AUGUSTA, Maine (WMTW) – A coalition of gun groups has filed a lawsuit claiming Maine’s new 72-hour waiting period for purchasing firearms is unconstitutional and seeking an injunction to stop its enforcement pending the outcome the case.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of five people claims it is illegal to require someone who has passed a background check to wait three days before completing a gun purchase, and that this argument is supported by a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling which changed the standard for gun restrictions. .

“Nothing in our nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation supports this type of ‘cooling off’ measure, which is a 20th century regulatory innovation that is totally inconsistent with the original meaning of the Second amendment,” attorneys for the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit wrote. filed on Tuesday.

Supporters of the law said they were confident it would survive the legal challenge.

Maine is one of ten states that have waiting periods for gun purchases. The District of Columbia also has one. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills allowed Maine’s restriction to become law without her signature. It went into effect in August.

Attorney General Aaron Frey said he looks forward to defending the law. “Waiting periods have been upheld across the country as a reasonable, limited regulation that does not violate Second Amendment rights,” he said.

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 a coalition of her group and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, with assistance from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

She and other critics of the waiting period law 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 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 trip.

The plaintiffs include gun dealers and gunsmiths who claim their businesses are being harmed, along with a domestic abuse victim who armed herself because she didn’t believe a court order would protect her. The woman said she slept with a gun next to her while her attacker or his friends pelted her camper with rocks. Another plaintiff, a firearms dealer, had to delay a sale to a woman who was being stalked, according to the suit.

“This law is nothing more than an attempt to deny law-abiding people their constitutional rights while doing nothing to stop criminals who ignore these ineffective laws,” said Lawrence G. Kean of the National Shooting Sports Foundation .

Nacole Palmer, who leads the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, said the lawsuit was not a surprise, but it is still “disappointing that the gun lobby continues to challenge a law that will save Mainers’ lives and is supported by a lot of evidence. “

“We know that 72-hour waiting periods are effective in reducing gun deaths, both suicides and homicides, in states where they have been passed. In Maine, a state where suicide is the leading cause of death by firearms, especially for men, this law will save lives and save families from losing a loved one in crisis,” she wrote in a statement.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, said half of Maine’s 277 suicides in 2021 involved a gun, and she believes the waiting period will reduce the number of suicides with a firearm.

Copyright 2024 WABI. All rights reserved.