!! URGENT CALL TO ACTION ALERT !!
Information coming to us from Legislative Hall in Dover is that Attorney General Biden has joined ranks with Mayor Williams and Wilmington-based legislators to push for repeal of Delaware’s Preemption Laws.
As a prelude to the amendment that added Delaware’s Right to Keep and Bear Arms to the Delaware Constitution in the mid-1980’s, the Delaware General Assembly passed two laws that prohibited towns, cities and counties from passing their own patchwork of laws, preempting towns, cities and counties, denying them the power to pass such laws, saving that power for itself.
Now that Mayor Williams finds himself unable to deal with Wilmington’s violent criminals, he is asking Wilmington’s legislators and the Attorney General to repeal those laws so that he and other anti-gun Wilmington City Officials can ban guns and pass other laws as a way of showing that they are “doing something about crime” – that something being making outlaws out of law-abiding citizens by banning guns and doing other things that will simply empower and embolden Wilmington’s criminal drug gangs.
You may remember that last year Wilmington Councilwoman Hanifa Shabazz tried to bypass Delaware’s preemption statute by introducing a bill that would have banned a long list of guns and ordered Wilmington PD to confiscate those guns. That’s what they want to do now – and will do if we give them the power to do so.
There are two anti-preemption bills already awaiting action in the Delaware General Assembly:
- House Bill 62, sponsored by Representatives Bolden, Baumbach, J. Johnson, Longhurst & Potter, and co-sponsored by Sen. Marshall would exempt Wilmington from Delaware’s preemption statute. House Bill 62 is currently assigned to the House Administration Committee whose members are: Representatives Longhurst, Schwartzkopf, Hudson, D. Short & Viola.
- Senate Bill 23, sponsored by Senators Marshall, McDowell & Henry and co-sponsored by Representatives Bolden, Brady, Keeley and Potter would repeal Delaware’s municipal preemption statute in its entirety and would allow all 57 of Delaware municipalities to pass their own anti-gun laws. Senate Bill 23 is currently assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee whose members are: Senators Henry, Blevins, Lavelle, McDowell, Simpson & Townsend.
CALL TO ACTION
- Call, write, email or fax the members of the House Administration Committee and politely ask that they take no action on House Bill 62– tell them that Delaware’s laws are sufficient and that Wilmington PD needs more help with personnel and overtime, not new City Ordinances.
- Call, write, email or fax the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and politely ask that they take no action on Senate Bill 23 – tell them that as small as Delaware is, having a diverse, confusing and conflicting patchwork of laws spread across all 57 of Delaware’s municipalities can only lead to honest people making mistakes and becoming criminals without ever intending to – tell them to retain the powers of the General Assembly as the exclusive legislative powers to pass new gun laws.
- Call, write, email, or fax your Senator & your Representative and politely ask them to oppose House Bill 62 and Senate Bill 23 – tell them that the only way to solve Wilmington’s crime problem is for Wilmington to give their police department the money and manpower it needs to put an end to the violent drug gangs in that city.
House Republicans: Call: 744-4171 FAX; 739-2773
House Democrats: Call: 744-4351 FAX: 739-2313
Senate Democrats: Call: 744-4286 FAX: 739-6890
Senate Republicans: Call: 744-4048 FAX: 739-5049
Click here for a complete listing of Senators and Representatives
Be Polite, but be firm – ask them to support you
Ask Delaware’s Legislators to support the fundamental right to keep and bear arms
ACTION IS NEEDED TODAY!
Look for this Action Alert Network to keep you informed as this case proceeds and further developments evolve.