For example, Washington state gun purchasers now must endure a 10-day waiting period to complete their transaction. California’s on-again, off-again expansion of gun-free zones is now in effect, as is Minnesota’s new “red flag” law.
And the official deadline for Illinois residents who own semi-automatic weapons and accessories to register them with the State Police has passed.
All potential new gun owners in Washington are now under the controversial new law mandating a 10-day waiting period to purchase a firearm. The previous law stipulated the wait only for semi-automatic weapons.
The law, signed into effect by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on April 25, 2023, was hotly debated among state lawmakers.
Supporters claimed that forcing lawful gun purchasers to wait would save lives, while opponents charged people in need of a firearm for self-defense would be put in grave danger — effectively disarmed against criminals.
Further, the new Washington law stipulates that gun purchasers must undergo training before their transaction may be completed. This did not sit well with State Sen. Lynda Wilson (R) of Vancouver.
“There may be a mom with a couple of little girls and in a serious domestic violence situation. If even she finds the instructor, and if she can afford the class, and if she can get into one of those classes that don’t exist today — she will still have to wait another 10 days after the purchase of the firearm to protect herself.”
In California, concealed carry permit holders are now under an onerous mound of restrictions after the state approved designating most public property as “sensitive places.”
A reprieve came on Dec. 20 when U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted an injunction on the law he called “openly defiant of the Supreme Court.” But that was only temporary as a federal appeals court on Saturday placed an administrative stay on that action.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted Carney’s ruling until another panel of judges can determine if a longer stay should follow. This appears to fly in the face of last year’s clear U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Bruen case, according to California Rifle and Pistol Association President Chuck Michel.
After the Dec. 20 decision, he noted that “California progressive politicians refuse to accept the Supreme Court’s mandate from the Bruen case and are trying every creative ploy they can imagine to get around it.”
As for now, they have been successful. It is abundantly clear that the high court must step in and reassert its authority as the supreme arbiter of law in the nation.
In Minnesota, legislators passed Extreme Risk Protection Orders that took effect on Jan. 1. Also known as “red flag” gun confiscation orders, these allow family members and law enforcement to petition for guns to be taken from an individual believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
The list of potential petitioners is lengthy and includes law enforcement, a city or county attorney, spouses or former spouses, parents or children of the respondent, a guardian, someone sharing a residence with the individual, a person involved in a romantic or physical relationship with the respondent, or mental health professionals.
The danger, as well-noted by Second Amendment advocates, lies in the almost complete lack of due process afforded gun owners in many of these cases.
Without being charged with a crime or even a hearing in which they may defend themselves, individuals may be stripped of their gun rights on pure hearsay.
Monday’s holiday also offered the last chance for Illinois gun owners to register their so-called “assault weapons” and accessories with State Police. In a massive show of civil disobedience, only roughly 15,000 residents complied.
That’s out of almost 2.5 million firearm owner ID holders in the state.
