Delaware gun laws require a background check on every firearm sale, including private transactions, and impose a separate permit with fingerprinting and a training course before you can buy a handgun. The state bans assault-style weapons, caps magazine capacity at 17 rounds, and requires a court-issued license to carry a concealed weapon. Penalties run from a $100 civil fine for a first magazine violation up to a Class D felony carrying eight years in prison.
Who Can Buy a Firearm
Federal law sets the floor. Licensed dealers cannot sell handguns to anyone under 21 or long guns to anyone under 18.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts In 2022, Delaware raised its minimum purchase and possession age to 21 for most firearms, with exceptions for shotguns and muzzle-loading weapons. A Delaware Superior Court struck down that age restriction in September 2025. If the ruling stands and no new legislation passes, federal minimums control.
Age is only one filter. Federal law bars anyone from buying or possessing a firearm if they have a felony conviction, are a fugitive from justice, are an unlawful user of controlled substances, have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, are subject to a domestic violence restraining order, or have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A dishonorable military discharge or renunciation of U.S. citizenship also disqualifies.
The Handgun Purchaser Permit
Delaware layers an additional step on top of the background check for handguns. Before you can buy one, you need a handgun qualified purchaser permit. You must be a Delaware resident, complete a certified firearms training course, get fingerprinted through IdentoGO, and pass a background check.2Delaware State Police. Permit to Purchase
The training course covers safe handling and storage, shooting fundamentals, Delaware’s use-of-force laws, conflict avoidance, and suicide prevention. It also requires at least 100 rounds of live-fire shooting on a range. If you already hold a valid concealed deadly weapon license from the Superior Court, you’re exempt from the purchaser permit.
Private Sales Must Go Through a Dealer
Selling a gun to a friend or neighbor is not a handshake transaction in Delaware. Every private firearm transfer must go through a federally licensed firearms dealer, who runs a background check on the buyer before the sale can close.3Delaware General Assembly. Chapter 20 – Criminal History Background Checks in Connection With the Sale or Transfer of Firearms Dealers must record the date of sale, the identities of buyer and seller, and details of the firearm. Expect the dealer to charge a transfer fee, typically $25 to $50.
What’s Banned
Assault Weapons
The Delaware Lethal Firearms Safety Act of 2022 prohibits manufacturing, selling, transferring, purchasing, receiving, possessing, or transporting assault weapons into the state. The banned category names specific models like the AR-15 and AK-47 and their variants, plus semi-automatic firearms meeting feature-based definitions for assault long guns, assault pistols, and copycat weapons.4Delaware General Assembly. House Bill No. 450 – Delaware Lethal Firearms Safety Act of 2022
People who lawfully owned an assault weapon before the law took effect may keep it. Registration is not mandatory. A voluntary certificate of possession is available and serves as conclusive proof of pre-ban ownership; the Department of Safety and Homeland Security is prohibited from retaining copies of certificates or identifying information about applicants.
Destructive Weapons
Machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and firearm silencers are classified as destructive weapons. Possessing any of them is a Class E felony, with exceptions for military personnel, authorized police, and certain state and federal wildlife biologists using silencers for population control.5Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 1444 – Possessing a Destructive Weapon; Class E Felony Because Delaware bans silencers outright for civilians, federal NFA registration doesn’t help you here.
Magazine Capacity
Magazines that hold more than 17 rounds are prohibited. Penalties escalate with each offense:
- First possession offense: $100 civil penalty
- Second possession offense: Class B misdemeanor
- Third or subsequent possession, or any sale or transfer: Class E felony (up to five years)
A large-capacity magazine permanently modified to hold 17 rounds or fewer is exempt.6Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 1469 – Large-Capacity Magazines Prohibited
The Concealed Carry License
Carrying a concealed deadly weapon without a license is a felony. To carry legally, you need a Concealed Deadly Weapon License (CDWL) issued by the Delaware Superior Court, and the application is more involved than in most states.
You must be at least 18, a Delaware resident, and of “good moral character,” a subjective standard the court evaluates based on your application and references. Five residents of your county must sign a certificate vouching that you are sober, peaceful, and have a legitimate need to carry. You must publish a notice of intent to apply in a local newspaper, complete a firearms training course with live-fire exercises, and file the application with proof of training at the Prothonotary’s Office in your county. The fee is a non-refundable $65.7Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 1441 – License to Carry Concealed Deadly Weapons
An initial CDWL is valid for three years. Renewals extend the license for five years at a time, also for $65. Renewal requires an affidavit that you still need the license and still meet all eligibility requirements. No additional training is required, and the statute bars the court from imposing requirements beyond those in the renewal provision, though the court can deny a renewal for good cause.
Reciprocity
Delaware recognizes concealed carry permits from states that both honor Delaware licenses and provide comparable protection in their own licensing standards. For January 2025 through January 2026, Delaware recognized permits from 21 states.8Delaware Department of Justice. Concealed Carry Deadly Weapons (CCDW) The Attorney General updates the list annually, so check the current version before traveling. Reciprocity doesn’t run both ways automatically: a state on Delaware’s list may not recognize a Delaware permit going the other direction.
Where You Can’t Carry
Even with a valid CDWL, firearms are prohibited in several places. Schools are the most heavily enforced. The Safe School Zone covers all property owned or operated by any public or private school from kindergarten through university, including athletic fields, stadiums, and school vehicles. Possessing a firearm in a Safe School Zone is a Class E felony punishable by up to five years.9Delaware General Assembly. House Bill No. 311 – Safe School Zone Amendment
Government buildings, including courthouses, police stations, and detention facilities, also prohibit firearms. State parks and wildlife areas have their own restrictions, though CDWL holders may be exempt in some. Private businesses may post signs banning firearms; ignoring a sign can bring a trespassing charge.
Transporting a Firearm
Without a CDWL, any firearm you transport in a vehicle must be unloaded, stored in a secure locked container, with ammunition kept separate. Tossing an unloaded handgun in the glove compartment does not satisfy the requirement. This trips people up more than any other single rule.
CDWL holders may transport loaded firearms in a vehicle, but the permit doesn’t override location bans. You still cannot bring a loaded firearm onto school property or into a government building, even if it stays in your car on those premises.
For interstate travel, the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act protects transit between two places where you may lawfully possess the firearm. The gun must be unloaded and neither it nor the ammunition can be readily accessible from the passenger compartment; in vehicles without a separate trunk, both must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms FOPA covers transit only. Extended stops in a state where your firearm would otherwise be illegal are not protected.
Self-Defense and Use of Force
Delaware imposes no duty to retreat. Under the self-protection statute, you may use force when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself against unlawful force, and you may act “without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which the person has no legal duty to do or abstaining from any lawful action.”11Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 464 – Justification – Use of Force in Self-Protection
Deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe it is necessary to protect against death, serious physical injury, kidnapping, or sexual assault compelled by force or threat. The word doing the work is “reasonably.” A jury evaluates whether your belief was objectively reasonable, not merely whether you felt threatened. One limit worth knowing: you cannot use force to resist an arrest you know or should know is being made by a police officer, even if the arrest turns out to be unlawful.
Penalties for Violations
Delaware firearm penalties run from civil fines to lengthy prison sentences. The most common charges:
- Possession by a prohibited person: Class D felony, up to eight years. Prior violent felony convictions escalate the charge to Class C.12Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 1448 – Possession and Purchase of Deadly Weapons by Persons Prohibited; Penalties
- Carrying concealed without a license: Class G felony, up to two years. A felony conviction here triggers a federal prohibition on future firearm possession.13Justia. Delaware Code Title 11 Section 1442 – Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon; Class G Felony; Class D Felony
- Possessing a destructive weapon: Class E felony, up to five years.
- Assault weapon violations: Class E or F felony depending on the conduct.
- Firearm in a Safe School Zone: Class E felony, up to five years.
- Large-capacity magazine, first possession offense: $100 civil penalty, escalating to a Class E felony for repeat or non-possession offenses.
- Skipping the FFL background check on a private transfer: criminal penalties including fines and imprisonment.
For reference, Delaware’s felony sentencing maximums are: Class C up to 15 years, Class D up to 8, Class E up to 5, Class F up to 3, and Class G up to 2.14Delaware Code Online. Title 11 Chapter 42 – Sentencing
Red Flag Orders
Delaware’s red flag law lets courts temporarily prohibit someone from possessing firearms through a Lethal Violence Protective Order. A law enforcement officer or a family member can file the petition, alleging the person poses a danger of physical injury to themselves or others.15Delaware Code Online. Title 10 Chapter 77 – Lethal Violence Protective Order
Emergency orders can issue quickly through the Justice of the Peace Court when police believe there is an immediate and present danger. Longer-term orders go to the Superior Court after a full hearing. While an order is in effect, the person must surrender any firearms they own or can access. Anyone subject to an active Protection From Abuse order is separately prohibited from possessing firearms.