It's long been said that a right delayed is a right denied. The left likes to interpret this as someone should be able to walk into a polling place, register right then and there, and have their vote counted, all without any verification that they're who they say they are.
But waiting periods for a gun sale? Well, that's just hunky-dorey.
Maine recently passed a 72-hour waiting period for gun sales, one of a slew of new regulations passed following the Lewiston shooting that upended Maine's previous status as a relatively pro-gun blue state.
An injunction was issued quickly after the law was signed, but now an appeals court figures the law is likely constitutional, thus killing the injunction.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that Maine’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases is likely constitutional, overturning a lower court’s decision that had blocked the law from being enforced.
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Circuit Judge Seth Aframe wrote that while the Second Amendment protects the right to “keep and bear” arms, the Maine law regulates the acquisition of firearms, which is a step that happens before a person actually possesses or carries a weapon.
In the 24-page ruling, the court characterized the law as a “presumptively lawful” condition on the commercial sale of firearms rather than an outright ban. The court concluded the 72-hour delay is a “modest” burden similar to the wait already allowed for federal background checks.
These are, without a doubt, the dumbest arguments I've ever seen.
First, let's understand that the "modest burden" isn't that similar to what's allowed for federal background checks at all, if for no other reason than millions of Americans never have to wait. The period allowed by federal law is for delayed background checks. It's a maximum amount of time someone must wait, but it's not a mandate. Most people get their guns that day, with many using their concealed carry permit to bypass the NICS check altogether.
So no, I don't see it as similar at all.
But perhaps the dumbest one is the argument that somehow, the acquisition of a firearm isn't protected by the Second Amendment because it happens before someone keeps and bears arms.
That's a troubling argument, to say the least, because it could be easily construed to justify any burden one wants to place on anyone looking to buy a firearm. Without the right to acquire arms, the right to keep and bear them is meaningless. There's a reason the courts have generally viewed the acquisition of arms as being something implied by the Second Amendment itself.
No, a 72-hour waiting period isn't the end of the world for most of us, but rights don't get tossed to the side simply because it's not the greatest burden we might face. And it might be the end of the world for someone who learns about a threat, then tries to get a gun only to be told they have to wait three days, then gets killed on day two.
For that person, it was the end of the world, and the left simply doesn't give a damn.