Legislation making it a crime to store a gun where a child or someone barred from having one can get it narrowly cleared the Delaware House Tuesday.
Under the bill sponsored by State Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover), a gun owner faces a Class B misdemeanor if a minor or unauthorized person gets an unsecured weapon. That would be bumped up to a Class A misdemeanor if the gun is used to kill or injure someone.
House Republicans attempted to remove the penalty in cases where no injury or death results from an unsecured gun. But Lynn opposed the amendment.
“Not only does it undermine the bill, but it makes very little legal sense in that we don’t want people to actually succeed in the crimes obviously," he said. "But we also want people to be careful in the storage of their firearms that unlawful people don’t get ahold of them.”
The amendment failed to get the necessary votes.
A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in prison. A person could face six months for a Class B misdemeanor.
Lynn’s legislation passed the House 20-19. It now goes to the Senate.
