Delaware

Delaware House approves ‘divisive’ handgun licensing laws – Washington Examiner

Published

2 years ago

March 12, 2024

Delaware House approves ‘divisive’ handgun licensing laws – Washington Examiner

(The Center Square) — The Delaware House of Representatives has approved a “divisive” bill that would require a state license and training to own a handgun despite the threat of a legal challenge.

The proposal, which passed 23-16 on a largely party-line vote, would require Delaware residents to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun after completing an approved firearm training course. The Democratic-controlled Senate approved a similar bill last year.

Backers of the plan argue that it would reduce gun violence, suicides and homicides and crack down on illegal “straw purchases” of handguns on behalf of those prohibited by law from possessing them.

“This legislation has been the product of years of discussions, meetings and collaboration with colleagues in this building, constituents, advocates and stakeholders,” House Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle. “That is the fifth-highest rate of gun violence in the nation.”

Republican lawmakers who opposed the “divisive” proposal argued the regulations violate the Second Amendment rights and would do little to curb gun violence in the state.

Under the proposal, anyone who wants to purchase a handgun must complete a firearms training course and submit to a background check — including fingerprinting — by the state Bureau of Identification. If approved, a handgun permit would be valid for two years and could be revoked if the state agency determines the person is a risk to themselves or others.

Those with valid concealed carry permits and qualified law enforcement officers would not be required to obtain or present a handgun purchase permit.

The bill comes with a price tag for the state’s taxpayers. A legislative analysis of the proposal estimated that the permitting system would cost the state $3 million in the first year to implement the system, and another $7.8 million annually. That includes the cost of a proposed voucher program to defray training and permitting costs for low-income residents.

A GOP amendment to the bill would exempt people with firearms training, members of the military, certified firearms instructors, and licensed gun dealers from the training requirements, but the chamber’s Democratic majority narrowed the scope of that exemption with another amendment.

Gov. John Carney, a Democrat, supports the move and has called for more than $2.9 billion for the firearm licensing program in his upcoming budget, set to be released soon.

“Over the past seven years, we’ve banned assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines,” Carney said during his State of the State speech last Tuesday. “We’ve passed red flag laws and prevented straw purchases. This year, we’ll take another big step forward and pass the permit to purchase law.”

But the push to tighten firearm laws comes as the U.S. Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in a Maryland lawsuit challenging the state’s decade-old permit-to-purchase law, which was declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel in a November decision.

Republican lawmakers argued during the debate on the House version of the bill that it was likely to be deemed unconstitutional. Only a handful of other states have similar handgun permit laws, some of which are facing legal challenges, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Delaware Sportsman’s Association, which represents gun owners, has called the handgun permit proposal “pure politics” and vowed to file a legal challenge if the plan is approved.

But Delaware’s Attorney General Kathy Jennnings said she is “convinced” that Delaware’s gun permitting proposal would survive any constitutional legal challenge.

“I am convinced this bill is constitutional and that the appropriate courts will rule that it is constitutional,” Jennings, a Democrat, said in remarks on Thursday. “What’s being done here is reasonable regulations and requirements to enable people to carry guns safely.”

Because the House amended the bill, it must now go back to the Senate for a vote before heading to Carney’s desk for consideration.

Source link

Delaware

Delaware Lottery Mega Millions, Play 3 Day winning numbers for Dec. 16, 2025

Published

4 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Delaware Lottery Mega Millions, Play 3 Day winning numbers for Dec. 16, 2025

The Delaware Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

20-24-46-59-65, Mega Ball: 07

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Play 3 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Day: 7-1-2

Night: 0-1-8

Check Play 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Play 4 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Day: 5-5-8-3

Night: 4-2-6-8

Check Play 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Multi-Win Lotto numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

10-21-22-24-26-33

Check Multi-Win Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

03-04-19-24-39, Lucky Ball: 11

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Play 5 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Day: 6-6-3-8-7

Night: 8-7-0-5-4

Check Play 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Sign the Ticket: Establish legal ownership by signing the back of your ticket with an ink pen.
Prizes up to $599: Claim at any Delaware Lottery Retailer, in person at the Delaware Lottery Office, or mail your signed ticket and claim form; print your name/address on the ticket’s back and keep a copy/photo for records. By mail, send original tickets and documentation to: Delaware Lottery, 1575 McKee Road, Suite 102, Dover, DE 19904.
Prizes up to $2,500: Claim in person at Delaware Lottery Retailer Claim Centers throughout Kent, Sussex and New Castle Counties.
Prizes of $5,001 or more: Claim in person at the Delaware Lottery Office (business days 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) with a photo ID and Social Security card.
For all prize claims, directions to the Delaware Lottery Office are available online or via mapquest.com for a map.

Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Delaware Lottery.

Can I claim a jackpot prize anonymously in Delaware?

Fortunately for First State residents, the Delaware Lottery allows winners remain anonymous. Unlike many other states that require a prize be over a certain jackpot, Delawareans can remain anonymous no matter how much, or how little, they win.

How long do I have to claim my prize in Delaware?

Tickets are valid for up to one year past the drawing date for drawing game prizes or within one year of the announced end of sales for Instant Games, according to delottery.com.

When are the Delaware Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
Play 3, 4: Daily at 1:58 p.m. and 7:57 p.m., except Sunday afternoon.
Multi-Win Lotto: 7:57 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Lucky for Life: Daily at 10:38 p.m.
Lotto America: 11:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Delaware Online digital operations manager. You can send feedback using this form.

Source link

Delaware

Trump will go to Delaware for the dignified transfer of the 2 National Guard members killed in Syria

Published

16 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Trump will go to Delaware for the dignified transfer of the 2 National Guard members killed in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a dignified transfer for the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert that is testing the rapprochement between Washington and Damascus.

The two guardsmen killed in the attack on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter was also killed.

The ritual at Dover Air Force Base honors U.S. service members killed in action and is one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.

During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that carried them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.

Trump, a Republican, said during his first term that witnessing the dignified transfer of service members’ remains is “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

Remembered as ‘the best of Iowa’

The Iowa National Guard is remembering the two men as heroes. Howard’s stepfather, Jeffrey Bunn, said Howard “loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out,” noting that he had wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy.

In a post on the Meskwaki Nation Police Department’s Facebook page, Bunn – who is chief of the Tama, Iowa, department – called Howard a loving husband and an “amazing man of faith” and said Howard’s brother, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard, would escort “Nate” back to Iowa.

Torres-Tovar was remembered as a “very positive” person who was family oriented and someone who always put others first, according to fellow guardsmen who were deployed with Torres-Tovar and issued a statement to the local TV broadcast station WOI.

“They were dedicated professionals and cherished members of our Guard family who represented the best of Iowa,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard.

Trump stands by Syrian leader al-Sharaa

On Saturday, Trump told reporters that he was mourning the deaths and vowed retaliation.

Trump said Monday that he remained confident in the leadership of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the onetime leader of an Islamic insurgent group who led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad, whose family had an iron grip on Syrian rule for decades.

The U.S. president welcomed al-Sharaa to Washington last month for a historic visit to the White House and formally welcomed Syria as a member of the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group. Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

“This had nothing to do with him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “This had to do with ISIS.”

Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. As of Monday, two were in stable condition and the other in good condition. The Pentagon has not identified them.

Trump traveled to Dover several times during his first term to honor the fallen, including for a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.

Source link

Delaware

Delaware will save more than $300M after federal tax decoupling takes effect

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Delaware will save more than 0M after federal tax decoupling takes effect

The fiscal year 2027 forecast remained relatively flat from the October meeting. But some expenses declined, including salaries for teachers. Brian Maxwell, state director of Management and Budget, said teacher salary expenses were down because student enrollment has dropped. He said federal immigration policy could be impacting the state’s Multilingual Learners.

“Obviously, there have been a number of students that may not be showing up to class just because of the enforcement of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” he said. “So some of the families may be scared to actually send their kids to school.”

Maxwell said overall enrollment is down, but the number of students needing special education services is up. The next student count is in February.

DEFAC members also discussed the revised Healthcare Spending benchmark. In September, the subcommittee devised a methodology that only used healthcare inflation, resulting in a 7.13% for 2026.

“We all gathered in October and there was a fair amount of concern with that outcome,” said Christen Linke Young, director of Health and Social Services. “So the subcommittee reconvened earlier this month to consider a new approach.”

After adopting the methodology using expected national inflation data and a three-year measure of health care cost growth, the benchmark now sits at 4.9%. But Young said there would be no penalty for hospitals exceeding the guideline.

Gov. Meyer and the state’s largest nongovernmental employer, ChristianaCare Health System, reached an agreement earlier this year in a lawsuit the regional hospital system filed last year. The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board was created by lawmakers in June 2024 to try to rein in hospital spending. But the agreement, which requires new legislation and the governor’s signature, would strip the board of its authority to approve and modify hospital budgets.

Source link