The Delaware State Police have been caught breaking the rules regarding gun purchase records. This came to light after the police refused to authorize the purchase of a firearm by a woman because of her age, gender and the fact that she hadn’t purchased a gun ever before.

Never mind that a person’s age and gender are not valid reasons to deny a purchase—the fact that the police have apparently been keeping a database of gun purchase records illegally has many gun-rights advocates up in arms.

According the article, Delaware’s database goes back at least seven years.

This image from The Post provides some extra background on the story. I'm guessing the reason that De Niro and Keitel are listed as also having a "premise" permit is that they have more than one firearm and aren't allowed to carry that other firearm for personal protection.

When I had my "target" permit while living in upstate New York I had to list the serial number of every handgun on the license. Those were the only firearms I was legally permitted to handle. So if a pal of mine and I owned identical guns it would technically be against the law for use to shoot the other's pistol, just because the serial numbers were different. Smart, eh?

I pushed our local cops on this issue and asked if it was against the law for my wife to use my gun in the event that an intruder came into the house while she was home alone. They hemmed and hawed and I never got a straight answer because, I suspect anyway, that by the strict letter of the law she wasn't allowed to touch it.Again, brilliant.

But this goes hand in hand with the attitude that a barrel shroud or a pistol grip is what makes a gun an evil object that should be prohibited.

—John Snow

Some of us own handguns for protection. Others like to hunt with them. Still others enjoy participating in shooting competitions.

But if you’re Martha Stewart’s daughter, Alexis, you own a pistol in order to shoot your dogs in the head:

This is from a story in the New York Post on celebrities in New York who pack heat or who have gotten permits to keep handguns in their homes. The latest to join the ranks of celebrity gun owners are New York Mets David Wright and Carlos Delgado.

The famous-folks-with-guns is one of those stories in New York that crops up every few months. It highlights the well-known fact that celebrities have an easier time getting approved for permits in places like New York and Los Angeles than the rest of us, who either face additional red tape or are denied the right to have a firearm.

As much as I question Stewart’s motives for arming herself, it makes me wonder if the NYPD is relaxing its notoriously strict requirements for gun ownership in the Big Apple. After all, if the desire to whack your dogs is justification enough to have a gun in the home, what would the police say to someone who wanted to carry a handgun in order to protect and save their life?

—John Snow

Update: Ahab's take.

Update: Murdoc sums it up rather nicely:

Hello Kitty guns: Bad.
Goodbye Doggy guns: Good.