AMGOA Staff
Pennsylvania


Posts: 1,429

From Thursday's Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club v. Small, a decision applying the Delaware Constitution's right to bear arms:

We are asked whether unelected officials from the State's parks and forest departments, whose power is expressly limited, can ban (except for a narrow exception for hunting) the possession of guns in state parks and forests in contravention of Delawareans' rights under the State's constitution. Clearly they cannot. They lack such authority because they may not pass unconstitutional laws, and the regulations completely eviscerate a core right to keep and bear arms for defense of self and family outside the home - a right this Court has already recognized. As such, the regulations are unconstitutional on their face.

Article I, Section 20 of the Delaware Constitution ... provides: "A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use." Although federal courts are still grappling with whether there exists a Second Amendment right to carry a firearm outside the home, our Court settled the issue under our own constitution in our unanimous, en banc opinion in Doe v. Wilmington Housing Authority, by holding that, "[o]n its face, the Delaware provision is intentionally broader than the Second Amendment and protects the right to bear arms outside the home, including for hunting and recreation." We stated that, though not unlimited, Section 20 protects a core right of "defense of self and family in addition to the home" (as all parties here concede).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/12/07/delaware-supreme-court-strikes-down-broad-restrictions-on-gun-possession-in-state-parks-and-forests/?utm_term=.6f7f660740a9