The freaking House was not going to pass Senate Bill 6, the large capacity gun magazine ban, without some more amending shenanigans. So the Senate dealt with the House’s earlier chicanery by substituting the bill and restoring the original Senate bill without the House changes. For the most part, the House accepted this this, but on principle, it just had to amend the bill one more time, dealing with the penalty for a first time offense being a civil violation.
Fine. There comes a point when dealing with a toddler demanding a second popsicle that you just give it to them and deal with the sugar rush rather than deal with the tantrum. You will be amused by the vote chart below. I think it is the largest one ever over my years of doing this.
Senate Bill 6S would outlaw the sale of large-capacity magazines capable of holding any more than 17 rounds, set elevated penalties for the use of illegal magazines in the commission of a crime and create a buyback program to purchase large-capacity magazines currently in circulation.
The second vote in the House yesterday was 23-18, with three Democrats joining all Republicans in voting no: Bill Bush, Andria Bennett, and Bill Carson, the gun toting Uvalde Three.
The third vote in the Senate was 13-8, with only one Demcrat, Bruce Ennis, joining all Republicans in voting no.
Large-capacity magazines have been used in all 10 of the deadliest mass shootings over the last decade, while mass shootings that involved large-capacity magazines have resulted in twice as many fatalities as those that do not, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
A 2018 study also found that as many as 36% of guns used in crimes and nearly 40% of guns used to commit serious violent crimes – including the murder of law enforcement officers – were equipped with large-capacity magazines. At least nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws banning large-capacity magazines, including New York, New Jersey, and Maryland – all of which set their cap on magazine capacity at 10 rounds.
| Senate Bill 6S Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| Sokola, Sturgeon, Townsend, Gay, Hansen, S.McBride, Pinkney, Poore | Senate Passed 13-8. Brown Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh Senate Passed Again 13-7-1. Brown Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh Senate Passed Again Again 13-8. Brown Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh | 1st Vote: Bonini Ennis Hocker Lawson Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson 2nd Vote: Bonini Ennis Hocker Lawson. Absent: Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson 3rd Vote: Ennis Bonini Hocker Lawson Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson |
| Chukwuocha, Bentz, Heffernan, Kowalko, Lynn, Minor-Brown, Morrison | House Amended and Passed 24-16-1. Bentz Bolden Brady Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey Walker Griffith Heffernan Hensley K.Johnson K.Williams Kowalko Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews M.Smith Minor-Brown Mitchell Osienski Ramone S.Moore Schwartzkopf Wilson-Anton House Amended Again and Passed Again 23-18. Baumbach Bentz Bolden Friel Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Heffernan K.Johnson K.Williams Kowalko Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews Minor-Brown Mitchell Morrison Osienski S.Moore Schwartzkopf Wilson-Anton | 1st Vote: Baumbach Bennett Briggs King Bush Carson Collins D.Short Dukes (Absent) Gray Morris Morrison Postles Shupe Smyk Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick 2nd Vote: Bennett Bush Carson Briggs King Collins D.Short Dukes Gray Hensley M.Smith Morris Postles Ramone Shupe Smyk Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick |
| Current Status — | Sent to the Governor |
“There is no logical reason for the average person to be able to fire 20, 30 or 100 bullets without the need to reload. Limiting the number of rounds a person can fire at once is another piece of the puzzle to reduce gun violence without impacting a person’s right to own or use a firearm,” said Rep. Larry Mitchell. “As a retired police officer, I’ve seen firsthand how gun violence can tear apart families and the dangerous implications of large-capacity magazines. What we’re doing today is taking a meaningful step toward addressing the ongoing and tragic issue of gun violence, and I’m looking forward to seeing this bill signed into law.”
“This bill has endured quite the odyssey on its way to passage and I want to thank my colleagues in the House for working to reach a consensus,” said Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola, the bill’s lead sponsor. “Limiting the sale of these large-capacity magazines in Delaware will likewise help to save lives in police standoffs and mass shootings in our neighborhoods. It may have taken a few more votes than any of us expected but outlawing these dangerous devices was worth the effort.”
“Passing gun safety measures has been one of the defining issues of my four-year tenure in the State Senate,” said Sen. Laura Sturgeon, a co-prime sponsor of Senate Bill 6. “As an educator who has gone through countless active shooter drills and who taught students dealing with the fear of gun violence in their daily lives, I am relieved that we have taken action to ban large-capacity magazines. This is an important step toward lessening the damage that person intent on harming others can do. Mass school shootings, like all mass shootings, are deadliest when the shooter can fire many rounds quickly without reloading. This bill will prevent that.”
The measure heads to the Senate for final consideration.
the bill’s lead sponsor. “Limiting the sale of these large-capacity magazines in Delaware will likewise help to save lives in police standoffs and mass shootings in our neighborhoods. lol, this “research” is weak.
And here you are with absolutely no research.
“would outlaw the sale of large-capacity magazines capable of holding any more than 17 rounds, set elevated penalties for the use of illegal magazines in the commission of a crime and create a buyback program to purchase large-capacity magazines currently in circulation. ” Pretty much standard capacity for most semi-automatic hand guns popular with the public like full sized $500 Glocks.
“At least nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws banning large-capacity magazines, including New York, New Jersey, and Maryland – all of which set their cap on magazine capacity at 10 rounds.”
viola….my research from the posted article.
Also, the “10 round magazines” are just 17 or 30 round magazines with an easily removable block (similar to a bent cloths hanger) in the base to limit the carrying capacity. It’s as easy as changing the batteries out on a portable device. Meaningless legislation like banning 1980’s era $10,000 Uzi’s that haven’t been legal for sale without a special $200 tax stamp and extensive ATF background check lasting a minimum of 90 days since the manufacture or importation of new machine guns for sale to civilians has been banned since 1986. Again, there have been no legal sales of new machine guns (automatic weapons) in the USA since 1986. Any and all machine gun sales in this country come from a limited stock of used pre-1986 weapons that cost 10’s of thousands of dollars and require special federal taxes and extensive background checks lasting months….the same for purchasing a suppressor better known as a silencer.
Just because I know a thing or two about guns doesn’t mean I am not in favor of an “assault rifle” ban or increased regulation. This “large capacity magazine ban” does nothing to combat large capacity magazines. A little you tube research would show the legislators why. The bill’s crafters did not do their research. Weak tea.
So weird….no response. You guys need some advisors/ people who know guns to write your legislation…..clearly you don’t have anyone.
ps I’m a far cry from an expert and even I recognize this.
This is the equivalent of saying that your car goes to 120, so you are never going to stop speeding. There’s something to be said for a mechanism for some enforcement. Still — one wonders why the right fought so hard against this if it was utterly meaningless.