Is Delaware a Stand Your Ground State? (2026)
No. Delaware is a duty-to-retreat state. The duty lifts inside your dwelling or your place of work, and nowhere else.
The short version
- At home, do you have to back away first? No.
- Does the law assume your fear was reasonable? No, you would have to show it.
- Away from home? In Delaware you must retreat first if you can do so safely.
- Are you protected from being sued afterwards? Partly – some protection, not a full shield.
- Can a judge end the case before trial? No – it goes to a jury.
No. Delaware is a duty-to-retreat state. Before using deadly force you are expected to retreat if you know you can do so in complete safety. The duty lifts inside your dwelling or your place of work, and nowhere else. There is no pretrial immunity hearing. On the civil side the protection is narrow: 11 Del. C. § 466(d) covers the protection of property only, so defending a person carries no civil bar.
Last verified: 6 September 2026 · Source: Official · Controlling authority: 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b.
| Stand-your-ground status | duty to retreat |
|---|---|
| Duty to retreat outside the home | Yes, with exceptions |
| Where the no-retreat rule applies | Dwelling and place of work |
| Primary citation | 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b. |
| Presumption of reasonable fear | No |
| Civil immunity | Partial, 11 Del. C. § 466(d), protection of property only |
| Case can end before trial? | No |
| Who bears the burden | None, justification is litigated at trial |
| Last amended | 2021 (11 Del. C. § 464; subsec. (e) unchanged since 1995) |
What the law actually says
Delaware sets the exception out in 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b. The subsection has been unchanged since 1995, even though the surrounding section was amended as recently as 2021.
The castle rule and the retreat rule are two halves of the same section. 11 Del. C. § 464(e) sets out the exception; everything outside it keeps the duty. Where Delaware asks you to retreat, it asks only that you do so if you know you can retreat with complete safety. It does not ask you to gamble.
Where the no-retreat rule does apply in Delaware
The duty lifts inside your dwelling or your place of work. That is the whole of it. The exception does not travel with you, and it does not stretch to a car, a yard or a street unless the authority above says so in terms.
What Delaware gets reported wrong
Delaware is often listed as having civil immunity. It has a narrow version: 11 Del. C. § 466(d) bars a claim arising out of the protection of property. Sections 464 and 465, which cover defending a person, carry no civil bar at all. The distinction is the difference between a suit you can end early and one you have to defend.
Can a Delaware case end before trial?
No. Delaware has no self-defense immunity statute, so there is no pretrial hearing to ask for and no burden-shifting standard to satisfy at the front of a case. Justification is argued to the jury, at trial, every time.
How Delaware compares
Of the fifty states, eleven keep a duty to retreat outside the home. Delaware is one of them. Twenty-nine have written stand-your-ground into statute, eight reached it through their courts, and two removed the duty only in part.
Within that group of eleven, four cover the place of work as well as the dwelling. Delaware is one of those four. Only one of the eleven, Rhode Island, gives the occupant a presumption that their fear was reasonable, and Delaware is not it. Four of the eleven offer any civil protection at all, and Delaware is one of the four. Not one of the eleven offers a pretrial immunity hearing.
Every one of those counts is taken from the fifty-state dataset published behind our comparison hub, not asserted here.
Related Delaware references
- Delaware gun laws — permits, carry, purchase and transport.
- Castle doctrine in all 50 states — the full comparison table.
- Stand your ground laws by state — the full 50-state table with citations and downloadable dataset.
- Concealed carry reciprocity — where a Delaware permit is honored.
- Firearms and 2A legal glossary.
Researched and written by James Nicholas from Delaware’s own controlling authority. See how we verify carry-law data.
Common questions about Delaware’s self-defense law
Is Delaware a stand your ground state?
No. Delaware is a duty-to-retreat state. Before using deadly force you are expected to retreat if you know you can do so in complete safety. The duty lifts inside your dwelling or your place of work, and nowhere else. The rule is set out in 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b.
Do I have to back away before defending myself at home in Delaware?
No. Inside your dwelling or your place of work, Delaware does not ask you to back away first. That is what the castle doctrine means in practice here, and it is set out in 11 Del. C. § 464(e).
Can I stand my ground away from home in Delaware?
No. Away from your dwelling and your workplace, Delaware asks you to retreat before using deadly force if you know you can do so with complete safety. That is the single biggest difference between Delaware and its stand-your-ground neighbors.
Does Delaware assume I was really in danger?
No. Delaware gives you no presumption. It does not start from the position that your fear of serious harm was reasonable. That is something you would have to show.
Can I still be arrested, charged or sued in Delaware?
Yes. Delaware has no pretrial immunity hearing, so self-defense is argued at trial rather than raised to end a case early. On the civil side the protection is narrow: 11 Del. C. § 466(d) covers the protection of property only, so defending a person carries no civil bar.
Where these answers come from
Every statement on this page is taken from Delaware’s own controlling authority, or from the fifty-state dataset published behind our comparison hub. Nothing here is inferred.
- 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b. — official
- Civil immunity: Partial. 11 Del. C. § 466(d) covers the protection of property only. Defending a person carries no civil bar.
- Castle doctrine rule: 11 Del. C. § 464(e)
- Pretrial immunity: none
- Last amended: 2021 (11 Del. C. § 464; subsec. (e) unchanged since 1995)
- Last checked by us: 6 September 2026
Read it yourself: 11 Del. C. § 464(e)(2)a.-b. (official).