Gun rights groups are hitting back hard, filing a federal lawsuit to dismantle a newly passed law that forces law-abiding citizens to wait 72 hours to pick up a gun—even after they’ve cleared a background check. According to the plaintiffs, this Democrat-endorsed “cooling-off” period violates their constitutional rights and is completely baseless. They’re citing the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that updated the legal standard for gun restrictions, arguing that there’s nothing in America’s long-standing firearm tradition that backs up this waiting-period nonsense.
“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,” stated the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the lawsuit. Translation? The 72-hour wait is just another power grab by leftists hoping to wear down Second Amendment rights bit by bit.
Gun Owners of Maine and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, supported by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, are spearheading the lawsuit. Laura Whitcomb, president of Gun Owners of Maine, argued that the law unfairly punishes law-abiding citizens. For instance, if someone is facing a real threat to their safety, why should they have to wait three days to protect themselves? One of the plaintiffs, a survivor of domestic violence, keeps a gun for personal protection but was forced to wait for the purchase due to this illogical law.
Lawrence G. Keane from the National Shooting Sports Foundation nailed it when he said, “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.”
Of course, Maine’s Democrat-led government rushed to implement this waiting period as part of a slew of new “gun safety” laws. But let’s be real: Governor Janet Mills didn’t even sign this law—she just let it pass into effect. The law was pushed through under the emotional weight of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, carried out by a single disturbed individual in Lewiston. Instead of focusing on actual security measures, Democrats wasted no time using the tragedy to restrict the rights of the majority.
Attorney General Aaron Frey has vowed to defend the law, parroting the line that waiting periods have been upheld nationwide and don’t infringe on the Second Amendment. Gun safety advocates and Senator Peggy Rotundo, who sponsored the bill, argue that the law will save lives, pointing to firearm-related suicides as the primary justification.
But what they don’t want to acknowledge is this: punishing responsible gun owners does nothing to prevent gun violence or suicide. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to make gun ownership as inconvenient as possible. Gun rights groups argue that Maine’s waiting period law is just the latest overreach by liberals who can’t resist chipping away at constitutional freedoms.
Under President-elect Donald Trump, the Second Amendment is finally getting the defense it deserves. Trump understands that it’s not the lawful gun owners who are the problem—it’s the criminals and lawbreakers. For once, we have a president who respects the right of every American to defend themselves without unnecessary hurdles.
