Gun groups are suing to overturn Maine’s new three-day waiting period for purchasing firearms

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A coalition of gun groups has filed a lawsuit claiming Maine’s new 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases is unconstitutional. It is seeking a court order to halt its enforcement pending the outcome of the case.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of five individuals claims that it is illegal to require someone who has passed a background check to wait three days before purchasing a gun, and that this argument is strengthened by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2022 that changed the standard for gun restrictions. .

“Nothing in our country’s historical tradition of firearms regulation supports this type of ‘cooling off’ measure, a 20th century regulatory innovation that is grossly inconsistent with the original meaning of the Second Amendment,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in the federal court case. filed on Tuesday.

Maine is one of dozens of states with waiting periods for gun purchases. The District of Columbia also has one. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills allowed the Maine restriction to become law without her signature. It came into effect in August.

Maine’s waiting period law was one of several gun control measures passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature after an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others in the state’s deadliest shooting in October 2023.

Laura Whitcomb, president of Gun Owners of Maine, said Wednesday that the lawsuit is being led by her group’s coalition and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, with help from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

She and other critics of the waiting period law have pointed out that there are certain situations in which the purchase of a gun should not be delayed, such as when a victim of domestic violence wants to buy one. Maine hunting guides have also pointed out that someone who is in the state for a short period of time for legal hunting may no longer be able to purchase a gun for the outing.

The plaintiffs include gun sellers and gunsmiths who say their businesses are being hurt, along with a domestic violence victim who armed herself because she thought a court order wouldn’t protect her. The woman said she slept with a gun at her side while her abuser or his friends pelted her camper with rocks.

Nacole Palmer, head of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, said she is confident the waiting period law will survive the legal challenge.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, said half of Maine’s 277 suicides involved a firearm, according to the latest 2021 data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and that she believes the waiting period law will reduce the number. of suicides with firearms.

“I am confident that the 72-hour waiting period will save lives and spare many families the grief of losing a loved one to suicide by firearm,” she said.