After decades of anti-gun regulations that contradicted Delaware’s own constitution, the state’s Supreme Court struck down measures than ran contrary to the “core right to keep and bear arms for defense of self and family outside the home.”
The narrowly decided Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club, Ltd. v. Small confirmed that lawful self defense allows gun owners the right to protect themselves inside and outside the home. The Delaware Supreme Court also stated that the previous anti-gun regulations were so biased against Section 20 of its own constitution, that they also were inconsistent with the U.S. Constitutional. The court concluded that these regulations were designed to be “intentionally broader than the Second Amendment.”
The long and dragged out court battle was fought against a pair of state agencies that had effectively banned firearm carry. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) prohibited the possession of any and all firearms in state forests. The agency controls upwards of 23,000 acres of public lands.
In a similar move, the Department of Agriculture banned all firearms in the 18,000 acres of public forests it oversees, with the exception of a hunting permit. Hunting is extremely limited, and permits are only issued by lottery for designated tree stands.
The legal challenge was initially brought by Delaware gun clubs and their members. The groups argued that the rules were excessive and violated the Section 20 of the state’s charter. They also pointed out that these agencies were exceeding their authority by banning the lawful possession, display and carrying of firearms.
In an expected decision against the gun owners, a lower court ruled for the agencies. The lower court claimed that it was within the agencies’ mandate to protect the public from guns. The court claimed that the extraordinarily limited hunting access satisfied Section 20. Showing its clear anti-Second Amendment bias, the lower court stated that the gun owners argument for self-defense was misplaced because “the need to respond to a threat with a firearm is diminished when firearms are prohibited in the area.” Despite the almost brazen rhetoric by the lower court, the 3-2 decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware vindicates gun owners in Delaware and across the nation.
The high court righted the wrongs of the agencies by issuing a ruling that states that neither organization can justify “such sweeping regulations” and that no land management body has the power to create “such unconstitutional regulations in the first place.”
Led by Justice Karen Valihura, the opinion surveyed the state’s history on the matter and concluded the right to bear arms “has existed since our State’s founding and has always been regarded as an inalienable right.” Directly pushing back on the anti-gun bias by the lower court, the decision states that allowing hunters to “exercise a narrow sliver of their Section 20 rights” amounts to the destruction of an individual’s self-defense rights under Section 20.
The actions of these government agencies and the arrogance of the lower court demonstrate that defending Second Amendment rights continues to be a hard-fought battle against those seeking to disarm Americans everywhere.
~ Firearm Daily
