An effort by the Maine attorney general to persuade a federal judge to reinstate Maine’s controversial three-day waiting period for firearm purchases while awaiting consideration by a federal appeals court has failed.
Last month, a federal judge in Portland granted a request from gun rights groups to temporarily pause the three-day waiting period on gun purchases, stating that the plaintiffs made a compelling argument that the law is unconstitutional.
“Given that Plaintiffs have established a likelihood of success and the existence of irreparable injury, I find that the balance of equities favors them as well,” Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker wrote in the ruling. “Similarly, 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.”
Judge Walker’s ruling also stated that “acquiring a firearm is a necessary step in the exercise of keeping and bearing arms.”
Disappointed by the ruling, the attorney general quickly appealed the decision to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston and then petitioned the original court to temporarily restore the law until the 1st Circuit could hear the case. Once again, the state faced disappointment as Judge Walker ruled again that he believed the plaintiffs’ rights under the Second Amendment would be irreparably harmed if the 1st Circuit decided to overturn the law.
“If the Act is unconstitutional—which it likely is—it will curtail the exercise of rights preserved under the Second Amendment … on a regular, steady, and ongoing daily basis (measured by nearly every firearm sale in Maine during the pendency of this litigation),” Walker wrote in the latest ruling.
Citing the 2022 Bruen ruling, Judge Walker noted that “the alleged lifesaving benefits of a three-day waiting period may have been relevant to the merits of a constitutional challenge … but that has not been the law of the land for nearly three years.”
“This is an unsubtle point that nevertheless appears lost in the shuffle, apparently to persuade me of the wisdom of the law to compensate for its potential constitutional shortcomings,” the judge added.
Naturally, proponents of the measure, like most gun control advocates, were quick to cry “politics” whenever they didn’t get their way. Following the February ruling, Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, blamed the loss on the fact that Judge Walker was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term.
“We’re deeply troubled by the decision of a Trump-appointed judge to roll back Maine’s gun safety laws,” Palmer said in a written statement. “That the gun lobby sued to roll back a commonsense 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.”
The mass shooting by a deranged/evil military vet would have happened regardless of any 3 daze wait????
Gun Control has always been a cancer on Freedom…History Confirms It.
What’s the point if somebody already owns a gun? Their whole line of reasoning falls apart. Oh, that’s right, to borrow a line from the left: “the cruelty is the point.”
Meanwhile, in Illannoy……????
Yes, let’s leave all of the lawmaking to the “experts”, like gun-ignorant Attorneys General and state legislators, most whom would have trouble identifying five major parts on any given firearm.
…. like the Mpls. Police Chief giving a news conference yesterday of how they “stopped a tragedy involving an AR-15 style rifle with two 30 round magazines, loaded with armor-piercing bullets. ” – except that the rifle laying on it’s side that he was preaching over was CLEARLY an AK. Oh well, at least he learned not to say “clip” anymore, like when he tried to demonstrate removing one from a clearly plastic toy in a previous story covered by all of the local stations of how he “personally removed an illegal machine-gun off of the streets.”
It’s like they know they don’t even have to try anymore to sell the story to the average befuddled citizen.
They never had to after they figured out they could just use public school and garbage food/other products to dumb the majority down to accept any narrative. Social media just made it way faster.
“… the gun lobby sued to roll back a commonsense law that … does help prevent suicide …” — Nacole Palmer
There is a giant gaping hole in Ms. Palmer’s assertion: she claims that someone cannot kill themselves without a firearm which ignores the fact that an individual can simply step in front of a train or semi-truck, hang themselves from a modest tree, shoot-up a lethal does of opioids, drive their car (at a high rate of speed) into a highway overpass pillar (or large tree), or jump from a height, etc.
Even worse, Ms. Palmer wants to infringe upon our rights as a supposed solution to someone else’s destructive behavior. Would she be equally okay with a delay/ban on purchasing feminine hygiene products if arsonists frequently use them to start building fires?
Do these idiots actually think gun laws stop a criminal.
Only the law abiding are affected by the illegal gun law infringements.
Make felons of us all, Control Masters.
No. They don’t really believe that, but what else are they going to do? They have to give people a reason to reelect them. Many of their constituents believe it because they don’t take time to thoughtfully consider policies. The Message tells them how to feel about things.
Did you see my comment about updating your browser or trying a different browser to get the Reply button to work? It doesn’t have anything to do with your email.
I believe that’s the intent… how many times per day do they say the average “citizen” (subject?) commits an obscure felony already ? IIRC, it’s an average of three.
They aren’t content with just a 3 day wait here either, they have also introduced magazine capacity limits that do not grandfather existing ones along with a ban on “ghost” guns
Much time and money has been devoted to deflecting blame for the Lewiston, Maine shooting. Bottom line, the cops failed. When they couldn’t make contact with the subject, they simply gave up.
So pretty much like every mass shooter “known to authorities” to Ken’s point above yes they fuck up and want you to pay for it.