Yes, and yes. Under 11 Del. C. § 1442(a) a person is guilty of carrying a concealed deadly weapon when the person carries concealed a deadly weapon...
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Yes, and yes. Under 11 Del. C. § 1442(a) a person is guilty of carrying a concealed deadly weapon when the person carries concealed a deadly weapon upon or about the person "without a license to do so as provided by § 1441 of this title." Section 1441(d) then reads: "The Court may or may not, in its discretion, approve any application." Section 1441(a)(2) adds the requirement applicants underestimate: a certificate of 5 respectable citizens of your county stating that you are of full age, sobriety and good moral character, bear a good reputation for peace and good order, and need to carry for the protection of you or your property. The license covers deadly weapons generally, not only handguns (§ 222(6)), and is void by operation of law if the holder becomes prohibited under § 1448 (§ 1441(m)).
11 Del. C. § 1441(a)(3) puts the firearms training course on the front end: the notarized instructor certificate is filed "Prior to the issuance of an initial license." Section 1441(a)(5)a. makes the initial license valid for 3 years, then lets the licensee renew "without further application" for a further 5 years on a $65 fee to the Prothonotary and an affidavit of continued need and continued qualification, "and may make like renewal every 5 years thereafter," subject to the Superior Court's power to inquire into the request and deny it "for good cause shown." The paragraph then closes the door on extras: "No requirements in addition to those specified in this paragraph may be imposed for the renewal of a license." The course belongs to the initial license, and renewal is governed by paragraph (a)(5)a. alone.
Carrying a concealed deadly weapon is a class G felony, and a class D felony if the deadly weapon is a firearm or a projectile weapon (11 Del. C. § 1442(b)). The license is what takes the conduct out of § 1442(a). Two defenses sit in the section: § 1442(c) covers a licensee whose license expired where renewal was applied for in time and was still pending when the offense occurred, and § 1442(d) makes compliance with the vehicle storage rule in § 1456(b) a defense.
Section 1442(a) reaches a deadly weapon carried "concealed ... upon or about the person," so carrying openly falls outside the conduct that offense describes. You still have to be a person who may lawfully possess the weapon under 11 Del. C. § 1448, and the location rules below apply however the firearm is carried. Local governments have narrow room to fill the gap: 22 Del. C. § 111(a) and 9 Del. C. § 330(c) bar municipal and county regulation of firearm ownership, transfer, possession and transportation "except that the discharge of a firearm may be regulated." Discharge is not all they keep. Section 111(b) lets "municipal governments ... adopt ordinances regulating the possession of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, or explosives in police stations and municipal buildings," and 9 Del. C. § 330(d) gives counties the same authority for police stations and county buildings.
11 Del. C. § 1448(a)(5) puts any person under 21 on the prohibited-persons list for purchasing, owning, possessing or controlling a deadly weapon or ammunition. Paragraph (a)(5)a. lifts the bar for a shotgun as defined in § 1444(c) or shotgun ammunition and a muzzle-loading rifle as defined in § 704(f) of Title 7, neither with an age condition, plus "Deadly weapons, including projectile weapons other than firearms if the person is 18 years of age or older." Paragraph (a)(5)b. exempts three groups at 18: active Armed Forces or National Guard members, qualified law-enforcement officers as defined in § 1441A, and a person holding a § 1441 license. Section 1441(a) requires an applicant to be "of full age," which 1 Del. C. § 701 sets at 18. Paragraph (a)(5)c. covers supervised hunting, instruction and sporting activity. Section 1448(c) grades possession by a person prohibited in three tiers: a class F felony by default; a class D felony where "said deadly weapon is a firearm or ammunition for a firearm, and the violation is one of paragraphs (a)(1)-(8) of this section," the range (a)(5) sits in; and a class C felony where "the person is eligible for sentencing pursuant to subsection (e) of this section."
Section 1448D creates the handgun qualified purchaser permit, issued by the State Bureau of Identification. It is a purchase document: § 1448D(j)(3) lets the holder buy handguns while the permit is valid, and § 1448D(j)(1) makes it valid 2 years. It takes being 21 or older, not being prohibited under § 1448, and a firearms training course completed within the previous 5 years with at least 100 rounds of live fire (§ 1448D(f)). A § 1441 licensee need not apply for one (§ 1448D(c)(2)) and is excepted from the permit requirement on private handgun sales (§ 1448B(c)(6)).
Yes, and the exemption is categorical. 11 Del. C. § 1469(a) makes it unlawful "to manufacture, sell, offer for sale, purchase, receive, transfer, or possess a large-capacity magazine." Under § 1469(b) a first violation involving only possession is a $100 civil penalty, a second is a class B misdemeanor, and all other violations are a class E felony. Section 1469(c) then says the section "does not apply to" a list that at (c)(5) includes "An individual who holds a valid concealed carry permit issued by the Superior Court under § 1441 of this title." No vehicle, location or storage condition attaches, unlike the vehicle-only licensee exceptions in the school and college zones.
Through 11 Del. C. § 1441(j). Delaware honors permits issued to citizens of other states where the issuing state also honors Delaware licenses and where those permits afford "a reasonably similar degree of protection as is provided by licensure in Delaware." The Attorney General decides which states qualify and publishes the list each January 15; it is valid one year, and no state may be removed without one year of notice. The list for January 15, 2025 to January 15, 2026 named 21 states, some only at a specific permit level. Because § 1441(j) runs to citizens of other states, a Delaware resident needs the Delaware license. The one other route is the § 1441(k) temporary license, for a non-resident with a short-term employment need: 30 days, not renewable, capped at 3 per person.
Section 1441 is a licensing statute: its duties run to the application, publication of notice, court approval, renewal, and the voiding of a license if the holder becomes prohibited (§ 1441(a), (b), (d), (e), (m)). The one carry-the-document requirement written into § 1441 is subsection (k), for the temporary non-resident license, which "must be carried at all times while within the State." Section 1441 imposes no notification or disclosure duty on a licensee. Two rules elsewhere turn on producing or concealing the weapon: the state parks regulations let licensees carry "provided only that the permit be produced upon request," and a municipal or county building ordinance excuses a licensee only "so long as the firearm remains concealed except for inadvertent display or for self-defense or defense of others" (22 Del. C. § 111(b)(6), 9 Del. C. § 330(d)(6)).
Local ordinances may also restrict police stations and municipal or county buildings, with a sign at each entrance (22 Del. C. § 111(b), 9 Del. C. § 330(d)). The state parks rules at 7 DE Admin. Code 9201 bar firearms from signed facilities but let Delaware licensees carry there.
Private property and posted-sign rules are outside the scope of this page, so nothing above answers whether a private owner or business may bar carry on its premises. For that question, read the Delaware Code directly at delcode.delaware.gov or ask a Delaware lawyer.
No. A Safe Recreation Zone under 11 Del. C. § 1457(c)(4) is any building or structure "utilized as a recreation center, athletic field or sports stadium," but § 1457 is derivative rather than a flat ban. Section 1457(a) reaches "Any person who commits any of the offenses described in subsection (b) of this section, or any juvenile who possesses a firearm or projectile weapon" while in or on the zone. The § 1457(b) predicates are §§ 1442, 1444, 1446 (repealed, so it can no longer be committed), 1448, 1452, 1453 and 1466. Section 1442(a) reaches carrying concealed "without a license to do so as provided by § 1441 of this title," so a licensee carrying lawfully does not commit it, commits no other predicate, and is not a juvenile. With no predicate, § 1457 does not attach to the licensee. It still reaches an unlicensed carrier, a person prohibited under § 1448, a juvenile, and anyone who commits another § 1457(b) offense there.
Grading tracks the predicate: § 1457(j)(3) says "If the underlying offense is a class E, F, or G felony, the crime shall be one grade higher than the underlying offense," and § 1457(j)(4) says "If the underlying offense is a class D felony, the crime shall also be a class D felony." An unlicensed person carrying a concealed firearm there commits a class D felony under § 1442(b), so § 1457(j)(4) holds the zone offense at class D rather than raising it.
Under 11 Del. C. § 1456(b) you commit unsafe storage of a firearm in a vehicle when you knowingly leave a firearm unattended in a vehicle unless it is in a locked box or container, in a locked firearms rack on the vehicle, or locked in the trunk. That is a class B misdemeanor, or a class A misdemeanor if an unauthorized person obtains it and commits or attempts a crime with it, causes serious injury or death, or transfers it on (§ 1456(d)). A valid § 1441 license is not a defense to subsection (b) (§ 1456(g)). Compliance with § 1456(b) is, though, a defense to a § 1442 charge (§ 1442(d)).
Yes, with defined exceptions. Under 22 Del. C. § 111(a) municipal governments "shall enact no law, ordinance or regulation prohibiting, restricting or licensing the ownership, transfer, possession or transportation of firearms ... except that the discharge of a firearm may be regulated." Within § 111(a) itself, municipal ordinances existing before July 4, 1985 survive and those enacted after that date are repealed by the statute. 9 Del. C. § 330(c) applies the same enactment bar to county governments, and it carries no comparable date, savings clause or repealer. The building ordinances authorized by § 111(b) and § 330(d) are the main carve-out.
Sometimes. 11 Del. C. § 464(b) lets a person using protective force estimate its necessity "without retreating." But § 464(e)(2) withdraws the justification for deadly force where the defendant knows the necessity of using it can be avoided with complete safety by retreating. Two exceptions sit inside that paragraph: you need not retreat in or from your dwelling, or in or from your place of work unless you were the initial aggressor (§ 464(e)(2)a., b.). Deadly force is justified only against death, serious physical injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat (§ 464(c)).
Drinking is not itself the offense. Under 11 Del. C. § 1460(a) a person is guilty when the person "possesses a firearm or projectile weapon in a public place while under the influence of alcohol or drugs." Section 1460(b)(4) sets the line at .08 or more grams of alcohol per hundred milliliters of blood (or .08 or more grams per 210 liters of breath), or at "Being manifestly under the influence of alcohol or any illicit or recreational drug ... to the degree that the person may be in danger or endanger other persons or property." "Public place" under § 1460(b)(3) includes "restaurants, bars, taverns." Section 1460(a) also supplies an affirmative defense: "that, the firearm or projectile weapon was not readily operable, or that the person was not in possession of ammunition for the firearm or projectile weapon." The offense is a class A misdemeanor, and a class G felony after a previous conviction under the section (§ 1460(d)).
Delaware calls it a lethal violence protective order, under 10 Del. C. Chapter 77. A law-enforcement officer may seek an emergency order in the Justice of the Peace Court, which hears it within 24 hours; the respondent has no right to notice or to be heard, the standard is a preponderance of the evidence, and the order requires relinquishment of firearms, projectile weapons and ammunition (§ 7703). An emergency order may not exceed 45 days and triggers a full Superior Court hearing within 15 days (§ 7703(f)). There the petitioner, a family member or a law-enforcement officer, must prove the danger by clear and convincing evidence (§ 7704(b)). A final order runs up to 5 years (§ 7704(j)) and may be renewed for up to 1 year at a time (§ 7705(b)(4)). A person subject to one is prohibited under § 1448(a)(11) of Title 11.
This page covers one part of our Delaware concealed carry guide.
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