[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of California [official website] has ruled [opinion, PDF] that a California gun law [text, PDF] that requires a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases cannot be applied to those who already own firearms. Senior Judge Anthony Ishii ruled that the law was unconstitutional and violated the Second Amendment [text] rights of gun owners. He stated that the California law should not apply to citizens who have passed a background check and those who have a permit or certificate of eligibility to own a gun. In regards to the purpose of the law, Ishii stated in his opinion:

There is no evidence that a “cooling off period,” such as that provided by the 10-day waiting period, prevents impulsive acts of violence by individuals who already possess a firearm. A waiting period for a newly purchased firearm will not deter an individual from committing impulsive acts of violence with a separate firearm that is already in his or her possession.

Ishii stayed his ruling for 180 days to allow the state of California to organize to change the law.

Second Amendment rights are a hotly contested [JURIST op-ed] political issue in the US. In June a judge for the US District Court for the District of Colorado upheld two state statutes [JURIST report] that expanded mandatory background checks and banned high capacity magazines. Also in June the US Supreme Court ruled that the government can enforce a ban [JURIST report] on purchasing a gun for someone else, even if that other person is lawfully allowed to have a gun. In April a trial judge for the Supreme Court of New York dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging the state’s strict gun laws. In February the Supreme Court denied review [JURIST report] of three gun rights cases without comment.