Florida AG James Uthmeier drops 3-day gun wait, sparking local debate

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued an offer of judgment in a lawsuit between the NRA and a Florida law, declaring that the state's 3-day waiting period to buy firearms infringes on the Second Amendment.

The law, passed in 1990, created a 3-day waiting period to purchase firearms. The NRA argued the law is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

Uthmeier issued a permanent injunction halting the enforcement of the 3-day hold. The injunction says guns will only need to be withheld from the buyer long enough to run a background check.

WINK News reporter Brinkley Hill worked to find out how this will affect people trying to buy a gun locally. Herron reached out to State Attorney Amira Fox to see if she will no longer enforce the 3-day wait, but has not received a response.

A local gun shop owner told Hill that, despite the injunction from the attorney general, he will continue to follow all laws, including the 3-day wait. David Rich, owner of Naples Gun Shop, said his business follows all regulations.

"We followed all federal laws, we follow all local laws, all state laws as well," Rich said.

Some Florida counties have a 5-day wait for gun buyers. Only concealed weapons permit holders are exempt from the wait period.

"If someone buys a gun, they still have to wait the three days if they don't have that concealed, uh, record, but they're still getting their background check almost instantly," Rich said.

Despite the permanent injunction issued Friday, Rich told Hill he will continue to enforce the 3-day wait because it's still Florida law. Rich said removing the wait period would help clear a shelf of space where he currently holds guns for pickup, but otherwise, the law has very little effect on his business.

"Occasionally someone will not buy because they have a three-day wait, but it's very, very rare," Rich said. "Most people, if they want a handgun or a long gun for whatever purposes, if they don't have a Florida concealed weapons license, which most of our customers do, uh, if they don't have it, they get the wait, and they're okay."

The chair of the Democratic Party of Lee County says the law is a cool-down period designed to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands. Jim Rosinus said he doesn't understand how a 3-day wait infringes on gun buyers' rights.

"The system that we have now is working," Rosinus said. "There's no need to tinker with it. There's no need to, uh, mess around with it to reduce it at all."

Rosinus questioned the urgency of immediate gun purchases. "If you're purchasing a gun—You can't wait a weekend, three days, um, in order to, to get that gun?" Rosinus said. "[T]he fact that somebody is so desperate to get a weapon immediately, to me, kinda sets off alarm bells."

Rich says that as a gun store owner, they already prevent purchases if the gun buyer acts strangely or smells strongly of marijuana. "If somebody comes in to buy a gun and they don't feel right, we'll refuse them without even running a background," Rich said.

Rich also noted federal restrictions related to marijuana use. "Even though medical marijuana is legal in Florida, any possession, use, or anything to do with medical marijuana invalidates someone at the federal level for having, for possessing a firearm or ammunition," Rich said.

WINK News will continue to keep you updated on the outcome of the lawsuit.