HB-67 Committee Hearing Wednesday 4/24 @ 2:30

[groundgrid]

HB-67 makes it illegal to possess a firearm in a school zone.

While this sounds straightforward, what it actually does, is make anyone who inadvertently enters a school zone into a felon.
"Safe School zone" is very broadly defined to include any location that could be rented, borrowed or otherwise being used in an educational fashion.
Most important is the following line:
(e) It shall not be a defense to a prosecution for a violation of this section that the person was unaware that the prohibited conduct took place on or in a Safe School Zone.
In other words, just about anyone carrying a gun will sooner or later commit a felony simply by traversing any property that is somehow associated with a school.
So, to be safe, we will need to obtain all property records including leases that are not publicly available and have their every detail memorized so as to avoid entering a "Safe School Zone"

This is clearly a trap that will be used to reduce the number of legal gun owners.

Please attend the hearing on Wednesday & testify against this bill.

It is becoming ever more important that we all are more active in fighting these ridiculous bills.
Call your rep & senator on Monday morning. E-mail them and send a quick letter-DO ALL OF THESE.

While it would be preferable to defeat this bill, if you are dealing with strongly anti 2A politicians, suggest that it be amended with an exception for law-abiding citizens who are legally carrying or transporting a firearm and that schools be required to post an appropriate warning at every location from where their property can be entered.

The House Education Committee meeting is scheduled for 2:30PM on 4/24 in the House Chamber.
Full text of the law is available at the following link:

http://www.legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis147.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+67/$file/legis.html?open

[Just Bill]

I sent off a pile of e-mails to legislators that are likely to vote for this crap.  I have been sending e-mails for quite a while, have never had a reply, from either party.  I don't get "undeliverable'" notices so I know they received them............??  Even from my own representatives, all of which are "THEM".

[groundgrid]

Deborah Hudson sends me hand written notes, even from Florida when she is on vacation. Greg Lavelle sends personal replies to my emails. Someone needs to track which ones don't reply and post it on web site next election. This is a small state, it really upsets me that Carpet & Coons don't have the decency to send at least semi-personal replys. I will keep sending letters regardless.

[SturmRugerSR9]

Some of the same laws Markell is trying to ram through in Delaware, were alrerady on the books in Massachusetts, but did not stop the 2 Islamic Terrorist Brothers from getting them and using them in the shooting of the police officer and college guard following the Boston Marathon Bombing.

So what makes Markell think it will stop anything here?

Answer: criminals could give a S#&*T less about any anti-gun laws.

[Knotacare]

These laws have nothing to do with preventing criminals acquiring guns.  They want us to be like the Aussies, Canadians & Brits. We are at war & many haven't figured it out yet & most likely never will.

[LightninSVT]

Well the bill passed committee this afternoon.  This is the first meeting I've attended and I can say that it's pretty sad when only 12 public speakers show up.  10 including myself were in opposition and 2 were in favor.  A motion was made to table but did not receive majority vote.  It passed with 7 votes.

There seems to be many loopholes in this bill.  At some point this bill had exempted CCDW permit holders but it was pulled out.  The only people exempt are LEO and Security.  The gun can not be on school property outside of a vehicle, period.  One question I raised was how can you lock your gun in the trunk without taking it outside the vehicle?  The moment your foot touches the pavement in a school parking lot, you are committing a felony.  

Another question asked by a rep was how do you know where the school property boundary is?  Is it at the center of the road, curb, sidewalk, grass?  The chairman answered grass, and stated that it is acceptable to carry along the sidewalk in front of a school.  In most older schools, this may be true, however I can tell you that most walking paths and sidewalks constructed today are not located within the state's or municipality's right-of-way, and are in fact located on the school's property, within an easement.  Under this bill, you could be arrested for walking your dogs down the sidewalk with your licensed concealed weapon on you if the sidewalk is on school property.  You could also be arrested for getting out of your car and putting your weapon in a gun safe in the trunk.

Another interesting subject was brought up and that was, what is considered school property?  Apparently, this bill extends to property not actually owned by the school, but property being used, leased, or rented.  For example, if a school in Wilmington uses an adjacent state park/playground during recess, this park becomes school property.  If the Bob Carpenter Center is being rented for a high school graduation, this becomes school property.  If a church is being used as a school (apparently there are schools attached to churches in DE), that would be considered school property during times in which students are using the "borrowed" property.  These examples all came up during the meeting and were acknowledged to be true by the committee.  

We need more people to turn out for the senate vote and for people to contact their representatives and senators.  This bill has many loopholes that need to be addressed and CCDW holders need to be exempt.  Either the State judge acknowledges permit holders as "not a threat to society" or they do.  It's as simple as that.  What danger to we pose?  My weapon is more safe on my person, secured in a holster, than it is sitting in my car in a parking lot just begging to be stolen...

Jon  

[seniorgeek]

 My weapon is more safe on my person, secured in a holster, than it is sitting in my car in a parking lot just begging to be stolen...

Jon  

Absolutely correct.

[groundgrid]

I was just about to make the same statement about not enough of us showing up for the hearing. There are surely more than 10 people in Delaware willing to fight for their Second Amendment rights. While it may not be possible for many to get off work, there are plenty of us who are self-employed or retired that could make the effort. We need to be more organized & proactive, unless you want to end up with the same laws that they have in CA & MD, MAKE THE EFFORT TO DO SOMETHING.

Even some of the committee members could see that this bill is flawed. There is an excellent possibility of getting it sacked as long as we put the appropriate amount of pressure on the representatives who have part of their brains left & can think for themselves.

Now is the time to write, e-mail & call your representatives. If we all do this once per week until the session is over there will be a big impact. If this bill passes, they will feel empowered to do more. The next bill will be much worse & harder to fight.

Here are a few "talking points" in addittion to those listed by LightninSVT:
CDW permit holders must be exempt, we are probably the most trustworthy, law-abiding citizens in the State-They need to treat us that way.
If they are going to ban guns in a specific location, that location MUST BE MARKED. It seems that most of the Reps. will agree with this. There is way too much ambiguity with the way the bill is written.
These laws should not apply to private schools. If a private school wants to implement an effective security plan that includes armed
staff, they should be allowed to do so. Even for the public schools, it should be up to the district & not the state.
Any ban should be limited to school buildings only & only during school hours. Many of the schools have expansive properties that are used by the local community as open space.

The current political situation may not allow for most of these bills to be killed completely. The alternative strategy is to get them amended to the point of insignificance. If your rep won't vote against the bill, here's an idea that may make both us and "them" happy:

Allow CDW permit holders to carry while on school property and while in school buildings on legitimate grounds such as school activities or picking up their children. But,  require that all firearms remain safely holstered and concealed as well as attached to the carrier's body (not in a purse or briefcase).

The AG's office is concerned that a visible firearm may cause panic and impede the police or that a gun may fall into the hands of a child. IMO this approach addresses both of these issues while not keeping us from properly protecting our families. Politically it shows that we care about their point of view & are willing to work with them.