A committee vote on Senate Bill 163 didn’t result in enough ayes to get to the Senate floor in Delaware. The death knell came when two Democrats voted against the measure.
S.B. 163 was introduced in March by Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark. It called for blocking the sale, transfer or import of about 60 specific makes and models of firearms, including the AR-15-platform rifle.
As with much of the legislation that has been proposed by gun control advocates in recent times, S.B. 163 defined “illegal” guns by such things as rifles with folding stocks, flash suppressors and grenade launchers—cosmetic details that do nothing to make a gun more deadly.
Last week’s action should not have come as a surprise. Earlier in June, a five-member committee refused to advance the bill to the full Senate.
The governor had pushed for the bill, despite the fact that the Delaware Constitution guarantees the right to own firearms for self-defense and other purposes.
Other gun control measures are still pending.
