Gun Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Against Maine for Enforcing 72-Hour Waiting Period
The plaintiffs argue that the gun purchase waiting period does not match the time required for background checks.
Gun rights organizations have taken legal action against the state of Maine concerning a newly implemented law mandating a 72-hour waiting period for buying firearms.
The group contests the constitutionality of the waiting period and is seeking a halt in enforcing the law until the case is resolved.
The complaint argues that the waiting period is not in accordance with the time needed for background checks, instead, it “forces law-abiding citizens to wait 72 hours to acquire a firearm even if they pass the necessary background check quickly, as most people do.”
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“The law is merely an attempt to delay the exercising of Second Amendment rights, based on the assumption that individuals seeking firearms are likely driven by harmful intentions that may diminish with a three-day ‘cooling-off period,’” according to the lawsuit.
“This type of ‘cooling-off period’ law has no historical basis and would have been inconceivable in earlier times.”
Maine’s Deadliest Mass Shooting
The enactment of the state law followed Maine’s most fatal mass shooting, where a U.S. Army reservist fatally shot 18 individuals at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, in October 2023.
The shooter, later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was known to have a history of mental illness, prompting lawmakers to advocate for stricter gun control measures.
State Representative Peggy Rotundo, the sponsor of the law, believes that requiring individuals to wait before purchasing a firearm “will save lives and numerous families.”
Nacole Palmer, leading the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, expressed no surprise at the lawsuit but finds it “regrettable that the gun lobby is challenging a law that will protect lives in Maine and is backed by substantial evidence.”
Attorney General Aaron Frey, a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment at the time of publication.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
