When both sides of a lawsuit agree that there's a problem and agree with a solution, that should be the end of it. If it were two private parties, they'd just handle everything and call it a day. When it's about the constitutionality of a gun control law, it shouldn't be any different.
The state of Florida, despite some calling it "the Gunshine State," has a three-day waiting period on gun sales from licensed dealers. It's clearly not done all that much to stop violent crime, suicides, or much of anything else.
Plus, it's unconstitutional. The NRA challenged it. The state, to its credit, looked at the challenge and basically said, "Yeah, it's unconstitutional."
Unfortunately, that's when things got stupid.
The NRA filed the lawsuit challenging the waiting period requirements in August 2025, alongside 2nd Amendment Armory, Centurion Armament Co., and four NRA members and in partnership with Mountain States Legal Foundation and National Shooting Sports Foundation. The defendants—Attorney General James Uthmeier, Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, and Florida’s twenty state attorneys—agreed that Florida’s waiting period requirements violate the Second Amendment. The parties jointly sought a declaration that the laws are unconstitutional to the extent they require retailers to hold a firearm beyond the time needed to complete a background check, along with a permanent injunction preventing enforcement of the law.
Judge Merryday declined to enter the requested judgment at this stage, citing the need for a more complete presentation of the constitutional issues. The court invited the Governor of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Senate, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to participate as amici curiae and file briefs by February 1, 2027 (with a notice of intent due by November 30, 2026). Other interested parties may move for leave by November 30, 2026, and, if leave is granted, file their briefs by February 1, 2027.
Both sides of the lawsuit are saying it's unconstitutional. What more does Merryday actually need?
Obviously, this is really just an opportunity for the anti-gunners to get a say and for Merryday to rule against both the state and the NRA on the basis of that. The fact that he actively asked for amicus briefs from anti-gun groups, not from actual pro-gun organizations. They can still file such briefs, apparently, but it also seems pretty clear that the fix is in.
The Florida House and Senate and the governor are almost pro forma, though there's probably an argument to be made that these entities represent the legislative side and their intentions on the matter should be taken into account, versus this simply being the will of the attorney general's office, but it's a bad argument.
I sincerely hope I'm simply reading more into this than there is, and Merryday is just trying to make sure no one can accuse him of playing ball in some shady dealings or something. I doubt that would be a thing, particularly in Florida, where people generally are either annoyed at the waiting period or simply don't care. The handful who aren't in either camp are the handful of anti-gunners that do infest the state, but since no one seems to care what they have to say on literally anything else, I don't think he needs to worry about them.