Question 1

Are ghost guns and 80% lowers legal in Delaware?

Accepted Answer

Possession and home-manufacturing bans blocked; distribution restrictions remain.. Rigby v. Jennings permanently blocks the challenged possession and home-manufacturing bans; restrictions on unfinished-frame distribution, untraceable-firearm sales or transfers, and distributing digital 3D-printing instructions remain enforceable. Effective 2026-09-03. Controlling law: Rigby v. Jennings, No. 21-1523 (MN), Order ¶¶ 2, 4 (D. Del. Sept. 10, 2026); 11 Del. C. §§ 1459A & 1463; HB 418 (2026).

Question 2

What law covers unfinished frames and unserialized firearms in Delaware?

Accepted Answer

The controlling law is Rigby v. Jennings, No. 21-1523 (MN), Order ¶¶ 2, 4 (D. Del. Sept. 10, 2026); 11 Del. C. §§ 1459A & 1463; HB 418 (2026). Rigby v. Jennings permanently blocks the challenged possession and home-manufacturing bans; restrictions on unfinished-frame distribution, untraceable-firearm sales or transfers, and distributing digital 3D-printing instructions remain enforceable.

Question 3

When did Delaware's unfinished frame or unserialized firearm restriction take effect?

Accepted Answer

Delaware's rule took effect 2026-09-03. The September 10, 2026 order permanently enjoins § 1459A(b), § 1463(a), the manufacture/assembly and causing manufacture/assembly portions of § 1463(b), and § 1463(c)(1). It leaves § 1459A(a), the sale/transfer portions of § 1463(b), and § 1463(c)(2) constitutional and enforceable. Section 1459A(a) covers transport and shipping as well as sale and transfer, with licensed-dealer/manufacturer, serialization, and recordkeeping requirements. HB 418, effective September 3, 2026, adds § 1459A(e) and § 1463(f): qualifying prior owners and new residents have a six-month serialization or permanent-inoperability pathway, including temporary transfers for serialization and a background check on return. The order does not expressly adjudicate those new subsections. This split ruling is neither a blanket ban nor unrestricted permission; federal law and other firearm restrictions still apply.

Question 4

Are 80% lowers and self-built firearms legal under federal law?

Accepted Answer

Federal law does not prohibit making a firearm for personal use, but prohibited-person, detectable-firearm, and unlicensed manufacturing-for-sale rules still apply. On August 17, 2026, Defense Distributed v. Blanche held 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.11 and 478.12(c) unconstitutional, but the judgment did not vacate those regulations and its declaratory and injunctive relief is party-scoped. Buyers outside the protected parties remain subject to the 2022 federal frame-or-receiver rule while litigation continues; state serialization, transfer, possession, and manufacturing laws apply independently.

Federal baseline verified 2026-08-18. Scope: Unfinished firearm frames and receivers, including products marketed as 80% lowers or pistol-frame blanks, plus firearms privately made without a serial number. Serialized stripped receivers transferred as firearms are outside this class's unfinished/unserialized restrictions.

Are Ghost Guns and 80% Lowers Legal in Delaware?

Litigation Status and Details

Federal baseline

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