Montana AG Leads Coalition Against Maine's Firearm Waiting Period

Montana Attorney-General Austin Knudsen is leading a coalition in an amicus brief filed with SCOTUS over Maine’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases.

In the amicus brief, Knudsen’s state of Montana, together with “States of Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the Arizona Legislature…” explain that they are filing the brief in order “to safeguard their citizens’ fundamental rights.”

The brief is filed to urge SCOTUS to hear Beckwith v. Frey, a case in which a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the waiting period.

The Amici States point to Heller (2008), reminding SCOTUS of its prior decision upholding “‘the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens’ to keep and bear arms.” They also point to Bruen (2022), noting SCOTUS’s rejection of controls that reduce the Second Amendment to “a second-class right, subject to an
entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.”

The Amici States reference Bruen even more in the central text of the brief, noting that “Maine cannot justify its cooling-off law based on the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

They also point to other SCOTUS decisions, as well as to various decisions from circuit courts.

For example, the Amici States observe:

The Fifth Circuit recognized in Reese v. ATF that the Second Amendment “‘covers’ the conduct (commercial purchases) to begin with.” ….It did so because “constitutional rights impliedly protect corollary acts necessary to their exercise” and “[t]he baleful implications of limiting the right at the outset by means of narrowing regulations not implied in the text are obvious; step by step, other limitations on sales could easily displace the right altogether.”

They also point to a Third Circuit decision in Corfield v. Coryell (1823), wherein Justice Bushrod Washington wrote, “…fundamental rights included the “the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety.”

The Amici States stress:

This Court should grant certiorari to provide guidance on two important aspects of Second Amendment doctrine. First, the plain text of the right
to “keep” and “bear” arms covers the right to take possession of such arms in the first place. Forcing a person to delay taking possession of a firearm is clearly “a[] restriction[]” on possession. And persuasive cases in the Second Amendment context and property law more generally recognize that taking possession is a critical part of a right to possess.

Signatories to the brief include: Steve Marshall, Alabama AG, Cori Mills, Acting Alaska AG, Steve Montenegro, Speaker of Arizona House of Representatives,
Warren Petersen, President of the Arizona Senate, Tim Griffin, Arkansas AG, James Uthmeier, Florida AG, Chris Carr, Georgia AG, Raul R. Labrador, Idaho AG, Theodore E. Rokita, Indiana AG, Brenna Bird, Iowa AG, Kris Kobach, Kansas AG, Russell Coleman, Kentucky AG, Liz Murrill, Louisiana AG, Lynn Fitch, Mississippi AG, Catherine L. Hanaway, Missouri AG, Mike T. Hilgers, Nebraska AG, Drew Wrigley, North Dakota AG, Andy Wilson, Ohio AG, Alan Wilson, South Carolina AG, Marty J. Jackley, South Dakota AG, Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee AG, Ken Paxton, Texas AG, Derek Brown, Utah AG, John B. McCuskey, West Virginia AG, and Keith Kautz, Wyoming AG.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at [email protected].