CHAPTER 167
GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE POLICE
EXPLOSIVES
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE MANUFACTURE, SALE, DISTRIBUTION, USE AND POSSESSION OF EXPLOSIVES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. Definitions. As used in this Act :
(a) "Explosives" means gunpowders, powders used for blasting, high explosives, blasting materials, fuses (other than electric circuit breakers), detonators and other detonating agents, smokeless powder and any chemical compound or any mechanical mixture containing any oxidizing and combustible units, or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities, or packing that ignition by fire, friction, concussion, percussion or detonation of any part thereof may and is intended to cause an explosion, but shall not include fixed ammunition for small arms, firecrackers or matches, when the individual units contain any of the above-mentioned articles in such limited quantity or of such nature and in such packing that it is impossible to produce an explosion of such units to the injury of life, limb or property.
(b) "Person" includes any natural person, partnership, association or corporation.
(c) "Manufacturer" means any person who is engaged in the manufacture of explosives or who otherwise produces any explosive.
(d) "Dealer" means any person, not a manufacturer, engaged in the business of buying and selling explosives.
(e) "Licensing authority" means the State Tax Commissioner or other officer designated as a licensing authority by the Governor.
No person shall manufacture, possess or deal in explosives unless he has obtained a license therefor pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of this Act.
Section 3. Applications for Licenses.
(a) Application for a license to manufacture explosives shall be made to the Licensing Authority in such form as the Attorney General shall prescribe; and shall state, among other things: (1) the name and address of the applicant, (2) the reason for desiring to manufacture explosives, (3) his citizenship, if the applicant is an individual, (4) if the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of the partners and their citizenship, and (5) if the applicant is an association or corporation, the names and addresses of the officers and directors thereof and their citizenship. The Licensing Authority shall issue the license applied for unless he finds that either the applicant, or the officers, agents or employees of the applicant, is not sufficiently experienced in the manufacture of explosives, lacks suitable facilities therefor, has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or is disloyal to the United States.
(b) Application for license to engage in the business of dealing in explosives shall be made to the said Licensing Authority in such form as the Attorney General shall prescribe and shall state, among other things: (1) the name and address of the applicant, (2) the reason for desiring to engage in the business of dealing in explosives, (3) citizenship, if an individual applicant, (4) if a partnership, the names and addresses of the partners and their citizenship, and (5) if an association or corporation the names and addresses of the officers and directors thereof and their citizenship. The Licensing Authority shall issue the license applied for unless he finds that either the applicant, or the officers, agents or employees of the applicant, is not sufficiently experienced in the business of dealing in explosives, lacks suitable facilities therefor, has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or is disloyal to the United States.
(c) Application for license to possess explosives shall be made in writing to the Licensing Authority in such form as the Attorney General shall prescribe and shall state, among other things: (1) the name and address of the applicant, (2) the reason for desiring the license to possess explosives, (3) his citizenship, if the applicant is an individual, (4) if the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of the partners and their citizenship, and (5) if the applicant is an association or corporation, the names and addresses of the officers and directors thereof and their citizenship. The Licensing Authority shall issue the license applied for unless he finds that either the applicant, or the officers, agents or employees of the applicant, is not sufficiently experienced in the handling of explosives, lacks suitable facilities therefor, has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or is disloyal to the United States.
Manufacturers and dealers shall keep a record of all explosives shipped, purchased or sold by them, which record shall include the name and address of each consignee, vendor or vendee, the date of each shipment, sale or purchase, and the amount and kind of explosives shipped, sold or purchased. Such record shall be open for inspection by duly authorized agents of the Licensing Authority and by all federal, state and local law enforcement officers at all times.
Printed forms for reports necessary for the maintenance of all records required by this Act shall be furnished by the State Tax Department, and certified copy of any and all records required by this Act shall, upon request of the "Licensing Authority,"
be submitted to the State Tax Commissioner within five (5) days after the date of said request.
Section 5. Sale to Unlicensed Persons.
No dealer shall sell, barter, give or dispose of explosives to any person who does not hold a license to possess explosives issued under the provisions of this Act.
Section 6. Revocation; Term of License; Fees.
(a) Any license issued hereunder may be revoked by the official issuing the same on any ground specified herein as a ground for denying an application for such license.
(b) All licenses issued hereunder shall expire on the thirty-first day of May of each calendar year unless sooner revoked.
(c) Each application for a license hereunder shall be accompanied by the fee hereinafter prescribed, which fee shall be returned in the event such application is denied.
The license fees shall be as follows:
Manufacturer's license Five Dollars ($5.00) Dealer's license Two Dollars ($2.00)
Possessors' license One Dollar ($1.00) Section 7. Rules and Regulations.
The Attorney General may prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary and proper for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Any person denied a license or whose license has been revoked by the Licensing Authority, shall have the right to an appeal to the Superior Court in the County wherein such person shall reside and such Court is hereby vested with jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter.
Any person who violates any provision of this Act, or any rule or regulation made hereunder, shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned for a term of not more than three years, or shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both, in the discretion of the Court.
Any explosives in the possession of any person violating any provision of this Act, or any rule or regulation made hereunder, may be confiscated by the State at the direction of the Attorney General.
The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the armed forces of the United States, the National Guard, the Delaware State Guard or to officers or employees of the United States or of this state who are authorized by the United States or the state to handle explosives.
Nothing contained in this act shall apply to explosives while being transported upon vessels, vehicles or railroad cars, or while being held for delivery, provided such transportation and delivery is subject to and in conformity with the regulations prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission or the Bureau of Marine Inspection, Department of Commerce of the U. S. A. and provided further, that nothing in this act shall apply to the receipt, possession and use of signals required for the safe operation of vessels, motor vehicles, railroad cars or aircraft, by the operators of such vessels, motor vehicles, railroad cars and aircraft.
Section 11. Severability.
If any provisions of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act and not expressly repealed herein are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency only.
This Act may be cited as the Explosives Act.
Section 14. Duration.
This Act, and all lawful regulations made under it, shall be in force until May 15, 1947; provided any violations of the Act, committed while the Act is in force, may be prosecuted and punished thereafter, whether or not this Act is in force at the time of such prosecution and punishment.