Gov. Carney signs 6 new gun reform bills, including ban on assault weapon sales

DOVER, Del. - While protesters chanted outside his door, Delaware Governor John Carney signed six new gun reform measures Thursday including a ban on the sale of assault weapons.

Carney, surrounded by legislators, gun reform advocates and people who have lost loved ones to gun violence said, "it’s about providing sensible gun safety legalization within the context of the Second Amendment rights and the limits imposed by our legislators."

The bills, worked on throughout June in Dover, ban the sale of assault weapons, raise to 21 the age when certain guns may be purchased, make gun dealers and manufacturers liable in certain gun crimes and ban the use of devices that make firearms fully automatic.

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Gun rights advocates, who filled an area outside the Governor’s second floor office, promised a stiff court challenge.

"Tyranny has a face and it’s John Carney", said Mitch Denham of Delaware Gun Rights. "Guns are used 2.5 million times a year in self defense taking guns away will hurt more than help."

The package of bills emerged in Delaware after a wave of mass killings in the country. Opponents argue the new laws were approved to help President Joe Biden, while supporters say the laws will keep people alive.

Louise Cummings, the widow of slain Delaware State Trooper Stephen Ballard watched Gov. Carney sign the sweeping legislation, she believes the laws could have saved her husband's life. 

"I do believe the bills will help," Cummings said. "If we had some of these in place, it may have helped my husband."