Bill Commons

DE SB 324

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEADLY WEAPONS.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · upper

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 324 pass?

Yes. DE SB 324 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-14): Signed by Governor

What is DE SB 324 about?

Senate Bill No. 188, enacted during this General Assembly, clarified that the law-enforcement agency practice of purchasing firearms for that agency’s law-enforcement officers for use by the officers in their official duties is exempted from the background check requirements under §§ 1448A, 1448B, and 1448D of Title 11 under our State’s permit to purchase firearms laws. This Act provides the same exemption from background check requirements for a qualified constable agency representative. A qualified constable agency representative means a constable working for an employer, as defined under § 5602 of Title 24, that has authorized the procurement of handguns by the constable on behalf of any constables working for that employer. For purposes of this Act, “constable” means an individual who satisfies all of the following: (1) Commissioned under Chapter 56 of Title 24. (2) Licensed to carry a firearm by the Professional Licensing Section of the Delaware State Police. (3) Authorized by the Constable Board of Examiners to carry a firearm in the performance of the constable’s official duties. This Act also makes void a permit to purchase and gives the Director of the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) permission to revoke a permit to purchase if the person is no longer a qualified constable agency representative.

Who sponsors DE SB 324?

Trey Paradee, Russell Huxtable, Laura V. Sturgeon and 3 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 324.

Description

Senate Bill No. 188, enacted during this General Assembly, clarified that the law-enforcement agency practice of purchasing firearms for that agency’s law-enforcement officers for use by the officers in their official duties is exempted from the background check requirements under §§ 1448A, 1448B, and 1448D of Title 11 under our State’s permit to purchase firearms laws. This Act provides the same exemption from background check requirements for a qualified constable agency representative. A qualified constable agency representative means a constable working for an employer, as defined under § 5602 of Title 24, that has authorized the procurement of handguns by the constable on behalf of any constables working for that employer. For purposes of this Act, “constable” means an individual who satisfies all of the following: (1) Commissioned under Chapter 56 of Title 24. (2) Licensed to carry a firearm by the Professional Licensing Section of the Delaware State Police. (3) Authorized by the Constable Board of Examiners to carry a firearm in the performance of the constable’s official duties. This Act also makes void a permit to purchase and gives the Director of the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) permission to revoke a permit to purchase if the person is no longer a qualified constable agency representative.

Introduced
2026-05-18
Latest action
2026-09-14 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Trey Paradeeprimary
  • Russell Huxtableprimary
  • Laura V. Sturgeonprimary
  • Brian Pettyjohnprimary
  • Franklin D. Cookeprimary
  • S. Elizabeth Lockmanprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-14

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-06-30

    Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT

    passage

  3. 2026-06-17

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  4. 2026-06-11

    Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-06-11

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2026-06-11

    Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 7 Favorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  7. 2026-05-18

    Introduced and Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2026-06-11 · pass · 20-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: other
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: yes
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: yes
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: yes
    • David L. Wilson: yes

  • SM

    2026-06-30 · pass · 40-0

    Member-level votes (41)
    • Alonna Berry: yes
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: yes
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: yes
    • Jeff Hilovsky: other
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: yes
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=143331

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-20T07:33:17.079032Z

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