Guns don’t kill people, but waiting to get your gun can get you killed, which is why this Wisconsin lawmaker is doing a good thing.
RACINE — A Racine lawmaker wants to repeal Wisconsin’s 48-hour waiting period to buy handguns.
The original intent of the waiting period was to give gun dealers enough time to complete a background check, Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard said. Now that information is digitized and background checks can be done almost instantly, Wanggaard says a 48-hour waiting period amounts to a “time tax,” The Journal Times reported.
Handgun purchasers would still have to pass a background check to prove they can legally have a gun.
“An individual that is able to lawfully possess a firearm, they’re restricted — why?” Wanggaard said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Supporters of the waiting period say it gives people in emotional distress a needed cooling-off period.
For example, a suicidal person may be able to pass a background check and get a handgun. But if those persons had to wait a few days, they would have time to rethink or have a chance for an intervention, said Luann Simpson, program director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Racine County.
“If I could pass a background check and get a gun immediately, I’m more likely to make that suicide attempt than if I had to wait three days to get a weapon,” Simpson said. Simpson said NAMI isn’t necessarily opposed to the bill, but feels waiting periods can help tamp down impulsive behavior.
Source: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/22/racine-lawmaker-repeal-handgun-waiting-period/23851571/
Sure, because there’s no other way to commit suicide other than a bullet in the head? Let’s face facts, a lot of people who are suicidal don’t do it. But even if that argument had validity, it’s irrelevant, it’s a Bill of Rights, not a Bill of Needs, and let’s not forget the people that die waiting for their guns.
“Wisconsin woman Bonnie Elmasri had a restraining order against her husband, who had been, according to her, threatening her and her children. She asked a firearms instructor about getting a handgun and was told there was a 48-hour waiting period. Within 24 hours, she was dead, along with her two children. Murdered by her husband, who had no trouble at all obtaining a gun. ”
Source: Gun Control Kills
A waiting period also helpful for people struggling with domestic violence, said Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney for the California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
“If you introduce a waiting period into that cycle, you may save somebody’s life,” Cutilletta said.
Wanggaard, a former police officer, rejects the argument that waiting periods for handgun purchases help prevent violence.
“If somebody has the thought of doing something, they’re going to use whatever is at their fingertips at the time they make that decision,” he said.
Ten states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring a waiting period to buy guns, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The organization did not have statistics comparing states with waiting-period laws to those without them.
The Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety has scheduled a public hearing on the bill Thursday.
Source: Idem
By the way, liberals are hypocrites about waiting periods when it comes to abortions.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted down legislation calling for a 24-hour waiting period for abortion…
The legislation required that women receive an outline of the procedure, a list of “medically-accurate” complications and alternatives to abortion. This would include state publications on abortion complications and alternatives, along with material noting that the child’s father is financially liable. Women would have been required to sign a document confirming receipt of the information.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/new-hampshire-abortion_n_2867351.html
Typical, liberals can’t wait 5 minute to kill their babies, but when it comes to us fighting real criminals, they want us waiting 3 days, 14 days, maybe our whole lives if they get around to it. The irony is that abortion is not a right, there’s no Right to Keep Having Abortions in the Constitution. I’m not a pro-lifer, I’m just honest.