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Delaware House pass bill requiring fingerprinting, training and permit before buying handgun

Delaware House pass bill requiring fingerprinting, training and permit before buying handgun

Delaware’s Democrat-led House voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve a bill requiring anyone who wants to buy a handgun to first be fingerprinted, undergo training and obtain permission from the state. Thursday’s vote came exactly two weeks before a federal appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments on Maryland’s decade-old permit-to-purchase law, which was declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the court in November. Only a handful of other states have similar permit laws, some of which are facing legal challenges. North Carolina repealed its permit law effective earlier this year. Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown, chief House sponsor of the Delaware legislation, insisted that permit-to-purchase laws are effective in reducing gun deaths. “States with permit laws have 25 percent lower gun homicide rates, 50 percent lower gun suicide rates,” she said. SOUTH CAROLINA BECOMES 29TH STATE IN NATION WITH CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY LAW: ‘HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY’ However in Maryland, the annual number of murders over the past decade have exceeded the total in 2013, when the state’s permit law was passed. (2014 is the sole year that is an exception.) House lawmakers voted 23-16 for the legislation, which cleared the Democrat-controlled Senate on a party-line vote last May, before the Maryland court ruling. Two House Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill, which heads back to the Senate for consideration with several amendments from the House. “This legislation has been the product of years of discussions,” Minor-Brown said Thursday, dismissing GOP suggestions that the legislation was being rushed. Still, Democrats passed two last-minute amendments she introduced during Thursday’s floor debate, including one restricting the scope of a Republican amendment that lawmakers had approved barely an hour earlier. The GOP amendment was aimed at exempting certain people from the training requirements if they already have firearms training, such as members of the military, certified firearms instructors, and licensed gun dealers. House lawmakers passed the bill despite concerns about its price tag, rejecting several GOP amendments that Republicans said would reduce the financial burden imposed both on taxpayers and prospective gun buyers. Legislative analysts estimate that the permitting system will cost taxpayers about $3 million in initial implementation costs, and about $5 million annually thereafter, even after elimination of a proposed training voucher program for low-income people. Democratic Gov. John Carney has included more than $2.9 billion in his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year for the permit program, which he touted during his State of the State speech Tuesday. Gun-control advocates say the permit mandate will reduce the number of homicides, suicides and accidental shootings in Delaware. They also contend that the permit requirement will make it more difficult for people to make illegal “straw purchases” of handguns on behalf of those prohibited by law from possessing them. “Criminals avoid purchasing firearms in states where permit laws exist,” Minor-Brown said. Opponents say the bill infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens and will have no effect on criminals who ignore gun laws and are to blame for gun violence in the state. Carney acknowledged on Tuesday that “a very small number of people” associated with street gangs are committing “the vast majority of gun violence” in Wilmington and Dover, Delaware’s two largest cities. Critics also argue that a permitting process poses a time-consuming and costly infringement on people wanting to exercise their right to defend themselves with firearms — a right enshrined in Delaware’s constitution. Republican lawmakers warned that the bill will be challenged in court if it becomes law. “My opinion is that it will be held to be unconstitutional,” Republican House attorney Ron Smith testified. Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Jennings said she is convinced that the legislation is unconstitutional. “What’s being done here is reasonable regulations and requirements,” she said. The bill prohibits licensed gun dealers, as well as private sellers, from transferring a handgun to any person unless he or she has a “qualified purchaser permit.” To obtain a permit, a person must complete a firearms training course and be fingerprinted by the State Bureau of Identification. The SBI would have 30 days to investigate the person and grant a permit if the applicant is qualified. The agency can retain the names and birthdates of permit applicants indefinitely, as well as information about when they completed a training course, and the date a permit was issued or denied. A permit would be valid for two years. It could be revoked, and any guns purchased with it seized, if the SBI director later determines that the person poses a danger to himself or others by having a gun. State officials would have up to 1.5 years to implement the permitting program, which exempts active and retired law enforcement officers, and those who already have concealed carry permits.

Gold Star dad Steve Nikoui arrested after heckling Biden at SOTU address

Gold Star dad Steve Nikoui arrested after heckling Biden at SOTU address

A Gold Star father who shouted out criticisms at President Biden during the State of the Union address has been arrested. Steve Nikoui, 51, is the father of a U.S. marine who was killed during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. DID BIDEN PASS OR FAIL? FORMER PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITERS GRADE THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Nikoui was escorted out of the House Galleries during Biden’s speech after he stood up and began yelling “Abbey Gate” repeatedly.  The heckling was a reference to an attack at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan that occurred during the military’s withdrawal from the country. HEROES OF KABUL: LANCE CPL. KAREEM NIKOUI BELIEVED AMERICA WAS WORTH FIGHTING FOR, FALLEN MARINE’S MOM SAYS The surprise attack killed 13 U.S. service members and injured at least 170 civilians.  Nikoui was confronted by security during his outburst and demanded to stop but he refused. He was removed from the House Galleries and arrested by Capitol police on the misdemeanor charge of Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding.

Fear of transit crime resurfaces in US cities

Fear of transit crime resurfaces in US cities

Fear of crime on subways and buses is back as a top concern in some U.S. cities, and so are efforts to persuade public officials to take the issue seriously. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday she would task 750 members of the National Guard with helping patrol the nation’s busiest subway system, saying she felt New York City police need reinforcements after a shooting on a train platform and a conductor getting slashed in the neck. Pennsylvania legislators created a special prosecutor to go after crimes committed in the transit system that serves the southeast of the state. In Philadelphia, where a spate of transit-related shootings left three dead and 12 wounded, many of them high schoolers, Mayor Cherelle Parker also promised Thursday to beef up police patrols. NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL CALLS IN NATIONAL GUARD, STATE POLICE TO HELP CURB CRIME IN NYC SUBWAYS “Enough is enough,” she said on WURD radio. It remains to be seen whether such moves will have any effect on reducing crime in these massive public transit systems. Hochul acknowledged that calling in the National Guard was as much about soothing fears and making a political statement as it was about making mass transit safer. The city’s subways were already safe, the Democrat reasoned, but a show of force might help dispel anxieties more than any statistic. “If you feel better walking past someone in a uniform to make sure that someone doesn’t bring a knife or a gun on the subway, then that’s exactly why I did it,” Hochul said Thursday on MSNBC. “I want to change the psychology around crime in New York City.” “I’m also going to demonstrate that Democrats fight crime as well,” she added. “So this narrative that Republicans have said that we’re soft on crime, that we defund the police? No.” Major crimes in the New York City transit system dropped nearly 3% from 2022 to 2023, with five killings last year, down from 10 the year prior, according to police. Overall, violent crime in the subway system is rare, with train cars and stations being generally as safe as any other public place. In Pennsylvania, overall crime has declined in recent years on the regional transit system, though there were six killings in 2023, up from a total of seven during the previous three years. Still, the issue of safety on buses and trains is one that keeps resonating with voters — particularly as some systems recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, when passengers stayed away. “Recently it’s been a little unsafe. So I think they should control it before it gets out of hand,” said Alan Uloa, a 43-year-old New York resident. “The other day they slashed the conductor, and that’s not cool.” New York Republicans hammered Democrats on crime during the 2022 midterms, a message that helped the GOP capture suburban congressional seats. But heightened law enforcement presence can be a double-edged sword, said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and the former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. “For some people, they’d like to see the added security,” he said. “And for other people, they’ll say we’re overreacting.” The political tough talk can also gloss over the reality that transit crime accounts for just a tiny percentage of all crime, said Vincent Del Castillo, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former chief of New York City’s transit police. “You can have 10 to 12 murders in the system when there are literally hundreds across the city,” he said. “But because it’s so rare, it gets a lot of attention.” The four shootings linked to Philadelphia’s bus system began Sunday, when a man was killed by another passenger shortly after they got off a bus. Two more bus-related shootings in the next two days left two more dead and four injured. Then on Wednesday eight teenagers waiting to take a city bus home after school were shot, leaving a bus riddled with bullet holes. Charles Lawson, chief of the city’s transit police, vowed that officers will take an aggressive approach, using “every criminal code on the book” to crack down on crime. “We’re going to target individuals concealing their identity,” he said. “We’re going to target fare evasion. We’re going to target open drug use.” The Guard troops in New York won’t be that active. Instead they have been tasked with helping police conduct random searches of bags, a practice in place for nearly two decades. Passengers have the right to refuse such searches, though if they do they are asked to leave the subway system. Guard troops can’t make arrests, but if they witness a crime, they can detain someone until police arrive, just as any civilian can do. SEN. TOM COTTON DUNKS ON NY TIMES AS PAPER REPORTS HOCHUL IS SENDING TROOPS TO NYC TO COMBAT CRIME The troops were deployed Thursday, but transit riders might not have noticed as they weren’t widely visible at stations or in trains. Some were seen patrolling major hubs, including Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, where they have been a regular presence since the terror attacks of Sept. 11 , 2001. Riders have long been split over bag checks, which are infrequent but can hold people up as they race for a train. Searches have also long been a subject of concerns iver racial profiling, though the NYPD says it takes steps to avoid that. “Sometimes when I’m in a hurry and I have a bag, I don’t like to be stopped,” said Jerome Brooks Jr., a 44-year-old actor and musician. “So then I try to see, do they stop me if they’re going to stop somebody else that doesn’t look like me?” Cheryl Ann Harper, 46, said she welcomed the precaution. “We need it,” she said, noting that similar checks are common at theaters. “I do it all the time. Not a big deal. If you don’t have anything to hide, why

Centrist group No Labels expected to move forward with launching bipartisan presidential ticket

Centrist group No Labels expected to move forward with launching bipartisan presidential ticket

No Labels will likely take another step towards forming a bipartisan presidential ticket in November’s general election, when the centrist group’s delegates huddle during a virtual gathering on Friday. Two sources with knowledge of the meeting on Thursday confirmed to Fox News that the roughly 800 delegates taking part are expected to vote to give a thumbs up to fielding what the No Labels has described as a “unity ticket” in the presidential election. No Labels officials would not publicly confirm any plans for tomorrow’s virtual gathering. But in a statement to Fox News, No Labels senior strategist Ryan Clancy did say “we expect our delegates to encourage the process to continue.” But the expected move, first reported by the Associated Press, comes as some high-profile potential candidates for the No Labels ticket have taken their names out of contention. NO LABELS CHARGES OPPONENTS ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT OFF THE BALLOT For over a year, No Labels has mulled a third party ticket, as it pointed to poll after poll suggesting that many Americans were anything but enthused about a 2024 election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. And No Labels had long said that it would decide whether to launch a presidential ticket following Super Tuesday, when 16 states from coast to coast held nominating primaries and caucuses. Trump is now considered the presumptive Republican nominee, after winning 14 of the 15 GOP nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump’s last remaining rival – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – dropped out of the 2024 race on Wednesday. Biden also ran the table on Super Tuesday, winning 14 of the 15 Democratic contests. And Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota – one of the two long-shot challengers to the president – suspended his White House bid on Wednesday. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2024 ELECTION RESULTS FROM FOX NEWS Both Biden and Trump will formally clinch their party nominations in the next week or two, and their campaigns have now moved into general election mode. No Labels is not expected to name its presidential and vice presidential picks on Friday, but instead will likely kick off a formal selection process which would lead to the naming of candidates in the coming weeks. But former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a former No Labels leader who was considered a potential contender for the group’s ticket, recently took his name out of contention as he announced a run this year for an open Senate seat in his home state. And moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is not seeking re-election and who flirted with a White House run, has also said he won’t launch a presidential bid. There was plenty of speculation that Haley would consider running on a No Labels ticket if she dropped her Republican White House bid. And No Labels had expressed interest in Haley earlier this year. But Haley repeatedly nixed joining a No Labels ticket, most recently on Tuesday in an interview on “Fox and Friends.” “What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times, I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been,” she reiterated. No Labels says it’s already on the ballot in 14 states – and currently working in over a dozen other states to obtain access.  There’s been a chorus of calls from Democrats warning that a No Labels ticket would pave a path to victory for Trump in November. But the group dismisses that criticism. “That’s not our goal here,” Lieberman told Fox News Digital late last year. “We’re not about electing either President Trump or President Biden.” The No Labels meeting on Friday is closed to press coverage. The group says it will release a statement after the gathering concludes. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.