The Delaware State Senate again amended legislation banning devices that speed up the firing of firearms. It now goes back to the House - again.
State lawmakers remain at odds over the penalties for possession of bump stocks.
This is the second time state senators have lowered the penalty for someone charged with possessing a bump stock.
State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn said senators on both sides of the aisle again approved lowering seriousness of having a bump stock.
“I think it kind of rang with the other side that yes that you know being a Class A misdemeanor was a little bit too harsh flor just possessing something,” he said.
But bill sponsor, House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, has pushed back. She said she’s evaluating whether to do so again before session wraps up at the end of the month.
“I think this bump stock is a deadly weapon and just by having it," she said. "Personally I think that it shouldn’t be on the streets, you know, in Delaware.”
Longhurst said she offered lawmakers a compromise by increasing the penalty for possession to up to a year in prison, but leaving it a misdemeanor.
But she said she’s happy senators kept the purchase, sale and transfer of bump stocks a felony.
