Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, April 25, 2023
First, let’s all pause and approve by acclamation a DL Superior Legislating Award for Rep. Ed Osienski. He never gave up, he consistently changed the legislation to attract votes, he worked to bring people on board, and he assembled a veto-proof majority that forced Gov. John Carney to admit defeat. Weed is legal in Delaware thanks, in large part, to the superb work of Rep. Osienski. A very difficult job very well done.
Have you read this recently?:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Yes, it’s a poorly-written sentence, almost certainly intentionally. But when so-called Second Amendment absolutists proclaim that this guarantees the rights of people to possess all the arms that they want, they routinely ignore the ‘A well regulated militia’ part.
I’m no constitutional expert (said Captain Obvious) but the term ‘well regulated’ implies, oh, I don’t know, government’s right to regulate firearms, at least to a certain extent, something the gun nuts never recognize.
Which is just one reason why I think that SB 2 (Lockman) has a good chance of passage. The bill…:
…does the following: (1) Creates an application process to obtain a handgun qualified purchaser permit to authorize the purchase of a handgun. While an applicant will incur costs related to fingerprinting and required training, a fee will not be charged to obtain the permit. A holder of a valid concealed carry permit, a qualified law-enforcement officer, and a qualified retired law-enforcement officer are not required to obtain or present a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (2) Prohibits a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer, as well as unlicensed persons, from selling or transferring a handgun to an individual unless the individual has a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (3) Requires that an applicant complete a firearms training course within 5 years before the date of application, similar to what is required by Delaware’s concealed carry permit law. (4) Makes clear that § 904A of Title 24 is not intended to prohibit law-enforcement officials from keeping records. (5) Requires the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to develop and administer a firearms training voucher program for low-income residents to provide low-income residents with a voucher to cover the costs of the firearms training course required under Section 1 of this Act.
The shorthand is ‘Permit To Purchase’. Because the ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms’ should be ‘well regulated’. The bill is on Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee Agenda.
We’ve had a tidal wave of important new bills in the past week. Also a couple of really bad bills from the Rethugs. I’ll discuss them all as they begin to pop up on committee agendas. Starting tomorrow as there are no committee meetings scheduled for today.
Today’s Senate Agenda features two bills addressing animal cruelty.
There is one notable bill on today’s House Agenda. Assuming SB 39 (Sokola) passes, which it will, there will no longer be mandatory post-midnight Special Sessions on June 30 in Dover as this is the second leg of this constitutional amendment.
Back tomorrow with a Magnum Opus Committee Meeting Edition of the Post-Game/Pre-Game.
Oops, I was wrong. Turns out there is one House Committee meeting today. Transportation. Featuring this bill, which makes sense to me:
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?legislationId=130167
Don’t mean to be dense, El, but where do I find those animal cruelty bills? Clicked on “Senate Agenda” and it is blank. Would you have the bill #s?
Probably b/c they were already worked. Guess the Senate worked them early today. I’ll try to dig ’em up…here we go:
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=130128
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=130127
Both passed today, and now head to the House.
Appreciate it!!
“A holder of a valid concealed carry permit, a qualified law-enforcement officer, and a qualified retired law-enforcement officer are not required to obtain or present a handgun qualified purchaser permit”
Sounds like Shotgun Joe is free to buy more pistols. Think he’ll use a Taurus Judge next time around, since scatterguns seem to be his MO?
Bad jokes aside, pile on all the firearm restrictions you want, so long as there are mandatory minimums and automatic enhancements for gang related activity/drugs/domestic violence.
*eyeroll*
Far too many laws are written with exemptions for LEOs and retired LEOs. Along with generous early pensions, this has led to the creation of an entitled out-of-touch class of right-wing voters and lawmakers who feel they are above the law, because they literally are.
What compromises were required? As a non-toker I haven’t been following the legal weed bill with bated breath. The compromises presumably reduced the effectiveness, equity, and revenue of the final bill, which are now institutionalized and monetized and will never be fixed.
So are we stuck with half a loaf? I wonder if a few more years of political evolution had gone by, a better bill could have been passed.
It was more that Osienski reached out to legislators he needed in order to create a veto-proof majority.
The bills are good bills. Now that they are law, they can be improved upon, if need be. After all, Carney’s time as Governor is coming to an end.
I have similar sentiments. I don’t particularly care for the stuff but I do wonder how much political capital was exhausted in the process. Since it doesn’t seem like growing your own is legal, we have opened the door for a weed cartel in the model of our liquor distributors. Just like red light cameras and casinos, legislators will become hooked on east money and become entrenched
The liquor distributors are an outgrowth of, believe it or not, the end of prohibition. In other words, federal law.
I sure as shit don’t see a weed cartel–especially because the bill tries to ensure as democratic and inclusive a process as possible.
BTW, can you name a legislator who has become entrenched due to red light cameras? I can’t.
As I see it, without including a grow-your-own provision, there is no check against corporate greed and rent seeking. I think the idea of a mom&pop head shop is already endangered.
Maybe I should have been more clear about those cameras-they haven’t caused legislators to be entrenched in their jobs, but that easy revenue stream has lead them to become entrenched in the view that the red light program actually works (although to be fair, the red light camera did capture me gettin t-boned, so I at least I have the video to share with the family). In the same vein, once corporate pot takes hold, that half a loaf is all we’ll get