Delaware has just implemented its controversial Permit to Purchase law, requiring First State citizens to obtain a permit from the government before they can purchase a handgun.
A handful of other states have similar laws coming up, including Colorado (August 2026) and Washington (May 2027), while Oregon’s Measure 114, which also requires a permit to purchase, is presently being considered by the state Supreme Court. The outcome of Oregon’s case could be staggering. Ammoland News covered that controversy here.
According to WBOC News, “any person who lives in Delaware and wants to buy a handgun must first apply for a handgun qualified purchaser permit. The process includes taking an 8-hour firearms training course, firing one hundred rounds, getting fingerprinted, and passing a background check, according to officials.”
A quick look at the Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute offers this information:
“Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by the Supreme Court as requiring a high degree of protection from government encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in the Constitution (especially in the Bill of Rights) or have been implied through interpretation of clauses, such as under Due Process. These laws are said to be “fundamental” because they were found to be so important for individual liberty that they should be beyond the reach of the political process, and therefore, they are enshrined in the Constitution. Laws encroaching on a fundamental right generally must pass strict scrutiny to be upheld as constitutional.”
The U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights lists the Right to keep and bear arms in its Bill of Rights, and according to a definition at Wikipedia:
“The United States Bill of Rights (1789–1791; United States), the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution specified rights of individuals in which government could not interfere, including the rights of free assembly, freedom of religion, trial by jury, and the right to keep and bear arms.”
Take one step further, Wikipedia also explains:
“Natural rights are rights which are “natural” in the sense of “not artificial, not man-made”, as in rights deriving from human nature or from the edicts of a god. They are universal; that is, they apply to all people, and do not derive from the laws of any specific society. They exist necessarily, inhere in every individual, and cannot be taken away. For example, it has been argued that humans have a natural right to life. These are sometimes called moral rights or inalienable rights.”
Yet anti-gun-rights Democrats in the four states mentioned above have all decided the right protected from government infringement by the Second Amendment is a second-class right, subject to government approval. Nowhere does a political party have the authority to push such an agenda. If permit-to-purchase mandates can be levied against the RKBA, they can be applied to any other right.
Perhaps Bill Sack, Director of Legal Operations at the Second Amendment Foundation, summed it up best: “Permits to purchase are just this week’s novel attempt to make exercising your rights harder and more aggravating. They have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with chilling fundamental rights.”
It is a battleground issue which the courts must decide, and quickly. No other right, especially those specifically enumerated in state or federal constitutions, first requires citizens to get permission from a government agency before the right is exercised, not Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, the right to legal counsel, the right of privacy, and so forth.
Colorado Constitution, Article II, § 13:
“The right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons.”
Delaware Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 20:
“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.”
Oregon Constitution, Art. I § 27:
“The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence (sic) of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power[.]”
Washington Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 24
“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this Section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
Nowhere in any of these state constitutional provisions is there a single reference to getting permission from the government—including a state police agency—before the right to keep and bear arms may be exercised. There are no references to training requirements.
The WBOC News story notes, “Anyone acquiring a permit must submit a completed application form, a valid Delaware driver’s license or state ID, the firearms training course certificate or proof of exemption, and additional documentation for law-enforcement, military, or other exemption status (if applicable).
“Applications can be completed online,” WBOC details. “For those without internet access, paper applications are available at all Delaware State Police Troop locations and can be submitted in person at the SBI Permit to Purchase office along with required documentation.”
The moral of this story is that elections matter. Too many gun owners, and especially hunters, have been sitting out elections, allowing the far left to increase its power by getting out their voters. The 2026 mid-term election season has already started.
Politics is a contact sport, not a spectator sport; that is, every gun owner must be fully engaged, and you must fill out a ballot and submit it…no excuses.
The people who pass “permit-to-purchase” statutes can be thrown out of office. All that is required is for gun owners in each district, each precinct, to vote. If Delaware, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have signaled anything, it is that failure is not an option.
RELATED:
Your Moral Right To Keep & Bear Firearms In The United States
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Grass Roots North Carolina successfully pressured local state politicians to end the unnecessary “Jim Crow” permit-to-purchase.
In the past, I had to take time off from work to drive into the city, pay for parking, in order for a nice lady to hand me a piece of paper ($5.00 fee) documenting a criminal background check with in NC was completed and I had permission to exercise my right to buy a firearm. An NICS check was completed by the FFL as well. Double background check for each firearm! Crazy stuff.
Ended by Republicans, opposed by all NC Democrats.
Jim Crow is the proper term to use to describe these laws. Laws designed to render natural and civil rights moot by unreasonable and unwarranted process are all Jim Crow rights. Coming out of the Progressive Utopia of Delaware this should come as no surprise. Next they will want to impose literacy tests on people before they can register to vote. Literacy tests on select groups of people, mind you. A vilified class. Then they will want you to take a Thought Safety class and get a permit before you can post on publicly distributed blogs. This kind of thinking… Read more »
Thank you Dave for creating this article. This statement should be on Ammoland’s masthead:
Politics is a contact sport, not a spectator sport; that is, every gun owner must be fully engaged, and you must fill out a ballot and submit it…no excuses.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Dave, Great piece.
An additional perspective …
Are Gun Permit-to-Purchase Laws Unconstitutional?
https://www.ammoland.com/2025/04/are-gun-permit-to-purchase-laws-unconstitutional/
The requirement for a handgun purchase permit currently exists in Iowa and Nebraska and has for at least the past 10 years.
Everyone and his cousin wants to be the one telling all the serfs how they can lead their lives, what they can and cannot do. Now mix into that the lawmakers who were elected to pass laws, and what do you think they’re gonna do? They’re gonna pass laws. Doesn’t matter how dumb the laws are or whether they’ll do what’s intended. They’re just gonna pass them. And every law is a restriction. That’s what a law is.
Yes and the same goes for permits to carry.
That’s not how it works. The USA is the only country in the world that has constitutional rights to do business without asking the government if individuals can purchase anything at anytime. I lived in a state that did require a permission ticket to complete a purchase and take ownership of handguns. I now believe it’s gone to include all firearms, I can’t say for certain. What never made sense was the order for the transaction. First you needed a pistol permit to even handle a handgun in the store. If you wanted to make the purchase, you paid for… Read more »
Maryland has a PERMIT TO PURCHASE CONTROLLED WEAPONS PROGRAMS. 1.) HANDGUN QUALIFICATION LICENSE 2.) You MUST PAY the Maryland State Police $10.00 In order to receive PERMISSION to pickup your PREVIOUSLY PURCHASE CONTROLLED WEAPON. 3.) There IS a SEVEN DAY WAITING PERIOD AFTER you PAY FOR YOUR WEAPON — AND SEVEN DAY WAITING period it takes the MSP to e-mail your “not refused permit” with a code that the FFL Dealer MUST put on the paperwork BEFORE you can PICKUP your PURCHASED WEAPON. 4.) IF you are DENIED the PERMISSION – YOU LOOSE the money you paid for the HQL… Read more »
Rhode Island Constitution, Section 22. Right to bear arms.
And any of these regimes created after FOPA became law and that maintains records of the permittees, or any ISP or online service provider that keeps copies of the electronic submissions is in violation of Federal Law.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/926 (a)(3)