Federal judge blocks Maine’s 72-hour gun waiting period

• A judge temporarily blocked Maine’s new 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases after gun rights groups challenged it. The law, passed by the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature following a mass shooting in 2023, was contested for allegedly violating the Second Amendment.
• U.S. District Judge Lance Walker agreed with the challenge, stating the law harms those seeking firearms for self-defense.
• Gun rights groups expect the state to appeal, while the Maine Gun Safety Coalition criticized the ruling.

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Gun retailers in Maine don’t have to abide by the state’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases, at least for now. A judge issued a hold on the law after gun rights groups filed a challenge.

In August, a new law requiring a 72-hour waiting period to purchase a firearm went into effect after the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature passed several gun control measures. Lawmakers took action after a gunman killed 18 people in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, in October 2023.

Gun rights groups sued, arguing the law violates the Second Amendment of a person seeking to exercise the right to keep and bear arms.

In the injunction, U.S. District Judge Lance Walker writes, “Persons most harmed by the waiting period are likely to be seeking to carry for self-defense in case of confrontation.”

He added, “Although members of the public undoubtedly feel that they have a genuine interest in laws curtailing the right to keep and bear arms, their interest is not exclusive and not one that can win out in terms of an interest-balancing exercise by a court that is sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

In response to the judge’s ruling, the National Shooting Sports Foundation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane said in a statement, “Rights delayed are rights denied. The decision to enjoin this law while it is challenged in court ensures that law-abiding Mainers are not encumbered and deprived of their rights to keep and bear arms after they have proven they are not prohibited from legally possessing a firearm.”

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition also reacted to the ruling. Executive Director Nacole Palmer said in part, “We’re deeply troubled by the decision of a Trump-appointed judge to roll back Maine’s gun safety laws. That the gun lobby sued to roll back a common-sense law that doesn’t prevent anyone’s right to buy guns but does help prevent suicide is unsurprising. That a judge granted them this political victory at the cost of Mainers is surprising.”

Gun rights groups say they’re expecting the state to appeal the ruling.