Gun rights advocacy groups in Maine are taking legal action to challenge and overturn a newly implemented 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases, claiming it infringes on constitutional rights.
What Are the Gun Rights Groups Saying?
In the lawsuit, filed on behalf of five plaintiffs on Tuesday, attorneys contend that it's illegal to require someone who passed a background check to wait three days before completing a gun purchase and lacks historical precedent, citing a recent 2022 Supreme Court decision that changed the standard for gun restrictions.
"Nothing in our nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation supports that kind of 'cooling-off period' measure, which is a 20th century regulatory innovation that is flatly inconsistent with the Second Amendment's original meaning," the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Gun rights groups, including Gun Owners of Maine and the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, are spearheading the legal challenge, backed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Laura Whitcomb, president of Gun Owners of Maine, noted to The Associated Press (AP) that the law is especially burdensome in urgent situations, such as self-defense purchases by domestic violence victims or out-of-state hunting trips, where a quick purchase might be necessary.
The plaintiffs represent a cross-section of concerned citizens and businesses, including a domestic abuse survivor who keeps a firearm for protection and a firearms dealer compelled to delay a sale to a stalking victim, according to the suit.
"This law is nothing more than an attempt to deny law-abiding Mainers their constitutional rights while doing nothing to stop criminals who ignore these ineffective laws," Lawrence G. Kean of the National Shooting Sports Foundation said to the AP.
What Is the Firearm Waiting Period?
Maine's Democratic-led government introduced the waiting period among other gun safety measures following the state's deadliest mass shooting on October 25, 2023, by Army reservist Robert Card, who carried an assault-style weapon and opened fire at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and the Schemengees Bar and Grille restaurant in Lewiston, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others.
While Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, allowed the measure to pass without her signature taking effect in August, Attorney General Aaron Frey has committed to defending it.
"Waiting periods have been upheld across the country as a reasonable, limited regulation that does not infringe on Second Amendment rights," he said, according to the AP.
Maine is one of a dozen states that have a waiting periods for gun purchases, which proponents think might keep some people from rashly buying guns to harm others or themselves.
What Do Gun Safety Advocates Say?
In contrast, gun safety advocates argue that the law addresses Maine's high rate of firearm-related suicides, especially among men, and will save lives.
Nacole Palmer, who heads the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, said while the lawsuit came as no surprise, it is nonetheless "disappointing that the gun lobby is moving forward with challenging a law that will save Mainers' lives and is supported by a wealth of evidence."
"We know 72-hour waiting periods are effective at reducing gun deaths, both suicides and homicides, in the states where they have been passed. In Maine, a state where suicide is the leading cause of firearm death, especially for men, this law will save lives and save families from losing a loved one in crisis," she wrote in a statement.
In addition, Democratic state Senator Peggy Rotundo, who sponsored the bill, noted that 50 percent of Maine's 277 suicides in 2021 involved a firearm.
The measure also comes as increased gun violence has been seen across the country. Since the start of this year, 14,687 people have been killed by firearms with 28,150 injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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