Delaware Gun Laws
Permits are only necessary to carry handguns in the state of Delaware and not necessary to carry rifles or shotguns. Permits to purchase, the registration of, and owner licensing for shotguns, rifles, and handguns is not needed in Delaware. The only stipulation for purchasing shotguns and rifles is that the individual must be over eighteen years of age. Individuals must be over twenty-one years of age to purchase handguns in Delaware. Purchasing firearms in general does take extra work. Before a purchase is made, each buyer must have his or her background checked for criminal history records. But when a firearm is bought from an antique store, the background check is unnecessary. This is also true for those who hold concealed weapons permits.

Possessing Firearms in Delaware
Certain firearms are even banned from being inside the state, such as shotguns with sawed-off barrels that are eighteen inches or less. If the shotgun is shorter than twenty-six inches then it is illegal. The state of Delaware sets guidelines for who are allowed to possess firearms. Prohibited individuals include any individual who has been convicted of a felony; any individual who has been convicted of a violent crime where another person received bodily injury; individuals who have been convicted of misdemeanors and have yet to reach the five-year statute; individuals who have been convicted of possessing dangerous drugs, narcotics, or controlled substances; and any individual who has been committed to a sanitarium, mental institution, or mental hospital and left without a rehabilitation certificate.

Individuals under the age of sixteen are not allowed to possess firearms without adult supervision. Adjudicated juveniles who are under the age of twenty-five lose their right to bear arms if they have been convicted of a crime that would otherwise be treated as an adult felony. Delaware states that selling, transferring, or giving a firearm to a prohibited individual is a felony as is it to purchase a firearm from a prohibited individual. Individuals who are under the age of sixteen are by law not allowed to possess BB guns or any other form of firearm without direct adult supervision. Possessing a spring-fired gun or an air gun that is larger than a BB gun qualifies as a misdemeanor in Delaware.

Other Laws
Delaware has a handful of provisions that do not fall under any other category. For instance transferring, possessing, transporting, and licensing to own firearms can be restricted by the municipal governments. If the serial number of a gun has been removed or altered, it is considered a felony to possess or transport the firearm if the manufacture date is after 1973. Laws state that in order to shoot a firearm legally, the individual must be at least fifteen yards away from any road and at least one hundred yards from any building holding people. Law states that it is illegal to allow those under the age of eighteen access to a loaded firearm where the individual may cause bodily injury to another person or him or herself.