New 72-Hour Waiting Law Takes Effect In Maine
Starting on August 9, 2024, gun purchasers in Maine will face a new hurdle. A recently passed state law will put a 72-hour waiting period on firearms sales, and it is expected to have a big impact on the state’s gun owners.
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A reactionary law
The new law can be read here. It was passed in April of 2024, and it is seen as a direct reaction to the Lewiston killings of late 2023, although it was portrayed as a law intended to prevent suicidal people from accessing firearms.
The important part that gun owners need to know reads like this:
“Waiting period. A seller may not knowingly deliver a firearm to a buyer pursuant to an agreement sooner than 72 hours after the agreement. The 72-hour waiting period must be concurrent with any waiting period imposed by any background check process required by federal or state law.”
The legislation then lays out the penalties for breaking the law: A civil fine of $200-500 for the first offense, and $500-$1,000 for a second offense. It also lists exceptions. A law enforcement officer, security guard or correctional officer is not restricted by the 72-hour wait period. Gun stores may purchase firearms without waiting, and family members may sell firearms to each other without worrying about the wait period. There’s also an exception for C&R and antique firearms, or for transactions that require no federal or state background check.
Long-term effects
The shooting community is mostly unhappy with the law, and they think it will be particularly hard on gun shows; Maine law also requires background checks at gun shows, as of 2024.
The next big gun show in Maine is at the Augusta Armory on August 24-25, and that show will likely be an indication of what to expect in the coming months.
Will it stand?
The Gun Owners of Maine advocacy group says it will bring a lawsuit against the state in coming months, to overturn the 72-hour waiting requirement. On her part, Governor Janet Mills did not even sign the bill, saying she thought it was constitutionally suspect. If that’s the attitude from the top down, this could be a very short-lived piece of gun control.
Professional hoser with fudd-ish leanings.
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this is along with the Maine state background check, total waste of time ,
personnel , and just everything . the federal instant check has been about the
best thing the FBI ever did in a long time with thier recent history of screw ups
and allowing itself to be politcally manipulated , just let the federal instant
check work , why pay for the same thing twice , the state check is basically
worthless with a few possible exceptions .
this whole waiting period bulls**t is just nonsense and done just for
appearing to be doing something , something which is not actually a problem
99.99999999% of the time anyhow.
theres no need, its a huge waste of money when states are basically broke ,
and you're screwing over the citizens for damm good reason .
These fllthy degenerate gun hitlers , these gun hating gun control fascists ,
they despise the federal instant check system because it works so good ,
on the first day despite a few glitches here and there it blew past 90%
approvals on day one and the rejection rate is extremely low .
The Gabby Gifford nazi types hate it cause it works so well . As for the so called
mental health issues , well courts have rather consistently opted to uphold
the doctor/patient privledge , is basically a wall your not gonna bust down
at least thank god in this country . Yes people, there are disturbed people and
disturbed people will do what the frik they do .
At least two women were murdered by their violent partners in Austin during the Brady Law's nationwide waiting period after having told their families they'd tried to buy an emergency gun to defend themselves and been told they'd have to wait, but fortunately for Maine they're already one of the safest states in the Union so this is much less likely to get innocent people killed for political posturing points.
Invites the question of why they think they need nonsense like this to begin with, though, since according to the FBI's Crime Data Explorer there were a grand total of 150 violent crimes committed with firearms in Maine in 2022, only 13 of which were homicides.