A federal appeals court has upheld California’s 10-day waiting period and background check for existing gun owners and those with concealed-weapons permits, ruling that it did not violate the Second Amendment. The safety precautions were reasonable, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said, reversing a decision by a lower court that had ruled requirements unconstitutional, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “The ten-day wait is a reasonable precaution for the purchase of a second or third weapon, as well as for a first purchase,” the judges wrote.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii of Fresno ruled that the 10-day wait was an unreasonable and unconstitutional restriction unjustified by safety concerns. The state already requires a waiting period to check a purchaser’s criminal and mental health records, and a 10-day waiting period for first-time gun buyers. A waiting period for existing gun owners is reasonable, Appeals Judge Mary Schroeder said yesterday. “An individual who already owns a hunting rifle, for example, may want to purchase a larger capacity weapon that will do more damage when fired into a crowd,” Schroeder said. “A 10-day cooling-off period would serve to discourage such conduct.”