AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FIREARMS.

Unserialized gun owners get time-limited compliance options

The law takes effect upon enactment and bans possessing, making, assembling, or transferring untraceable firearms, except through its compliance process. It also bans possessing, transporting, shipping, transferring, or selling unfinished frames or receivers without required serial numbers. The compliance option covers people who lawfully owned these items before enactment or lawfully acquired them elsewhere before moving to Delaware. These owners must get licensed serialization or permanently disable the item within six months after enactment or establishing Delaware residency, whichever is later. A federally licensed dealer or manufacturer must apply a number unique to that licensee and follow federal marking and recordkeeping rules. Those rules include minimum marking size and depth; temporary transfers solely for serialization are allowed. Returning the item requires a background check; a denied transfer requires the licensee to surrender it to law enforcement. Permanent disabling must be irreversible, with no restoration possible using ordinary tools or common equipment. It must also prevent the frame from housing firing parts, permanently block the barrel, or destroy the frame under federal standards or guidance. Cosmetic damage, removing parts, partial disassembly, and temporary disabling do not qualify.