JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s Attorney General is asking for Florida’s three-day wait period for firearms purchases to be declared unconstitutional.
For 36 years, Floridians looking to purchase handguns have had to wait a minimum of three days before taking their gun home.
It was a constitutional amendment approved by nearly 85 percent of voters in 1990, and in 2018 following the Parkland shooting, Florida lawmakers extended the wait period to also apply to long guns.
But now, Florida’s Attorney General is asking a federal judge to declare the wait period unconstitutional as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by the NRA challenging the wait period.
It’s a scary proposition for gun safety advocates like Lucy Rowles with Florida Action Alliance, who told Action News Jax she wouldn’t be here today if not for that wait period.
“This law saved my life,” said Rowles.
In 2000, Rowles was considering taking her own life but found out she couldn’t simply walk into a gun store and walk out with a gun.
“And so, I left and you know it gave me breathing room,” said Rowles. ”It gave me that space in between that to sort my thoughts out.”
Ziadeh Farhat with Green Acres Sporting Goods, said generally speaking, customers are understanding when they learn about the three-day waiting period.
“Not contention, but a lot of people are confused because, you know most states don’t have a waiting period,” said Farhat.
But he does question whether the law has served its intended purpose, especially given neighboring states like Georgia don’t require a wait period.
“You know, I think if somebody was gonna do something like that, there’s other means to get weapons or whatever and do that kind of thing,” said Farhat.
Florida is among just 13 states with a mandatory wait period for gun purchases.
The others include California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
But Rowles argues she’s living proof of the importance of the wait period and hopes the judge on the case declines to go along with the Attorney General’s request.
“They say it’s a hardship, you know, to wait for three days. I don’t think that any law-abiding, responsible gun owner would mind if it saved the lives of somebody like me, which it did,” said Rowles.
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