The Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) is suing Colorado Gov. Jared Polis over a law mandating a 72-hour waiting period for gun transfers.
The law is meant to prevent suicides, shootings in domestic violence situations, and other criminal acts.
Plaintiffs in the legal action say the law is more likely to endanger people while killing most gun shows and private gun sales.
On October 1, 2023, HB 23-1219 became effective in Colorado. The law requires a 72-hour waiting period before the seller of a firearm can transfer that firearm to the buyer.
Under the law, the waiting period is the last action before a sale is complete, and it applies to private sales and transactions handled by federal firearms licensees.
There are exceptions for antique and relic firearms, members of the military, and transfers among family members.
“Today we are taking some important steps to help make Colorado one of the ten safest states . . . Last year, I was proud to sign a comprehensive public safety plan of action into law to put Colorado on track to becoming one of the ten safest states in the nation,” Mr. Polis wrote.
MSLF represents Alicia Garcia, a Colorado-based social media influencer and firearms instructor, and the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a Second Amendment advocacy group.
An MSLF lawyer, Sean Nation, said the waiting period is unconstitutional under the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Mr. Nation said the law would be ineffective and perhaps even counter-productive.
Mr. Nation said that people determined to harm themselves or others will not be deterred by a law, regardless of its intent.
“Waiting periods are pretty ineffective,” he told The Epoch Times.
On the other hand, he said a person who needs a gun for protection would be put at risk.
“A right delayed is a right denied. This does have real public safety issues,” Mr. Nation said.
Must Consider Historical Context
In Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that the courts must consider the historical context when the Second Amendment was written. The court ruled that if there was no similar law at the time of the amendment’s ratification, then the law is not in line with the founder’s intent.“Asking someone to wait three days for self-defense is to put them at risk for harm,” she wrote. “The politicians say this is about people’s safety—this law is a danger to the most vulnerable.”
Could Snuff Out Gun Shows
“Gun shows and private sellers face the reality that HB23-1219, ‘Three-Day-Minimum Waiting Period To Deliver a Firearm,’ is not about reducing gun deaths, suicide rates, or even violent crimes. Simply, HB23-1219 snuffs out gun shows and private sellers to cut off one of the most commonly used gun-purchasing avenues by Coloradans today,” Taylor D. Rhodes, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, wrote in the statement.Brian Abbas, executive director of MSLF’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms, agrees.
“They have an agenda to outlaw guns as much as possible, and they are going to about it meticulously and keep trying to chip away at gun rights,” he wrote in the MSLF statement.
Mr. Nation said a U.S. District Court judge will hear an MSLF motion for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
