A federal appeals court today reinstated California’s law creating a 10-day ‘cooling-off’ period for all legal gun purchases, even those previously approved to buy a gun.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 10-day wait was a reasonable safety precaution for all purchasers of firearms and need not be suspended once a buyer has been approved for a gun purchase.
The three-judge panel said the law does not violate the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms provisions. The law applied not only to fire-time gun buyers but also to gun owners who have previously approved to buy weapons.
The lawsuit challenged the 10-day wait for buyers who were permitted to buy weapons previously and had permits to carry concealed weapons.
“We hold that the law does not violate the Second Amendment rights of these plaintiffs, because the ten day wait is a reasonable precaution for the purchase of a second or third weapon, as well as for a first purchase,” wrote Judge Mary Schroeder. She was joined by Judges Sidney Thomas and Jacqueline Nguyen.
The ruling overturns a decision by U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii in Sacramento that the law violated the Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed 2011 by Jeff Silvester and Brandon Combs and two firearm-rights groups, Calguns Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation.
The lawsuit argued that the waiting period should not apply to buyers who already owned guns.
Judge Ishii said the state’s objectives of public safety and reduction of gun violence were not furthered by a cooling-off period for buyers who already had approval to own guns.
The appeals court disagreed and ordered Ishii to enter a decision in favor of the state.
Case: Silvester v. Harris, No.14-16840
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