One of the General Assembly’s top Democrats is looking to close a so-called background check loophole for firearm dealers.
Currently, federally licensed firearms dealers are legally allowed to sell a gun if a background check takes longer than three business days.
In a letter to Delaware’s Congressional delegation, House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst (D-Delaware City) urged them to address the loophole at the federal level, but added she’ll also bring a bill to lawmakers here to delay those sales indefinitely.
“I’m sorry, but a background check is a background check and you either do it 100 percent or you don’t. If it doesn’t come back quickly, that means there’s a red flag in, we just need to explore it," Longhurst said.
No official bill has been circulated, but one is expected to be filed when lawmakers return to regular session in March.
Opponents say it’s a step toward infringing on people’s Second Amendment rights by delaying their ability to get a gun.
State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel), who owned a firearm store in Cheswold for 18 years, says background checks rarely took longer than that three-day limit and only one person was eventually denied.
"That is not an issue. It’s manufactured as an issue by those that don’t know,” Lawson said.
In Delaware, 92 percent of background checks are completed within the three-day timeframe, according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
But further restrictions on those who may be law-abiding citizens don't sit well with Lawson.
"If we delay everybody and we drag it out longer and longer and longer, then that's another way to get to the Second Amendment right."
At least 18 other states have extended the amount of time firearm dealers are required to wait before selling a gun while a background check is in process. Maryland has an indefinite waiting period for handguns, New Jersey requires 30 days and Pennsylvania can delay a sale indefinitely if they're confirming a domestic violence conviction, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Three years ago, Longhurst orchestrated expanding background checks to private gun sales and legislation requiring state agencies to report concerns about the mentally ill to the federal background check system in 2011.
No official bill has been circulated, but one is expected to be filed when lawmakers return to regular session in March.
