## Facts

- The Wilmington Housing Authority (WHA), a governmental housing authority, owned some low-income housing and managed certain privately owned affordable housing.
- In 2010, WHA adopted a firearms policy applicable to tenants and their guests in WHA-owned and WHA-managed buildings.
- The policy prohibited residents and guests from carrying firearms in building common areas (e.g., hallways and other shared spaces).
- The policy also required residents who possessed firearms to have a valid firearm license “available for inspection” by WHA security or law enforcement when there was “reasonable cause” to believe the policy had been violated.
- Jane Doe and Charles Boone, tenants who lawfully possessed firearms in their homes, challenged the policy under Delaware Constitution Article I, § 20 (right to keep and bear arms).
- The Delaware Superior Court upheld the policy, and the tenants appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Article I, § 20 permits a public housing authority to impose a categorical prohibition on lawful firearm possession in residential building common areas.
2. Whether Article I, § 20 permits a policy requiring tenants to make a firearm license available for inspection upon “reasonable cause,” and what limits apply to enforcement consistent with search-and-seizure protections.

## Decision

- The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
- The court held the categorical ban on firearm possession in common areas unconstitutional under Article I, § 20 as an impermissible burden on the right to bear arms for defense of self, family, and home in areas closely connected to the home.
- The court upheld the license-inspection requirement on its face, but only as narrowly construed to require “reasonable cause” and not to authorize suspicionless stops, warrantless home entries, or unconstitutional searches.

## Legal Principles

- Article I, § 20 protects the right to keep and bear arms for defense of self, family, and home; public-housing tenants retain this protection despite the government’s role as landlord.
- Government may not condition access to public benefits, including subsidized housing, on surrender of constitutional rights when the condition substantially burdens protected conduct (unconstitutional conditions doctrine).
- A categorical firearms ban in common areas that tenants must traverse to access their homes can substantially burden the protected right and is invalid absent sufficient tailoring to public-safety objectives.
- A firearm-license inspection rule may be constitutional if triggered by “reasonable cause” and enforced within ordinary limits of search-and-seizure law; the rule cannot be used as a pretext for warrantless searches or arbitrary enforcement.

## Conclusion

The Delaware Supreme Court invalidated WHA’s blanket prohibition on lawful firearms in residential common areas as inconsistent with Article I, § 20, while sustaining a limited, cause-based license-inspection requirement construed to operate within standard search-and-seizure constraints, and remanded for further proceedings.


Jane Doe v. Wilmington Hous. Auth., 88 A.3d 654 (Del. 2014)