Delaware 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 7 D · 1 R cosponsors

HB 123 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 17, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Matt Meyer (Democratic) on August 20, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 98% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 8 sponsors

    8 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (7 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act creates the crime of “discharging a firearm at a dwelling, place of worship, vehicle, or place of business.” The offense is a class E felony. The offense contains a provision that provides that a person may not be convicted of both a violation of this section and reckless endangering 1st or 2nd with regard to the same conduct. It also exempts a shooting range from the businesses covered by the statute.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

28 added · 15 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment changes the wording from "discharging a firearm at" to "discharging a firearm towards" specific locations, which includes adding "school" and "institution of higher education" to the list of prohibited targets. This matters because it broadens the scope of locations where discharging a firearm is considered unlawful and clarifies the intent of the action, potentially impacting criminal charges related to this behavior.

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Latest
Chukwuocha HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Chukwuocha & Sen.
1 TO HOUSE BILL NO.
Brown & Rep.
123 AMEND House Bill No.
Cooke Reps.
123 by deleting line 3 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Griffith, K.
Ҥ 1460A.
Johnson, D.
Discharging a firearm towards a dwelling, place of worship, vehicle, place of business, school, or institution of higher learning.”.
Short, Bolden, Carson, Ortega;
FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.
Sen.
123 by deleting “at” as it appears on line 4 and inserting in lieu thereof “towards”.
Seigfried HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE BILL NO.
FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.
123 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM.
123 by inserting after line 8 and before line 9 the following:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
“(5) A school.
Section 1.
(6) An institution of higher education.”.
Amend Part E, Subchapter VII, Chapter 5 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
SYNOPSIS This amendment clarifies that the prohibited action is discharging a firearm “towards” rather than “at” certain buildings or vehicles.
§ 1460A.
It also adds schools and institutions of higher education to the list of targets prohibited by this section.
Discharging a firearm at a dwelling, place of worship, vehicle, or place of business.
(a) It is unlawful to knowingly or intentionally discharge a firearm at any of the following:
(1) A dwelling.
(2) A place of worship.
(3) A vehicle.
(4) A place of business.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Dwelling” means as defined in § 829 of this title.
(2) “Place of business” means a permanent physical structure that is marked with signage and within which a commercial, service, or other legal enterprise is operated.
“Place of business” does not include a shooting range or other business the purpose of which is to provide a venue for lawful firearm practice or other lawful firearm uses.
(c) A violation of this section is a class E felony.
(d) A person may not be convicted of both a violation of this section and reckless endangering in the first degree, or both a violation of this section and reckless endangering in the second degree, with regard to the same conduct.
SYNOPSIS This Act creates the crime of “discharging a firearm at a dwelling, place of worship, vehicle, or place of business.” The offense is a class E felony.
The offense contains a provision that provides that a person may not be convicted of both a violation of this section and reckless endangering 1st or 2nd with regard to the same conduct.
It also exempts a shooting range from the businesses covered by the statute.
SCD Page 1 of 1 Released:
DS Page 1 of 1 Released:
06/11/2025 08:45 AM 0281530089
04/17/2025 10:05 AM 0281530005
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Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable

  4. Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

  5. Passed By House. Votes: 30 YES 1 NO 5 NOT VOTING 5 ABSENT

  6. Amendment HA 1 to HB 123 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  7. Amendment HA 1 to HB 123 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 7 On Its Merits

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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8 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 54 not signed on · 1 voted No

Sponsors (8)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (54)

54 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 54 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 20 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 14001
Republican 6000
Total 20001
% of votes cast 95%0%0%5%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Daniel Cruce Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Not Voting
Ray Seigfried Democratic Yea
Russell Huxtable Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Eric Buckson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 30 Yea · 1 Nay · 10 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 18107
Republican 12002
Unaffiliated 0001
Total 301010
% of votes cast 73%2%0%24%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Stell Parker Selby — Not Voting
Claire Snyder-Hall Democratic Yea
Cyndie Romer Democratic Yea
DeShanna U Neal Democratic Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Yea
Frank Burns Democratic Not Voting
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Josue O Ortega Democratic Yea
Kamela T Smith Democratic Not Voting
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Not Voting
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Not Voting
Mara Gorman Democratic Yea
Melanie Ross Levin Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Nay
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Not Voting
Sophie Phillips Democratic Not Voting
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Not Voting
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Not Voting
Jeff Hilovsky Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Not Voting
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Yea
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea
Valerie Jones Giltner Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 123 do?
This Act creates the crime of “discharging a firearm at a dwelling, place of worship, vehicle, or place of business.” The offense is a class E felony. The offense contains a provision that provides that a person may not be convicted of both a violation of this section and reckless endangering 1st or 2nd with regard to the same conduct. It also exempts a shooting range from the businesses covered by the statute.
Who sponsors HB 123?
HB 123 is sponsored by Josue O Ortega (Democratic), William J. Carson (Democratic), Daniel B. Short (Republican), Ray Seigfried (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), Darius J. Brown (Democratic), Franklin D. Cooke (Democratic), and Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 123?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 17, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 123?
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