look to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's directive on Tuesday, which allows Pennsylvania firearms dealers to sell their wares by individual appointment during limited hours, as long as they comply with social distancing guidelines and take other measures to protect employees and customers from the coronavirus.

Firearms dealers were initially on Pennsylvania's nonessential business list, but Wolf quietly changed that after three Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices urged the governor to rethink the firearms store closures.

STORY:Gov. Wolf beats gun dealers in court, then reopens gun shops at urging of dissenting judge

“Quite simply, if firearm dealers are not able to conduct any business in person at their licensed premises, then no transfers of firearms can be completed,” Pennsylvania Justice David Wecht wrote.

"This amounts to an absolute and indefinite prohibition upon the acquisition of firearms by the citizens of this commonwealth — a result in clear tension with the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution [and] the Pennsylvania Constitution.”

Hague, Denham and others argue the same.

In an interview with radio station WGMD earlier this week, Carney said he was not part of the process for determining what businesses were deemed essential and what were not.

He said he guessed the firearms store closures "was a combination of maybe the fact that they’re not immediately essential, obviously notwithstanding Second Amendment rights there.”

The governor's office has not issued any update to Carney's current list but said it's heard gun advocates' concerns.

Denham said that's not enough, and the governor must take action.

"Gov. Carney needs to know that he did not make the right decision," Denham said. "We understand (the order), but now it's time to back up and rethink it and let (firearms stores open)."

Send story tips or ideas to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_.