DELAWARE- A federal judge has denied a challenge to a gun safety law that allows Delaware gun dealers to be held accountable in court for violence.
Prosecutors say 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, a gun industry front group, to Delaware’s Keshall ‘KeKe’ Anderson Safe Firearm Sales Act. The act passed into law in 2022, is named for KeKe Anderson, an innocent bystander who was killed in a 2016 shooting involving a firearm bought through a straw purchase at Cabela’s. The bill repeals special 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, according to prosecutors. Judge Andrews found that the NSSF lacked standing to challenge the law in court.
“Sometimes the facts of a case tell you all you need to know,” said Attorney General Kathy 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.”
The law plays a part in an ongoing DOJ investigation into whether Cabela’s violated various laws through its hands-off approach to the shoplifting of ammunition from its Christiana location. The investigation began over reports that substantial amounts of ammunition were being stolen from Cabela’s, which at the time stored ammunition unsecured in the middle of the sales floor and made no apparent effort to stop massive shoplifting.
Earlier this year, the same federal court ruled against plaintiffs challenging the state’s assault weapons ban and large-capacity magazine ban. Both remain in effect, as well.
