Lawsuit Challenges Maine's 72-Hour Waiting Period
Only a few weeks back, in early August of 2024, we told you about Maine’s new 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases. Now we’re seeing our first lawsuit against the new law—just as the state’s governor suggested we might see when she approved the law.
Bad gun laws @ TFB:
A law doomed to fail
The law, which was actually passed in April of this year before coming into effect in August, says that retailers cannot hand over a gun to their customer until 72 hours after they’ve otherwise completed the transaction. In other words: You pay, you wait. According to Maine’s lawmakers, this will prevent suicides. The law says:
“Waiting period. A seller may not knowingly deliver a firearm to a buyer pursuant to an agreement sooner than 72 hours after the agreement. The 72-hour waiting period must be concurrent with any waiting period imposed by any background check process required by federal or state law.”
You can read the full text of the law here.
A push back
When Governor Janet Mills signed the law, she expressed doubts that it would hold up against the Constitution.
In the days since the law came into effect, the citizens of Maine have indeed expressed all sorts of discontent, especially as hunting season is here and the resident fudds want to buy new sporting firearms. The mandatory waiting time can make this difficult. Of course, gun shows and other similar buy-and-sell events are affected as well. And most importantly: Citizens who want and need a firearm right away to protect their own lives are unable to acquire one.
With all that in mind, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and Gun Owners of Maine have filed a lawsuit looking to overturn this legislation. Their lawsuit says “(The law) does not purport to be tethered to the time it takes to conduct a background check, or to any other investigatory efforts into whether someone is disqualified from exercising Second Amendment rights.”
Instead: “To the contrary, it forces law-abiding citizens to wait 72 hours to acquire a firearm even if they pass the requisite background check in a matter of minutes, which most people do.”
The lawsuit is funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, specifically representing Andrea Beckwith of the East Coast School of Safety, Nancy Coshow, Maine Representative James Lee White (and his business J. White Gunsmithing), Adam Hendsbee (A&G Shooting), Thomas Cole (TLC Gunsmithing and Armory). You can see the full legal document here. With Maine’s retailers reporting slower sales since the law came into effect, it is no surprise that affected businesses are signing on.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction against the 72-hour delay, for that to be put on hold until there is a legal decision on the case by a judge. This could take some time, though; the state is almost certain to fight the lawsuit in court, and no matter who wins, this is likely to head uphill to appeal court afterwards.
Professional hoser with fudd-ish leanings.
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New England was the birthplace of American Freedom. But in the last 50+ years they have enacted rules and regulations that would make King George proud. WHAT is WRONG with them?
Mainers do not for a minute believe this will save lives. We know this will get abused women killed, homeowners seeking protection killed, and ruin that one weekend a year you have to hunt, when you need a hunting rifle to replace a broken or hunt specific gun. Every fellow Mainer I know has many guns, and we have low violent crime. Suicide and mental illness is a problem, but until leadership and providers are willing to fund enough health professionals in Maine, mental illness is going to cost more lives than suicide by gun alone. These anti gun born legislative policies use irrational one sided thinking and frankly it's unconstitutional!