Will new gun laws backfire?
Owners OK with Markell's legislation, but fear its usage
By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
Gun owners agree that four pieces of legislation signed into law Wednesday make sense but they are concerned about how at least one of them will be interpreted by police.
Among the laws signed by Gov. Jack Markell is legislation making it illegal to possess a firearm in public while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A person would be charged with a crime if found with a gun while having a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher.
"You do not want to be out here on the skeet field with a beer in your pocket and shooting," said 76-year-old Richard Kane, a state and national skeet champion.
"But behind the lines, then I think that's a different story," because of how officers interpret the law, the Newark resident said.
"He can interpret it any way he wants," he said. "He can bend it to suit the situation and I don't agree with that."
Under the law, a first offense is a misdemeanor. Further convictions would be a "G Felony," punishable by up to two years in prison. It also prohibits those convicted from legally owning a weapon.
"It's another way in my mind to take guns away from people," Kane said.
But state police Col. Robert M. Coupe said that is not the intent of the law.
"What the law is targeting is someone who is actually in possession of a firearm when they are intoxicated, not so much ownership," Coupe said. "It's about possessing it in a public place."
Markell's office worked with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Delaware sportsmen to ensure the definitions of "possess" and "readily operable" were narrowly focused so the bill applies only to those whose intoxication presents an immediate threat.
So if an intoxicated person is found in a vehicle with their weapon nearby, they would be violating the new law. But if the weapon was not loaded or locked in a case or the trunk, the person would not be in violation of the law because the gun is not readily operable.
Other laws Markell signed Wednesday:
» Allow police to dispose of weapons they seize during civil cases, such as in protection-from-abuse orders, if the owners do not come back for their weapons. Before the law, Delaware prohibited state police from disposing of these weapons unless the owner agreed. As a result, state police have more than 2,000 weapons seized over the years.
» Require Delaware to provide more information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is used by federal firearms licensees to instantly determine whether a buyer is eligible to buy firearms or explosives. Delaware is not required to provide certain background information about people to the federal program, such as whether someone has a history of mental illness. Federal law bans those who have been committed to mental institutions from owning firearms. One bill would require the state to report such information.
» Create a community gun buyback program. The one-year "gun buyback" pilot program would offer $100 to anyone who turns in a firearm to participating authorities.
Sen. Robert Marshall, D-Wilmington West, who sponsored the bill, said different jurisdictions would be allowed to implement the program their own way, by buying weapons back with cash or other things such as food certificates.
"What the senator sponsored here was common sense," said Wilmington Police Chief Michael J. Szczerba, who was among several police officers at the signing. Szczerba said the program allows each jurisdiction to decide what its best approach will be in its community.
"He didn't put in a one-size-fits-all," Szczerba said. "He left it up to the professionals ... the people who deal with it every day."
Markell said it was a tough fight to get the laws passed.
"When we introduced them, people didn't really expect us to get these done," said Markell, adding that after the February news conference where he introduced the bills, people were saying he was trying to take their guns away. "That's not what this is about. This is about common-sense measures."
The laws were an important step in promoting public safety, but there are other issues that need to be looked at, including education, jobs and housing, he said.
Markell outlined a slate of gun-control measures during his 2008 campaign. With the exception of Marshall's bill, the other three were among the first he helped draft and recruit lawmakers to sponsor. One bill he announced in February that would have closed the "gun-show loophole" did not pass this session. That bill would have required all vendors, even hobbyists, to have a licensed firearms dealer perform a background check prior to the sale, delivery or transfer of any firearm at a gun show.
Markell said he was disappointed it did not pass but said he will push for it again.
Although gun owners interviewed Wednesday at the state's Ommelanden Firing Range agreed the new laws make common sense, they added there is always a concern when lawmakers consider gun control legislation.
"You don't want to be hindering the honest, law-abiding citizen for something that criminals are going to do anyway whether there is a law there or not," said 59-year-old Bruce Chamberlin of Wilmington.
Chamberlin said he was OK with the four laws, but is concerned about how police will enforce the one about possessing a weapon while intoxicated.
"Guns and alcohol of course don't mix," he said. "But you're talking about after the event and the guns are safely stored in the vehicle -- I don't see why that should be a problem."
But Robert Kocivar, 59, of Wilmington, has doubts about how the new laws will impact crime.
"I don't see how any of that effort is going to reduce crime overall statewide," Kocivar said. "I have a feeling their effort and resources could be used a little bit more effectively just trying to get some of the bad people off the streets instead of getting the guns off the streets."
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