On May 16, 2024, Delaware enacted a permit to purchase gun law requiring prior training and a sworn statement before the current purchase process can take place. See:
This will save lives while still allowing civil Delawareans to buy a gun. And I think it would have probably prevented Hunter Biden from getting in the situation that led to his trial now underway in Wilmington.
Whether the Supreme Court will strike this law down is a question. I hope not.
It is the solution to the Hunter Biden issue, so I am confused what to say.
I put it in Great Debates because discussing why Hunter was indicted seems not allowed unless I say it was because the prosecutor is a Republican, and I do not think that.
However, I would say – Great Debates – because the issue is much bigger than the President’s son.
I’ve been skeptical of gun training requirements before on grounds that the instructors tend to be pro-gun and might favor use of guns as a conflict resolution tool, rather than as a last resort. Plus I’ve seen advertisements, from commercial instructors in other states, of 100 percent pass rates. Delaware does not seem to require a pass/fail examination. While I do not like that, they might have legal reasons there. And they did set down these reasonable-to-me training requirements:
Is that based on your experience or guesswork because my experience is the opposite. Gun instructors tend to believe that pulling your gun is the last resort because you have put yourself in a situation that you may be taking someone’s life.
I cannot find professional journalists, unassociated with the gun industry, writing about such classes. That makes it hard to evaluate varying comments you see on the internet. For something on the negative side, see:
Unfortunately, the Delaware law does not require any sort of completion test for the training. This does risk that the next Hunter Biden will pay no attention in class, and then purchase a gun. Perhaps this weakness has something to do with their strategy for getting the new law past SCOTUS – now I’m totally guessing.
Almost all eventually pass, but they are signaled to take driving rules seriously. Guns are roughly as deadly as motor vehicles, and should have comparable required training IMHO.
Good point. People lying on forms? The first income tax form was in 1914. The Brits had the Stamp tax on us before 1776. Lying on forms is common and worldwide.
And have we just sat on our hands that whole time, furrowing our brows in a vain attempt to understand the situation? Or did we improve those systems to make it harder to lie on forms?
Yes, we now have a better background check, which checks the real issues- felony convictions, having a judge declare mental incompetency, and convictions for partner abuse. There is no way to check for current drug use- unless convicted for a felony.,
The problem of impulsively signing a falsified 4473 and then getting a handgun despite being an irresponsible lawbreaker. Under the Delaware law, a future Hunter has to sit through a class where the law regarding who can buy a gun is detailed. Then he has to sign a sworn statement that he is allowed to buy a gun. And then he still has to go through the 4473 process. And I believe these steps are likely to occur on separate days. This would give more opportunity for him to reconsider, or for Hallie having stepped in before he actually possessed the gun. Seeing how Hallie stepped in and threw the gun in the dumpster, I think it is realistic to hope she would have stepped earlier, given a longer process. Or knowing that getting a gun in Delaware is a PITA, Hunter might not have even tried.
And it still is not as much of a PITA as driver licensing.
Guarantee? No, there will always be crime. But the Delaware law is going to stop a lot of impulsive crime, if SCOTUS allows it.
As the Delaware law is written, this is mostly correct.
Knowing that eye problems are common, in Pennsylvania we require medical certification before you can get a driver’s license. Then after age 45 there is, in my state, random retesting. If we ever get back to having a Supreme Court that pays attention to the 2nd amendment being about the militia, there should and could be a medical drug test for the state permit to purchase, no more onerous than the driver’s licensing requiremrnt.
And note that eye exam is a one time test, not every time you buy a car.
Okay, sure, then a medical drug test for a drivers licence. And a drug test for a Doctor’s license, and a lawyers license , and so forth. How about one to vote? or get aid? Maybe one for Social Security.
I dont give a good goddamn is someone has been smoking pot and wants to drive buy a gun or whatever- as long as he isnt under the influence when driving or shooting
