Delaware Supreme Court rules public housing gun policies unconstitutional

A ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court struck down existing policies prohibiting guns in common areas of the Wilmington Housing Authority as unconstitutional. An en banc review of Justices Randy Holland, Carolyn Berger, Jack Jacobs, Henry duPont Ridgely and Resident Judge Richard Cooch found ruled that sections of the Wilmington Housing Authority’s lease policy in regards to firearms was in violation of the Second Amendment Tuesday. “Delaware has a long history, dating back to the Revolution, of allowing responsible citizens to lawfully carry and use firearms in our state,” wrote Associate Justice Henry Ridgely in the 27-page decision. “Like the citizens of our sister states at the founding, Delaware citizens understood that the ‘right of self-preservation’ permitted a citizen to ‘repe[l] force by force’ when ‘the intervention of society in his behalf, may be too late to prevent an injury,” Ridgely continued. The Wilmington Housing Authority is a nonprofit agency of the State of Delaware that provides housing to low-income individuals and families. A lawsuit by two residents appealing to the court under the U.S. Second Amendment challenged the agency’s rules on guns. At stake was WHA’s lease policy, which stated that neither residents nor guests could carry a firearm in any common area such as TV rooms and laundry areas and further had to offer for inspection any firearms permits held by household members to the agency. Residents were subject to eviction if they, their household members, or their guests violated the lease provisions and rules. Since the WHA for many was the only affordable local housing option, eviction could mean homelessness. To both of these issues, the court answered that the WMA could not legally require either as a matter of policy...more