DOVER, Del.- A bill that is looking to redefine what a firearm is has taken the next steps in Dover.
Some Delaware lawmakers are questioning the clarity of the current definition of a firearm, calling it too broad. The bill, House Bill 357, aims to make the definition of a firearm more transparent.
According to bill sponsors, the current definition encompasses items ranging from slingshots to Punkin Chunkin cannons.
"Essentially, our law says that anything that fires anything is a firearm," remarked State Rep. Jeff Spiegelman (R-Townsend, Clayton, Smyrna), one of the main sponsors of House Bill 357. "That’s a problem because it encompasses a lot of other technologies and devices that most people do not think of as firearms and are not considered as firearms anywhere else in the nation."
The legal definition of a firearm in Delaware is as follows:
"...any weapon from which a shot, projectile, or other object may be discharged by force of combustion, explosive, gas and/or mechanical means, whether operable or inoperable, loaded or unloaded. It does not include a BB gun."
According to Spiegelman, there are unintended consequences of the current definition, citing examples such as compound bows being subject to firearm storage laws, nail guns being restricted for former felons, and minors' inability to use paintball guns.
The proposed House Bill 357 aims to refine the definition to align more closely with what people usually associate with a firearm, focusing on objects that fire projectiles using an explosion.Â
If passed, the bill would also introduce a new legal category termed "projectile weapons," covering items like crossbows or anything that fires a projectile using other means.
The bill has advanced out of committee and awaits consideration by the House, with potential Senate review pending