Why Should Delaware Care?
A 2022 law tightening age restrictions on purchasing guns and hunting without supervision went into effect at the end of June. The stricter legislation will impact how young Delawareans are able to participate in the upcoming fall hunting season. Some view the law as unfairly applying gun violence prevention regulations to hunters, and as an indication of differing priorities between the northern and southern parts of the state.
A Delaware law meant to curb gun violence has sparked outcry from the state’s hunting community.
Passed in 2022, House Bill 451 raised the minimum age to purchase a gun in Delaware from 18 to 21. It also created adult supervision requirements for residents under the age of 21 while hunting in the state.
The tighter hunting supervision rules, which took effect on June 30, have sparked backlash from hunters, particularly in southern Delaware. Many residents said the law is a misplaced attempt to crack down on gun violence, instead putting a damper on longtime hunting culture norms.
Prior to HB 451, Delawareans could hunt without supervision after receiving a hunting license at the age of 16. But now, even with a hunting license, residents need to be at least 21 years old to hunt independently.
Adrien Cortez, an 18-year-old from Ellendale, said that now needing to be supervised while hunting is a setback from the independence he has been building toward since his childhood.
“Most of us around here were taught to shoot at about the age of 10, and a lot of us received our first hunting rifles or hunting shotguns around 12 or 13,” Cortez said. “By the time you’re 18, it’s just second nature to you.”
Delaware State Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola, one of the sponsors of HB 451, said the idea was that 21 is already the minimum age for buying alcohol and renting a car, so it made sense to make purchasing and operating a gun consistent with those other limits.
Traci Manza Murphy, executive director of the Coalition for a Safer Delaware, a group that lobbied for HB 451, agreed with Sokola, saying her main concern is the fact that 18 to 21 -year-olds’ brains are still developing, which can cause them to be “impulsive and reckless.”
“Giving them access to lethal means during those times means that you get worse outcomes because [they’re] just unable to regulate,” she added.
As of January, 21 states, including Delaware, had passed laws requiring people to be 21 to purchase firearms, according to data from Everytown, a national nonprofit that advocates for gun safety legislation.
Surprised by new regulations
Because of the delay between the bill’s passage in 2022 and its enactment this year, many residents said they were not aware of the hunting supervision rule changes until the 2025-26 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide was released at the beginning of July.
Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford) posted on his Facebook page on July 7, both informing his followers about the rule change and expressing disapproval of the legislation.
“For many of these 18 to 20-year-olds, it’s a great outlet for them to be outdoors and to appreciate the natural beauty,” he told Spotlight Delaware. “They’re not picking stuff like going to the bars or getting in trouble in other ways.”
Shupe’s post has received more than 175 comments, with a number of residents expressing frustration that their kids used to be able to hunt without supervision, but now need an adult present with them.
Jeff Hague, executive director of the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, the state’s National Rifle Association affiliate, said his phone has been ringing nonstop with people caught off guard by the new rules.
To Hague and the rest of the sportsmen’s association, however, the change did not come as a surprise. The group filed a lawsuit in the fall of 2022 in the state Superior Court, alleging HB 451 violated the Delaware Constitution.
Hague said he expects a decision about the lawsuit by the end of September.
“The legislators that support this type of legislation don’t have a clue about hunting, fishing, trapping, any sporting events, any competitive shooting events,” Hague said. “They pass these laws about firearms because it’s easy.”
Gibson Wright, director of the Delaware chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a national hunting and conservation organization, agreed with Hague. He argued that law-abiding hunters will be those primarily impacted by the new regulations.
“If there is a person who’s mentally ill and wants to go shoot some people, he’s going to be able to get his hands on a weapon,” he said.
Impacts remain to be seen
With deer hunting season beginning in September followed by duck hunting season in November, residents will not feel the true impact of the supervision regulations for roughly another month.
It will fall to Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) officers to ticket anyone under 21 found to be hunting unsupervised.
Wright said he is concerned about some hunters never being made aware of the new rules if they do not read the Hunting and Trapping guide or pay attention to the legislation.
DNREC declined to comment on the cost of the fines, or whether any exceptions will be made for hunters who are unaware of the new regulations.
While Sokola (D-Newark) acknowledged that the impacts of HB 451 remain to be seen, he stood firm in his belief that increasing supervision for hunters across the state will help curb gun violence.
Shupe disagreed, telling Spotlight Delaware that when the legislature resumes in January, he plans to introduce legislation to overturn the law’s hunting supervision requirements.
Maggie Reynolds is a Report for America corps member and Spotlight Delaware reporter who covers rural communities in Delaware. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://spotlightdelaware.org/support/.