Wisconsin to end 48 hour waiting period for handgun sales. Democrats apoplectic.

By Rob Janicki
Wisconsin has had a 48 hour waiting period on handgun sales since 1976.  The reason being that in the past,  background checks had to be done manually.  In today's world of computers, background checks are made almost instantaneously.  Of course there are exceptions, which might require an actual human being to followup on a computer check that comes back as incomplete.  Such a situation is rare and continues to act as a safeguard to prevent someone from illegally obtaining a handgun.

Wisconsin Republicans moved within a step Tuesday of eliminating the state’s decades-old 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases, pushing a bill that would wipe out the statutes through the state Assembly to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk.

The Assembly ultimately passed the bill on a voice vote. Republicans who control the Senate passed the measure in April. It goes next to Walker. Asked in an email whether the governor, a likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, would sign the bill, spokeswoman Laurel Patrick responded by saying he supports laws that “make it easier for law-abiding citizens to access firearms and difficult for criminals to obtain illegal firearms.”

Walker will undoubtedly sign the bill since he has been aligned with the view that in the 21st century there is no need for a mandatory waiting period in an age of computers and national computer data bases that run instantaneous background checks.  Here's the Democrat counter argument.

Minority Democrats railed against the bill, warning it would enable people caught up in fits of rage or depression to obtain weapons quickly and kill people. Republicans countered that the waiting period inconveniences law-abiding citizens, background checks can now be completed in hours and women could get guns faster to protect themselves and their families from abusers.

People involved in depression and who may be suicidal have seldom been deterred from taking their own lives simply because a gun was not immediately available.  People seriously bent upon suicide will find another way to act out their own self destruction.  Those who are in a state of rage will find a more convenient and immediate way to express their rage on another person, usually with a knife or a blunt object.  Having to go to a gun shop, filling out the lengthy paperwork to purchase a handgun and then having to shell out over $400 for a handgun usually is a deterrent in itself.  Plus, dealers do not have to sell a handgun to a person that they feel is unfit to possess a handgun by virtue of their mental state at the time of the potential sale.  The Democrat arguments are simply a Trojan Horse meant to appeal to emotions rather than reason and are fundamentally meant to restrict the proliferation of handguns in particular, a goal of all liberals.

Digressing for the moment and looking at my own situation as a Californian and a gun owner, state law here is so archaic that it boggles the imagination.  In California there is a limit of one handgun purchase per 30 day period, with a 10 day waiting period on all gun purchases.  There is no rhyme or reason for this regulatory nightmare, except that California is run by liberal Democrats.  Both houses of the California state legislature have veto proof super majorities.  Every statewide political office form the governor on down is held by a Democrat.  A Republican officeholder in California politics is pretty much a novelty item and not much more.

If that isn't enough to deter handgun buyers, here's one more questionable regulation based upon the proposition that California is looking out for the health and safety of California gun buyers.  A handgun manufacturer must go to the California Department of Justice in order to sell their handguns to registered California gun dealers.  The gun manufacturers must pay a hefty fee for the state to check and pass their handguns for sale in California.  Each model handgun, even with the most minor variation within a model series, must pass the California DoJ testing in order to be sanctioned for sale in California.  These permits must be updated regularly, which only adds to the manufacturer's expense to do business in California.  Sturm Ruger has already withdrawn their semi-auto pistols from the California market as each model's permit expires.

The California DoJ argument is that it is trying to prevent the proliferation of cheaply made "Saturday night special" handguns of yesteryear.  The problem with this approach is that it affects lower income individuals who are essentially deprived of their 2nd Amendment right to own a gun for their own protection, since they cannot afford the higher priced high end handgun models that have passed the DoJ testing and permitting process.  In other words, the Californians most vulnerable to crime and criminals in their neighborhoods are the ones who are being most adversely affected by this sham regulation.

For transparency, it should be noted that I am a life member of the NRA, a life member of the Californian Rifle and Pistol Association and a life member of the Single Action Shooting Society.  I collect both antique and modern guns and shoot modern guns recreationally.