republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/149/hb-156.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CONSERVATION.	This bill updates requirements for handguns used for deer hunting by adding a range and limit to allowable handgun calibers to accommodate changing handgun availability while maintaining public safety and handgun hunting efficacy. This bill also allows for pistol caliber rifle hunting for deer. This bill also makes a technical adjustment to clarify that a handgun or a pistol caliber rifle can be used for deer hunting during any shotgun deer season.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	149	HB 156	Delaware HB 156 (149)	bill		enacted	Brian Pettyjohn Bruce C. Ennis Jeff N. Spiegelman William J. Carson	1	15	2	2017-05-02	2018-08-12	openstates	ocd-bill/3b8115df-d974-4688-8603-e7b696d2a786	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25709	8aa4266f6dbb7018af705160b632c5a8aa48a07eb2b723fca1da296ad1b2b425	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 156 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CONSERVATION.

This bill updates requirements for handguns used for deer hunting by adding a range and limit to allowable handgun calibers to accommodate changing handgun availability while maintaining public safety and handgun hunting efficacy. This bill also allows for pistol caliber rifle hunting for deer. This bill also makes a technical adjustment to clarify that a handgun or a pistol caliber rifle can be used for deer hunting during any shotgun deer season.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 40–1 (pass) · lower
• SM — 21–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Brian Pettyjohn — primary (person)
• Bruce C. Ennis — primary (person)
• Jeff N. Spiegelman — primary (person)
• William J. Carson — primary (person)
• Daniel B. Short — cosponsor (person)
• David L. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
• Timothy D. Dukes — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2017-05-02 Introduced and Assigned to Agriculture Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2017-05-11 Amendment HA 1 to HB 156 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-05-17 Reported Out of Committee (Agriculture) in House with 11 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2017-05-18 Amendment HA 2 to HB 156 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-06-07 Amendment HA 3 to HB 156 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-06-13 Amendment HA 4 to HB 156 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2018-06-19 Amendment HA 1 to HB 156 - Stricken in House
• 2018-06-19 Amendment HA 2 to HB 156 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2018-06-19 Amendment HA 3 to HB 156 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2018-06-19 Amendment HA 4 to HB 156 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2018-06-19 Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 NO passage
• 2018-06-19 Assigned to Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2018-06-28 Reported Out of Committee (Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy) in Senate with 3 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2018-06-28 Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES passage
• 2018-08-12 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/3b8115df-d974-4688-8603-e7b696d2a786. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).