A federal judge denied a challenge to a law that governs “straw purchases” of firearms by gun dealers in Delaware.”
Attorney General Kathy Jennings said it marked a third consecutive legal win. Earlier this year, the same federal court ruled against plaintiffs challenging Delaware’s assault weapons ban and large-capacity magazine ban. Both remain in effect but are likely to be appealed.
“Sometimes the facts of a case tell you all you need to know,” AG Jennings. “The gun lobby claims to speak for gun owners, but at day’s end, its masters have always been corporate, and its priority is protecting profits, full stop. This kind of liability shield is unexampled in Delaware law. It is a massive giveaway to a special interest that gives the people of this state nothing in return. The gun lobby will continue to fight for their profits. We will continue to fight for our neighbors.”
In an opinion made public late Friday, Judge Richard G. Andrews of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware dismissed a challenge by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to Delaware’s Keshall ‘KeKe’ Anderson Safe Firearm Sales Act, The act, passed into law in 2022, is named for KeKe Anderson, a bystander who was killed in a 2016 shooting involving a firearm bought through a straw purchase at Cabela’s. The bill repeals immunity granted to gun dealers like Cabela’s under state law, making Delaware the first state in the country to repeal a gun industry liability shield. Judge Andrews found that the NSSF lacked standing to challenge the law in court.
A straw purchase is a transaction where a buyer does not disclose the individual who will ultimately own the firearm.
The law played a part in an ongoing DOJ investigation into whether Cabela’s violated various laws through its alleged hands-off approach to shoplifting ammunition from its Christiana location. The investigation began over reports that substantial amounts of ammunition were stolen from Cabela’s, which stored ammo in the middle of the sales floor.
