Firearms ship to your Delaware FFL dealer. How the transfer works
Order online, pick up at a licensed dealer in Kent County. Dover has been the capital since 1777, and the Green, Legislative Hall and the state agencies sit within a few blocks of each other. Dover Air Force Base and its C-5 fleet on the south side and the speedway on the north side are the other two engines of the town.
Pick an FFL dealer near you that accepts shipped transfers and name it at checkout. We confirm their license and ship the firearm to them. Ammunition, optics and parts ship straight to your door where Delaware law allows.
Since November 16, 2025 a Delaware resident needs a handgun qualified purchaser permit from the State Bureau of Identification before buying or receiving a handgun, unless they already hold a Delaware concealed carry license. The permit takes a certified training course with live fire, fingerprints and a photo through IdentoGO, and a background check; SBI has 30 days to issue or deny, and the permit runs two years. Long guns need no purchase permit. You must be 21 for handguns and most rifles, and 18 for shotguns. Every dealer sale means photo ID, ATF Form 4473 and a background check.
Dealers in these communities all work for Dover-area buyers:
Delaware is one of few states where a court, not a police agency, grants carry licenses. You apply for a license to carry a concealed deadly weapon at the Prothonotary's office of the Superior Court in your county, file a certificate signed by five respectable citizens, and the Prothonotary publishes your name in a county newspaper before the court hears the application. Fingerprints go to the State Bureau of Identification within 45 days of filing, the fee is $65, and you finish a course with 100 rounds of live fire. A first license runs three years, renewals five. Open carry is lawful without a license.
Delaware runs one of the longest deer seasons in the country, roughly five months. For 2026-27, archery and crossbow open September 1 and run to January 31, muzzleloader falls in mid-October and late January, the shotgun seasons sit in mid-November and mid-January, and the handgun season lands in early January along with several antlerless-only splits. Bottleneck centerfire rifles are never legal for deer here. Shotgun slugs, muzzleloaders, legal handguns and straight-walled pistol-caliber rifles are the tools, and the straight-wall rifles may not be used north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Confirm dates in the current DNREC guide.
Little Creek Wildlife Area east of the capital covers more than 4,700 acres of impoundments, salt marsh and upland field and runs a daily blind lottery in the waterfowl seasons. Deer hunting in central Kent is shotgun, muzzleloader and handgun country.
The St. Jones River runs from the capital out to the bay past the John Dickinson Plantation, and Little Creek Wildlife Area begins about six miles east of Legislative Hall.
Delaware has no large network of public ranges. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife runs two of them, one at each end of the state, and both are open to the public on a first-come basis for a small fee; no membership is needed, though shooters aged 10 and over complete a short safety orientation. Everything else in the state is a private club or a commercial range.
Source: DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife hunter education ranges, September 2026. Distances are approximate; call or check the agency site before you drive out.
Yes. Order here, name a licensed FFL dealer in Camden, Wyoming, Smyrna, Dover or anywhere in Kent County, and we ship the firearm to them. You fill out ATF Form 4473 at their counter and they run the background check.
For a handgun, yes. Since November 16, 2025 a Delaware buyer needs a handgun qualified purchaser permit from the State Bureau of Identification unless they hold a valid Delaware concealed carry license. Rifles and shotguns need no purchase permit, only the background check at the dealer near Dover who receives your order.
Delaware sets no fixed waiting period for a dealer sale, so once the check clears you can take the gun home. The real wait is the paperwork ahead of it: the purchaser permit can take weeks, and a private transfer may not close until the State Bureau of Identification approves it or 25 days pass.
The Prothonotary's office of the Superior Court in Kent County takes the application, publishes notice of it, and the court grants the license. The State Police do not issue carry licenses in Delaware, and neither does the Kent County sheriff.
We ship every firearm to a licensed dealer near Dover that you pick at checkout. The dealer confirms your permit if one is required, runs the background check, has you sign Form 4473 and hands the gun over. Ammunition, optics and most parts ship to your door.
Not for delivery into Delaware. State law has banned magazines over 17 rounds since 2022, with narrow exemptions that include current Delaware carry license holders and .22 rimfire tubular magazines. We hold Delaware orders to 17 rounds.
DNREC runs two public ranges, Ommelanden on River Road below New Castle and Owens Station near Greenwood in Sussex County. Both charge a few dollars a session and need no membership. Beyond those two, shooters around Dover use private clubs and commercial indoor ranges.
Each dealer sets its own fee, commonly $20 to $75. Call before you order to confirm the price and that they accept firearms shipped from an online store.
General information, not legal advice. Rules current as of September 2026. See our Delaware gun law overview and check with the Prothonotary of the Superior Court in New Castle, Kent or Sussex County or a local attorney about your own situation.