Delaware

In June 2018, Governor John Carney signed House Substitute 1 for House Bill 222, creating Delaware’s Lethal Violence Protective Order (LVPO), which became effective on December 27, 2018. A few months earlier, in April 2018, Delaware enacted the Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2018. Though seemingly similar, Delaware’s LVPO includes an expanded list of petitioners and a focus on persons exhibiting dangerous behavior, generally, as opposed to persons exhibiting dangerous behavior due to a “mental condition” that requires a mental health service provider to notify law enforcement of such concern or behavior.

A Lethal Violence Protective Order (LVPO) is a civil order that temporarily prohibits individuals who pose a danger of causing physical injury to self or others from purchasing, possessing, or having access to firearms and ammunition. There are two types of LVPOs: an emergency LVPO, which may be issued on an ex parte basis and generally lasts up to 15 days, and a nonemergency LVPO, which is issued after notice and a hearing and lasts up to one year. In Delaware, only law enforcement may petition for an emergency LVPO¹, while law enforcement and family members (including current or former spouses, persons cohabitating with or without a child in common², persons living separate and apart with a child in common, custodian and child, persons related by blood or marriage, persons with a child in common, and persons in a current or former substantive dating relationship) are authorized to petition for a nonemergency LVPO.³ In addition to temporarily prohibiting the purchase and possession of a firearm or ammunition, in Delaware, the court may prohibit the respondent from residing with someone who owns, possesses, or controls firearms or ammunition.⁴

Delaware’s LVPO law includes ex parte LVPOs issued by a judicial officer; a hearing where the respondent is provided notice and an opportunity to participate; the respondent’s right to counsel (at no expense to the government); and the requirement of substantial and credible evidence to issue an LVPO.