Federal appeals court upholds California waiting period for gun purchases News
Federal appeals court upholds California waiting period for gun purchases

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday rejected a challenge [opinion, PDF] to California’s 10-day waiting period for purchasing a gun. California law [text, PDF] requires a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases, even after obtaining a permit and passing a background check. A federal judge struck down [JURIST report] the law in 2014, ruling that the law was unconstitutional and violated the Second Amendment [text] rights of gun owners who had passed a background check and have a permit. In reversing that decision, the appeals court held:

Because we agree with the State that the 10-day waiting period is a reasonable safety precaution for all purchasers of firearms and need not be suspended once a purchaser has been approved, we reverse the district court’s judgment. We do not need to decide whether the regulation is sufficiently longstanding to be presumed lawful. Applying intermediate scrutiny analysis, 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.

A lawyer for the gun rights groups that challenged the law said they are still reviewing [WSJ report] the court’s decision.

Gun control and the Second Amendment continue to be controversial topics across the US. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [official website] restored [JURIST report] gun ownership rights of individuals convicted of minor crimes. Earlier that month the New Jersey Second Amendment Society filed [JURIST report] a lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General in New Jersey’s district court alleging the state’s stun gun ban is unconstitutional. In June the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that a state law conviction on reckless domestic assault is sufficient to bar possession of a firearm under federal law. Earlier in June Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill [JURIST report] requiring gun owners to be listed on an FBI database, notifying police if a Hawaii citizen is arrested in another state and providing a continuous criminal record check on those individuals seeking to possess a firearm. Also in June the US Supreme Court denied certiorari [JURIST report] in two separate cases challenging bans on assault-style weapons. The court denied the appeals without comment, letting stand lower court rulings that had upheld the bans [JURIST report] as constitutional. In response to the mass killing in Orlando in June, the UN’s top human rights official urged [JURIST report] the US to increase its gun control measures. The Ninth Circuit [official website] held [JURIST report] in June that the right to carry a concealed gun is not within Second Amendment right to bear arms.