
Is The 48 Hour Wait on Handgun Purchases Unreasonable?
Racine Wisconsin Senator Van Wanggaard is introducing a bill to repeal the 48 hour waiting period for people buying a handgun. His reason is that background checks are instant now, and don't require extra time to see if a person can legally purchase a handgun. People in favor of the waiting period say it's a good cooling down period. But, does that make sense?
You can buy a shotgun or rifle with no wait, and walk out the door, and use it against someone anyway, right? So does it make a difference if they have to wait for a handgun?
I recently bought my first handgun and went through the background check. The dealer dialed up a number, gave them my information over the phone, and then time stamped the application and said it would be 48 hours from 4:17pm. So I came back at 4:17 two days later and picked up my gun.
It really wasn't that big of an inconvenience for me, but I did think it was pointless.