Judge Lance Walker issued a federal preliminary injunction on Thursday, halting Maine’s recently established 72-hour waiting period between purchasing and receiving a firearm, proposed in the legislature following the October 2023 Lewiston shooting.
[RELATED: Maine Gun Dealers Left Without Guidelines on Controversial 72-Hour Waiting Period Law…]
A group of firearm dealers brought a lawsuit against Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, alleging that the 72-hour waiting period violates the Constitution.
The bill was ostensibly established to give anyone purchasing a gun to commit suicide or murder a “cooling-off” period to reconsider their actions, although it would not have prevented the Lewiston shooting, since Robert Card, the shooter, owned the firearms used for the murders for over three days.
“The Defendant contends that empirical data and statistics suggest that waiting periods (colloquially coined “cooling-off periods”) reduce homicide and suicide rates (by firearm) in the states that enact them. This decision ultimately does not pass judgment on the legislative intent or the efficacy of the Act,” said Judge Walker.
Walker, the Chief U.S. District Judge for Maine and the only U.S. District Judge in Maine appointed by President Donald Trump, argued that the plaintiffs had successfully met the criteria required for the issuance of a temporary injunction while the case continues to be adjudicated.
The plaintiffs convinced Walker that their claim met the four criteria necessary for an injunction to be issued.
Plaintiffs showed that the bill violates the Second Amendment of the Constitution, that they will suffer irreparable harm if no injunction is issued, that they are favored by the “balance of equities,” meaning that the plaintiff will be harmed more by a lack of injunction than the defendant would be by the injunction, and that the injunction will serve the public interest.
Walker argued against Frey’s claims that the Second Amendment only grants a right to keep and bear arms, without granting an absolute right to purchase them.
“If a citizen cannot take possession of a firearm then his or her right to possess a
firearm or to carry it away is indeed curtailed, even if, as Frey claims, the curtailment is
modest,” said Walker.
“Because the act of acquiring a firearm, including by purchase, falls within the ambit
of what it means to keep and bear arms, it is presumptively protected by the Second
Amendment,” he continued.
He also argued that the attempts to impose a “cooling-off period” have no historical precedent and fail to align with the nation’s regulatory framework because they apply indiscriminately.
“Waiting period laws like the one contained in the Act do not employ narrow, objective, or definite standards to justify disarming individuals. This Act does not actually employ any standard at all, objective, narrow, definite or otherwise,” said Walker.
He found that the waiting period causes irreparable harm because it prevents people from immediately acquiring a firearm that may be necessary for self-defense.
Although the plaintiffs have more work to do before they can permanently overturn the waiting period law, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) celebrated the victory.
“The court basically annihilated the whole bill. If you read it, it’s one of the strongest worded rulings that I’ve seen in my time in politics,” said SAM Executive Director David Trahan during an event on Friday.
He believes that the ruling “could create a precedent for the next 100 years on whether waiting periods are constitutional,” he added.
With the new injunction, firearms dealers across the state will be able to return to giving firearms to their customers on the day of a purchase.
Read the full injunction here:
Does anybody remember about fifty odd years ago , a guy in Winthrop walked into the bar and saw his wife playing touchy-feely with a guy in a booth .
He walked out the door, down the street around the corner and walked into the hardware store and bought a pistol and box of shells. He walked back to the bar, along the Main Street , while loading the pistol , and went in and shot wifey and Beau dead where they sat . I don’t remember if he shot himself or not too .
24 – 48 – 72 hours is such a horrible inconvenience to have to wait ? I think gun control is a very slippery slope – magazine capacity – etc -etc , but some waiting period before you can take it home doesn’t seem all that unreasonable to me .
How about a 72 hour waiting period before murdering the unborn? How about a woman who has a RO against an ex, but now has to wait 72 hours before being able to protect herself and children?
wooo! America! stupid rule tourist need to by guns on the weekend! and benny.. i would have bought an ax… should there be a waiting period on those?
In your face liberal scum.
YES,…… Leave my civil rights alone,…
A civil right delayed is a civil right denied,…..
Benny Weaver
You would have preferred he beat them to death with a baseball bat? If someone is so out of control that they are going to do harm in a fit of rage, they will do so with whatever comes to hand and is useful.
” I think gun control is a very slippery slope – magazine capacity – etc -etc , but ” Remember the old adage “everything before BUT is B.S.”
The Framers of the Constitution were extremely intelligent men. First ten amendments of the constitution (Bill of Rights) were established to protect a citizen from excessive government power. They are in no particular order so one is no more important than another.
The second amendment to the constitution reads:
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary of a free state, the right of the people to bear Arms, shall not be infringed”.
The last four words are important “shall not be infringed. Those last four words clearly states that the 72 hour waiting period was unconstitutional and a clear violation of the 2nd amendment. It delays a citizens right, which infringes that right by the constitution.
Again, the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the constitution) are to protect citizens from our government! If we don’t stand up for these rights, then all is lost? Without the Bill of Rights we will be a Communist State!
The article stated that nearly half of Mainers have guns. So if I already own a gun why do I have to wait to get another one. If I was a danger I wouldn’t have been able to buy the first one. If I can possess a gun but can’t purchase one what’s the alternative? Make my own? I don’t think the ATF would like that.
The constitution calls for a well regulated militia.
Well regulated to me, suggests having some reasonable regulations, rather than encouraging a wild west revival, particularly if we agree that children have a right to life as much as responsible gun owners have a right to own guns.
For all those suggesting that this restriction makes people less safe, I’d say if you have time to get to the gun store then you have time to call the cops. It’s better if the cops stop the person who wants to cause you harm than if you kill them
Hey Peter, “Well Regulated” means well trained in the correct period context of 1791. Today we would simply say: A well armed and trained citizenry being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.