Gun control advocates in Delaware are applauding President Obama's executive action to curb gun violence, announced Tuesday. But the effect of that action is less defined, in a state that already requires a background check for each gun sold.
The universal checks that are a cornerstone of President Obama's plan aren't new to Delaware. State legislators approved them in May 2013, just months after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Still, Rep. Jeff Spiegelman (R-Marydel) says the First State has wrangled with fallout from that law. He's a co-chair of the new Sportsmen's Caucus, and says the background checks law -- House Bill 35 -- has made it tough for Amish subsistence hunters without photo IDs to buy guns.
"This executive action does not have that much more of an effect than House Bill 35 had," says Spiegelman. "However, I still have the concern for one of Delaware's largest hunting groups, which is the Amish community, and again, House Bill 35 made things more difficult for them."
Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence spokesman Jeff Lott says he isn't as worried that Delaware law restricts Amish access to guns.
He points to other parts of Obama's plan, such as funding research into technology to prevent guns from being fired by someone other than their owners, and boosting integration of mental health information into state background check systems, as well as access to mental health treatment. The plan also pays for more federal staff to speed up the background checks process.
Rep. Spiegelman declined to comment on those details. Lott says they're important steps:
"But we note that they're not enough," he says. "Only Congress can really close the loopholes in the federal law, and the president is acting because Congress refuses to do so."
Lott says the coalition wants lawmakers to lift a ban on researching gun violence as a public health issue. That's tied to reports like the Centers for Disease Control issued last year on root causes of violence in Wilmington.
Lott notes guns aren't the only driver of that violence -- the long-awaited CDC report named risk factors like poverty, low educational levels, trauma at home and unemployment, too.
And with as many firearms as people in the U.S., Lott says he knows things won't change overnight. Instead, he says his group wants more public education about guns, and what he calls "common sense regulations and legislation."
"President Obama talked about 'the fierce urgency of now,' quoting Martin Luther King, and, you know, it is time to act," Lott says. "And with more than 30,000 gun deaths every year, we think that urgency is real, and we think Congress should see that too."
He says he believes Delawareans have the will to support Obama's actions and more -- after enduring gun-related tragedies at home and nationwide.
