A right delayed is a right denied.
It's a simple idea. If you can't criticize a political candidate until after an election, did you ever really have the right to criticize the candidate? If you can't vote until after the election, do you still have a right to vote?
So that's one massive issue with waiting periods for guns. Another issue is when they're proposed in places they were never going to pass, especially when they get ridiculous about it.
Recently, Maine passed a 72-hour waiting period for gun sales. That's a massive infringement on the right to keep and bear arms, but Ohio Democrats want to go even further. They want a 10-day waiting period:
Two Ohio Democrats want to impose a 10-day waiting period before for gun purchases. The provision would only apply to licensed dealers, but the bill’s sponsors argue that cooling off period will save lives.
Despite strong majority support for restrictions like background checks or a ban on high-capacity magazines, limits on gun ownership remain polarizing.
With Republicans holding firm control of the Ohio Statehouse, the waiting period measure, like nearly any gun control proposal, is a long shot. WHAT SPONSORS SAY The bill’s sponsors, Cincinnati Democratic state Reps. Cecil Thomas and Rachel Baker, point to results in other states with waiting period laws. According to a 2017 study, mandatory waiting periods for handgun purchases reduce gun homicides by 17% and gun suicides by 7-11%.
“This brief cooling off period provides individuals with the time to reconsider their purchase,” Thomas argued, “especially in moments of emotional distress when impulsive decisions can have tragic consequences.”
Several states require waiting periods of various length. The longest is Hawaii with 14 days, and the shortest delay is three days or 72 hours, which Colorado, Illinois, Maine and Vermont require. Florida requires waiting three days or the time it takes to conduct a background check, whichever is longer.
Thomas and Baker’s ten-day proposal would put Ohio in line with California, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
Yes, because that's where Ohio wants to be.
It should be remembered that anti-gun forces weren't able to get the state to enact gun control in the wake of the Dayton shooting, not even with the backing of Governor Mike DeWine (R). Sure, DeWine wanted a pretty watered-down version of gun control that was less than the gun grabbers wanted and more than gun rights folks were willing to give, but he was at least on their side, and they got jack squat.
Why would anyone in their right mind think they could get 10 days?
Additionally, that 2017 study isn't linked, but a lot of gun control studies are incredibly flawed and often involve cherry-picked data, especially as most gun homicides aren't carried out with guns purchased at gun stores.
What waiting periods can do, though, is put people in danger when they realize someone is threatening their lives. If they can't get a firearm right away, that means there's a window when they know they're vulnerable but can't get a firearm. That's horrifying to even imagine, but anti-gunners like these two chuckleheads don't care about that. They'll use BS studies where possible to justify what amounts to, at best, a minimal change in the violent crime rate, all because they don't like that you have the right to keep and bear arms.
Of course, considering that Trump won Ohio by more than 11 points, I think it's safe to say this doesn't have a hope in Hades of passing.
