A pair of bills in Delaware aiming to further restrict access to guns has left the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee and is now heading to the Senate Floor. Meanwhile, another pair of bills in Arkansas aimed at blocking local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws are also now heading to the Senate floor.

The first of the two bills in Delaware – Senate Bill 3 – aims to require would-be gun buyers to first acquire a permit and take a gun safety course before they are allowed to purchase any firearm. The other bill – Senate Bill 6 – would ban the sale of high-capacity magazines that hold more than 17 rounds.

“Delaware is facing an epidemic of gun violence.  As the senator for Delaware’s 3rd District, I’m very aware that children are more likely to be shot in my hometown of Wilmington than almost any other city in the country,” Wilmington state Senator Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman said.

Arkansas lawmakers have chosen to go in the completely opposite direction. Senate Bill 298 and Senate Bill 59 easily passed the state’s Republican-dominated Senate Committee on City, County, and Local Affairs.

Senate Bill 298 – also called the “Arkansas Sovereignty Act of 2021” – will prohibit local law enforcement in the state from cooperating with federal authorities in enforcing federal gun laws that “infringe” its citizen’s first amendment rights under the Arkansas Constitution.

Senate Bill 59 will categorize certain firearms built, sold, and stored within the state as exempt from specific federal regulations.