Does Delaware Have an Assault Weapons Ban?

Delaware Code title 11, section 1465 combines a named-firearm list with a copycat test. A semiautomatic centerfire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine reaches the copycat definition with one listed feature, while pistols and shotguns have their own criteria.

Section 1466 supplies the transaction and possession rules, including the limited places where a person who lawfully possessed or completed a purchase before June 30, 2022 may possess and transport the firearm. Section 1467 makes that earlier possession or purchase an affirmative defense and created a voluntary certificate of possession, with applications due by June 30, 2023, rather than a mandatory universal registration system.

There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the courts and is not enforced, but federal SBR classification for a brace-equipped firearm still turns on whether the specific weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. Garland v. Cargill (2024) held that a bump stock is not a machine gun under federal law. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.

Federal baseline verified 2026-10-20. Scope: State laws restricting semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns by configuration features: threaded barrels, pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, forward grips, and similar. Magazine capacity limits are tracked as a separate class.