Waiting Periods Suck

Waiting periods suck. There is no getting around it for me. I shouldn't complain, for others have it far worse than I do. Wisconsin overall is pretty good with its gun laws, but sadly it has a two day waiting period for handgun purchases.

A friend of mine, who manages a guns store, tracked down an OD green Glock 19 for me and had it shipped to my local FFL. It arrived today and after work I did the paperwork, had the background checks made. I got to hold and look over my new firearm for a few minutes. Then I handed it back to the FFL and left.

All the forms are signed and I have the full blessings of all government entities involved to have the new handgun, as long as I wait until 4:48pm Wednesday, July 9, 2014 to leave my FFL’s place of business with it. That's right, it is down to the minute for the waiting period.

I guess the whole idea of these waiting periods, is that if someone wants to buy a gun in order to commit a crime; they have a few days to think about it and change their mind. I just don't see it being that effective. Over the years I've asked many gun store owners and employees if anyone has ever bought a handgun, and then at the end of the waiting period decided they didn't want it after all. I have yet to hear of a case where it worked out that way.

One could and logically argue that such laws could prevent someone from killing someone they know in an act of passion. For example a wife who finds out her husband is cheating on her, or guy who found out his ex-girlfriend he’s been stalking has found someone new.  Those are very reasonable possibilities.

But one also could and logically argue that such a law could prevent someone from being able to protect themselves from being killed by someone they know in the same scenarios.

Besides, let’s face facts. If someone has the intent to hurt someone, they are going to do it. They will attain a firearm or other weapon by whatever means are available. There is no background check or waiting period required for a butcher’s knife.

So what are waiting periods good for? Pretty much just wasting time and money. Government clerks, FFL holders, and customers are now required to fill out and process extra paperwork that has not been proven to do anything.