Delaware Gov. John Carney Signs Firearm Confiscation Law

Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) signed legislation on Wednesday that legalizes the confiscation of firearms from a resident of the state, with or without that resident’s knowledge.

Titled “Lethal Violence Protective Order”–which is simply a different name for the same gun confiscation orders California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) put in place–these orders allow family members or law enforcement officers to petition for the confiscation of firearms from an individual, with or without the gun owner’s knowledge.

The language of House Substitute 1 for HB 222 says:

The law-enforcement officer has the burden of demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence that a respondent poses an immediate and present danger of causing physical injury to self or others by owning, possessing, controlling, purchasing, having access to, or receiving a firearm. The respondent does not have the right to be heard or to notice that the law-enforcement officer has sought an order under this section.

As in California or Florida, a Delaware gun owner might only realize his guns are being confiscated when the police knock on his door.

Delaware.gov reports that gun control proponent Gabby Giffords praised the confiscatory law, saying:

In response to demands from Americans to stop gun violence, lawmakers in states across the country are finding the courage to pass bills that can save lives. If we’re serious about saving lives, we must continue to be serious about giving families and law enforcement officials the tools they need to prevent people at risk of harming themselves or others from accessing guns. Leaders in Delaware understand this and it’s why they’ve worked tirelessly with gun prevention advocates to sign this legislation into law. I applaud Governor Carney and the Delaware legislature for demonstrating the courage to show Congress and the rest of the country how we can take responsible steps to help keep guns out of the hands of people who are experiencing a crisis.

Ironically, a Lethal Violence Protection Order would not have prevented either of our nation’s most recent school shootings–Sante Fe High School (May 18, 2018) or Parkland, Florida (February 14, 2018)–nor would such an order have prevented the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School (December 14, 2012).

Such an order would have been impotent to stop the Sante Fe attack because the attacker did not own any guns, and it would have been powerless in Parkland because the family with whom the Florida gunman lived defended his emotional state to law enforcement. The circumstances surrounding Sandy Hook were similar, inasmuch as that attacker stole the guns he used.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.