Delaware's Ghost Gun Ban Stays Blocked While State Seeks Reversal

Delaware is asking a federal judge to undo her own September ruling that struck down the state's bans on unserialized firearms, unfinished receivers, and home manufacturing, and the Firearms Policy Coalition is telling the court not to fall for it.

Snapshot

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika permanently blocked Delaware's possession and manufacturing bans in September, ruling they violated the Second Amendment. Delaware filed a Rule 59(e) motion asking her to reverse that decision, and on November 12 FPC filed a 21-page opposition in Rigby v. Jennings arguing Delaware is just relitigating a loss by mislabeling its bans as paperwork.

Key points

• What's in effect now: Judge Noreika's injunction against Delaware's possession and home-manufacturing bans remains active while the motion is pending; commercial-distribution and 3D-file restrictions survived and still apply.
• Delaware's argument: The state points to the Third Circuit's Berger ruling on suppressor registration and new House Bill 418, signed September 3, claiming its laws are minimal serialization requirements rather than bans.
• H.B. 418's limits: The bill gives a six-month window for owners of previously possessed unserialized items to get them serialized or render them inoperable, but FPC notes it doesn't authorize future home manufacture or help plaintiffs recover firearms they already surrendered.
• FPC's pushback: FPC President Brandon Combs says Delaware "criminalized peaceable people" and is now dressing up outright bans as harmless paperwork.
• What's next: Related Third Circuit proceedings (No. 26-3575) are stayed pending the district court's decision on reconsideration.

Quick take

If Delaware pulls this off, owners who build or possess unserialized firearms there could see the rug pulled out again, so this is worth watching even if you're nowhere near the state. The core dispute — whether a flat prohibition can be waved away as a registration rule — is the kind of argument other states will try next if it works here.

Read the full story: ammoland.com