Delaware's HQPP, Explained: What You Need Before You Can Buy a Handgun

Delaware's purchase permit trips people up in two ways. Some assume it's a carry permit; it isn't. Others assume the training is a short online safety module; it isn't that either. The statute spells out a long course, and part of it has to happen on a range.

Who needs one, and who doesn't

The HQPP is a purchase credential: a person issued one may buy handguns while it's valid. A few groups are handled differently:

• Delaware concealed carry license holders. Anyone holding a valid license to carry concealed deadly weapons from the Superior Court (§ 1441) doesn't need to apply for an HQPP before buying a handgun.
• Law enforcement. Qualified law-enforcement officers, qualified retired officers and qualifying constable agency representatives are issued permits under separate provisions.

To be issued an HQPP you must be at least 21, not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law, and not found (on probable cause) to pose a danger to yourself or others.

The training requirement, in full

Section 1448D(f)(4) requires a course completed within the five years before you apply, taught by a law-enforcement agency, a college, a nationally recognized firearms-training organization, or a school whose instructors are certified by one. The course must include:

1. 01Knowledge and safe handling of firearms
2. 02Safe storage of firearms and child safety
3. 03Knowledge and safe handling of ammunition
4. 04Safe storage of ammunition and child safety
5. 05Safe shooting fundamentals
6. 06Live-fire shooting exercises on a range, with at least 100 rounds of ammunition
7. 07Ways to develop and maintain shooting skills
8. 08Federal and state law on purchasing, owning, transporting, using and possessing firearms
9. 09Delaware law on the use of deadly force
10. 10Avoiding a criminal attack and managing a violent confrontation, including conflict resolution
11. 11Suicide prevention

Training exemptions

Section 1448D(g) exempts several groups from the training requirement, including Delaware concealed carry licensees, members of the U.S. armed forces and their reserve elements (including the Delaware National Guard), NRA-certified instructors, holders of a valid Delaware hunter safety card, licensed dealers, licensed security and armored-car personnel, correctional officers, and certain classified competitive shooters. There's an important catch in subsection (p): an exemption counts only if the training you received through that role meets every element in the list above.

How the application works

1. 01Complete the training, including live fire.
2. 02Apply to the SBI on its form, with a sworn statement that you're not prohibited from possessing a firearm. Licensed dealers and the SBI both make the application available.
3. 03The SBI takes your fingerprints, searches Delaware's criminal justice records, and submits your prints to the FBI for a NICS check. It also contacts local police where you live, and anywhere you've lived in the past five years.
4. 04Unless there are grounds to deny, the SBI must grant the permit within 30 days of receiving the application.

A permit is valid for two years from issuance. It becomes void if you later become disqualified, and the SBI Director can revoke it on the same grounds.

If you're denied

A denial must be in writing and must state the specific reasons. You can request a hearing in the Justice of the Peace Court in your county within 30 days. There's no filing fee, and the hearing must be held within 21 days. That decision can be appealed to Superior Court within 15 days for a hearing de novo.