Order online, pick up at a licensed dealer in New Castle County. New Castle holds the oldest intact colonial street grid in the state, a cobbled green laid out around the courthouse where Delaware's assembly first met. The Delaware Memorial Bridge lifts off the riverbank just below town and the river traffic runs past the Battery Park pier all day.
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.
A Delaware resident has needed a handgun qualified purchaser permit from the State Bureau of Identification since 16 November 2025 before a dealer may transfer a handgun, unless that buyer already holds a Delaware licence to carry a concealed deadly weapon. The permit route is a certified firearms course that includes at least 100 rounds of live fire, fingerprints and a photograph through the state vendor, and an online application; the Bureau decides within 30 days of a complete application and the permit runs two years. Rifles and shotguns need no purchase permit. Handguns and most rifles are 21 and over; shotguns, shotgun ammunition and muzzle-loading rifles stay open to buyers aged 18 to 20. Every dealer sale means photo identification, ATF Form 4473 and a background check.
Dealers in these communities all work for New Castle-area buyers:
Delaware is one of the few states where a court rather than a police agency grants a carry licence. The application goes to the Prothonotary of the Superior Court in the county where you live, with a certificate signed by five respectable citizens, and the Prothonotary publishes the applicant list once in a county newspaper at least 10 days before the next term of court. Fingerprints go to the State Bureau of Identification within 45 days before filing, the fee is $65, and the required course includes at least 100 rounds of live fire. A first licence runs three years and renewals run five. Open carry needs no licence in Delaware, and a carry licence also exempts the holder from the handgun purchase permit and from the 17-round magazine limit.
Most of the hunting around Wilmington happens south and west of the city rather than in it. Delaware runs a long deer season, roughly September through January for 2026-27, with archery and crossbow opening 1 September, muzzleloader splits in October and late January, shotgun seasons in mid-November and mid-January and a handgun season in early January. Bottleneck centerfire rifles are never legal for deer in Delaware. Straight-walled pistol-calibre rifles are legal only south of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which puts most of New Castle County outside that rule. Confirm every date in the current DNREC guide before you hunt.
The DNREC hunter education centre at Ommelanden sits on River Road below town, the closest public range in the state to Wilmington, and the Augustine and Cedar Swamp wildlife areas are a short run south along the river.
Battery Park follows the river from the Strand out to the marsh, and the twin spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge fill the sky at the south end of town.
Delaware has no large network of public ranges. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife runs the only two open to the general public, and the New Castle County one sits fifteen minutes south of downtown Wilmington on River Road. Both are pay-as-you-go with no membership, and everyone aged 10 and over completes a short safety orientation before shooting. Everything else in the state is a private club or a commercial indoor 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.
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFLCapacity: 10 | Barrel Length: 3.1
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFLCapacity: 6 | Barrel Length: 2.75
Ships to FFLCapacity: 13 | Barrel Length: 3.1
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFLCapacity: 10 | Barrel Length: 4.6
Ships to FFLCapacity: 13 | Barrel Length: 3.1
Ships to FFL
Ships to FFLCapacity: 8 | Barrel Length: 5.0
Ships to FFLCapacity: 13 | Barrel Length: 3.1
Yes. Order here, name a licensed FFL dealer in Wilmington Manor, Minquadale, Delaware City, New Castle or anywhere in New Castle County, and we ship the firearm to them. You fill out ATF Form 4473 at their counter and they run the background check.
Yes. Since 16 November 2025 a Delaware buyer needs a handgun qualified purchaser permit from the State Bureau of Identification before a dealer can hand over a pistol or revolver, unless that buyer holds a current Delaware licence to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Rifles and shotguns need no purchase permit, only the background check at the dealer near New Castle who receives your order.
Delaware sets no fixed waiting period at the counter, so once the check clears your dealer can release the gun. The wait sits earlier in the process: the purchase permit takes a course, fingerprints and up to 30 days of review, and a private transfer cannot close until the State Bureau of Identification approves it or 25 days pass.
The Prothonotary's office of the Superior Court in New Castle County takes the application and the court decides it. The State Police do not issue carry licences in Delaware and neither does the New Castle County sheriff. Expect the newspaper publication step and a wait measured in months.
We ship every firearm to a licensed dealer near New Castle that you choose at checkout. The dealer checks your purchase permit or carry licence, runs the background check, has you sign Form 4473 and releases the gun. Ammunition, optics, lights and holsters ship straight to your door.
Not for delivery into Delaware. State law has capped magazines at 17 rounds since 2022, with narrow exemptions that include current Delaware carry licence holders and .22 rimfire tubular magazines. We hold Delaware orders to 17 rounds so nothing arrives your dealer cannot release.
The closest public range to most of New Castle County is the DNREC centre at Ommelanden on River Road below New Castle, with a 25-yard pistol line, a 50-yard rifle line, trap, skeet, 5-stand and archery. It charges by the session and needs no membership. Beyond that, shooters around New Castle 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 County or a local attorney about your own situation.