In a little less than a month, gun buyers in the state of Maine will be forced to wait three business days before they can take possession of their purchase, even if they pass a background check within minutes. The 72-hour waiting period will take effect on August 9th after Gov. Janet Mills allowed the gun control measure to become law without her signature, but Second Amendment groups are already planning a legal challenge to the new measure, and an upcoming gun show in the state capitol of Augusta will help to fund the litigation. 

Ryan Appleby, of Freedom Promotions, which organizes and promotes gun shows in New England, said the law will “have a huge negative impact on the traditions of gun shows in the state, since they draw vendors from all corners of the state.”

“It’s not feasible for many customers to travel to that gun shop’s physical location several hours away three days later after they’ve already instantly had their background check approved at the event,” Appleby said in a written statement.

... 

Appleby, the gun show promoter, said he’s donating all of the proceeds from the July 13 and 14 gun show at the Augusta Elks Club to efforts to overturn the law.

“While many gun shows, including the ones Freedom Promotions holds, have been taking steps to comply with the new bill and attempt to lessen the negative impact, it will be felt by many small Maine businesses and jeopardizes the livelihood of many,” he said. “Time will tell how we are able to proceed.”

Appleby should be applauded for his contribution to the legal challenge, which is being spearheaded by the Sportsmans Alliance of Maine and Maine Gun Owners. SAM executive director David Trahan says the waiting periods will almost certainly impact vendors at gun shows going forward, even though some retailers are already looking for ways to minimize the disruption to customers. 

Because firearms cannot be shipped directly to a customer’s home, Trahan said he expects firearm dealers will likely ship purchased guns to a licensed dealer located closer to a customer’s home, where they can be stored and picked up. Those dealers have to keep close records of the firearms coming and going from their stores, creating an additional administrative burden – and cost – for dealers and customers, he said. 

“It’s a huge amount of paperwork and a big aggravation and that’s the part that’s going to add a lot of cost to it,” Trahan said. “It’s creating a quagmire – a mess for anyone who wants to sell firearms and I think they knew it when they passed it.”

Thanks to the outspoken gun owners who testified against the measure, there's no way lawmakers were unaware of the impact the waiting period will have on both retailers and customers. I think Trahan is right that the chaos and confusion is a feature, not a bug, in the law as far as its supporters are concerned. Anything that makes exercising our Second Amendment rights more difficult and cumbersome is a win for the gun control lobby, and there's no doubt that once the waiting period takes effect, purchasing a firearm will be a more expensive and inconvenient process than it is right now. 

Similar waiting periods are being challenged in California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Last November, a federal judge in Colorado appointed by Jimmy Carter denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the state's three-day waiting period, ruling that the Second Amendment doesn't protect the right to acquire a firearm. Even if it did, claimed U.S. District Judge John Kane, "receipt of a firearm without any delay could not be, as the Founders would not have expected instant, widespread availability of the firearm of their choice."

Kane's decision is one of the more egregious cases of a judge flouting the Supreme Court's guidance in Heller, McDonald, and Bruen, but expect it to be extensively cited by Maine's Attorney General once the lawsuit challenging Maine's waiting period has officially been filed. 

Contrary to Kane's claims, it doesn't matter if the Founders would have expected "instant, widespread availability" of the gun of their choice. The question is whether creating an arbitrary waiting period before a legal owner can take possession of their firearm comports with the nation's tradition of gun ownership, and the answer is pretty clearly "no." By the time the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791, merchants in cities from New York to Savannah were routinely offering firearms for sale, and even the defenders of Colorado's waiting period couldn't point to a single law in place at the time that required gun buyers to cool their heels before they could take possession of their firearm. 

As for Kane's contention that the Second Amendment doesn't encompass the right to acquire a firearm, even the Ninth Circuit has held that the right to keep and bear arms would be meaningless without the ability to get one. 

I think Second Amendment advocates in Maine have a strong argument to make when they get their day in court, and I'm glad to see that the 2A community is rallying around the effort to undo the waiting period law. This weekend's show in Augusta will be the last gun show to take place before the waiting period takes effect, so business should be brisk and Appleby will hopefully be able to make a significant donation to the legal fight gun owners are facing.