The Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association finds it extremely unfortunate that the General Assembly and Governor John Carney have taken these draconian steps that will do nothing but infringe on the constitutional rights of law abiding sportsmen and women of Delaware. These measures that have been signed into law will do nothing to reduce the incidents of violence in Delaware. As we have tirelessly said throughout this process, criminals do not obey the law and will continue to do so.
With the exception of the FTAP law, which was drafted several years ago by the DSSA for Senator Gerald Hocker, and which could not get a hearing until this year because it was not a Democratic bill, all the legislation is completely one sided. There was no input from anyone other than the Democratic leadership. There was no real opportunity for public comment. All this has taken place in less than 30 days. The speed with which these bills were railroaded through the General Assembly points out that with one party in control, it is extremely easy to shut out public input and pass legislation that has not been thoroughly discussed by all parties.
With the stroke of a pen the Governor and the Democrats in the General Assembly have succeeded in making thousands of Delawareans criminals overnight. With all these bills going into effect with the Governor’s signature, with the exception of the magazine capacity ban, no gun owner will be safe from prosecution.
These pieces of legislation demonstrate that the Democratic party is determined to disarm every citizen in Delaware and put every business that sells firearms out of business. There is no “common sense or gun safety” aspect to these bills. They are simply an effort to circumvent our Bill of Rights which guarantees all Delawareans the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use. Those rights have been conveniently forgotten by the Democrats in the Legislature and the Governor.
However, DSSA has not forgotten our Constitutional rights. Rest assured, DSSA is committed to fighting these unconstitutional pieces of legislation in court. Legal action will be forthcoming as soon as practicable. Our attorneys are already preparing to fight these bills in court. DSSA will defend the citizens of Delaware and their Constitutional rights. It will not be easy, but we will not shy away from the challenges that lie ahead.
We ask that you join us in this fight, not only in the courts but also in November by voting only for those candidates that will promise to fight for our rights. Only by replacing those who would continue to violate our rights in the General Assembly can we guarantee that law abiding citizens of this state will not become second class members of the state.