The Volokh Conspiracy - No Guns for You, You're an Old Woman,

plus an apparent violation of Delaware law barring the long-term keeping of gun purchase records:

Delaware State Police stopped Alvina Vansickle from purchasing a .22-caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old and a woman, said Superintendent Col. Thomas MacLeish.

The outrage that followed led to the revelation that Delaware State Police had been keeping lists of gun buyers for years; state law requires them to destroy these records after 60 days....

An employee in the state police Firearms Transaction Approval Program noticed Vansickle's age and gender, and brought the sale to an immediate halt.

Vansickle's application was then routed to Sgt. Benjamin Nefosky, who heads the firearms approval unit.

According to MacLeish, the transaction was halted over concerns "based upon age and gender." ...

MacLeish said the initial call taker "was concerned this individual never purchased a weapon before. Age and gender caused her to take caution." ...

"I believe there was caution taken on behalf of the call taker," he said. "It was done without malice."

Vansickle's purchase was eventually approved -- 10 days after the initial application -- after she and the dealer were interviewed by police about the purchase. A normal delay is three days....

Story over this incident led to the revelation that the police had "searched seven years of firearms transaction records to see if Vansickle had ever bought a gun before"; according to the article, Delaware law requires that gun purchase records not be kept anywhere near that long, though I have no independent knowledge about that. Col. MacLeish is quoted as saying that "Our review of our electronic records indicated we had a glitch in the system, back to August 2005 .... They have since been purged."

Thanks to John Hackathorn for the pointer.

	[Eugene Volokh, October 30, 2008 at 10:25am] Trackbacks No Guns for You, You're an Old Woman, plus an apparent violation of Delaware law barring the long-term keeping of gun purchase records: Delaware State Police stopped Alvina Vansickle from purchasing a .22-caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old and a woman, said Superintendent Col. Thomas MacLeish. The outrage that followed led to the revelation that Delaware State Police had been keeping lists of gun buyers for years; state law requires them to destroy these records after 60 days.... An employee in the state police Firearms Transaction Approval Program noticed Vansickle's age and gender, and brought the sale to an immediate halt. Vansickle's application was then routed to Sgt. Benjamin Nefosky, who heads the firearms approval unit. According to MacLeish, the transaction was halted over concerns "based upon age and gender." ... MacLeish said the initial call taker "was concerned this individual never purchased a weapon before. Age and gender caused her to take caution." ... "I believe there was caution taken on behalf of the call taker," he said. "It was done without malice." Vansickle's purchase was eventually approved -- 10 days after the initial application -- after she and the dealer were interviewed by police about the purchase. A normal delay is three days.... Story over this incident led to the revelation that the police had "searched seven years of firearms transaction records to see if Vansickle had ever bought a gun before"; according to the article, Delaware law requires that gun purchase records not be kept anywhere near that long, though I have no independent knowledge about that. Col. MacLeish is quoted as saying that "Our review of our electronic records indicated we had a glitch in the system, back to August 2005 .... They have since been purged." Thanks to John Hackathorn for the pointer.