25 States Ask Supreme Court to Take Gun Case

Wall display of rifles in a gun store — Photo: Nomad_Soul / Shutterstock

Twenty-five states just asked the Supreme Court to stop Maine’s 72-hour gun wait that blocks cleared, law-abiding buyers from taking home a firearm.

Story Snapshot

A 25-state coalition urged the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to Maine’s three-day gun wait.
Maine’s law bars delivery of a firearm until 72 hours after the sale agreement, even if the background check is instant.
The First Circuit upheld the law as a “modest delay,” creating a clear split with other rulings.
Petitioners say the delay violates the Second Amendment by blocking timely, lawful acquisition.

States Push Supreme Court Review Of Maine’s 72-Hour Delay

Montana’s attorney general led 24 other states in a brief asking the Supreme Court to review Maine’s three-day firearm waiting period. They argue the delay blocks timely, lawful self-defense for citizens who already passed a federal background check. The filing, connected to the Beckwith v. Frey case, presses the Court to clarify the scope of the Second Amendment after recent split rulings across the circuits. The coalition frames the case as a national test of whether states can force blanket “cooling off” delays.

Maine’s statute says a seller may not deliver a firearm to a buyer sooner than 72 hours after the agreement to sell. The clock runs even when the background check system returns an immediate approval. The text further says the 72-hour period runs at the same time as any background check timing. That means even if the check finishes fast, the buyer still waits the full three days before taking the firearm home.

Lower Courts Split On Whether Waiting Is A Constitutional Burden

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld Maine’s law this spring. The panel called the wait a “modest” burden outside the core of the Second Amendment’s protection, and let the law stand while the case proceeds. That view clashes with decisions that treat timely acquisition as part of the right to keep and bear arms, which demand real historical support for any delay. The divide raises the stakes for Supreme Court review.

The petitioners say the text of the Second Amendment covers acquiring a firearm, not just owning one. They argue the state cannot block a cleared buyer from taking possession for an extra three days with no founding-era tradition to back it up. Their filing stresses that instant checks already screen prohibited persons, making across-the-board delays a separate burden with no firm historical root.

Real-World Stakes: Self-Defense Delayed Can Mean Self-Defense Denied

The case record highlights buyers who passed checks but were forced to go home unarmed due to the wait. One account involves a stalking victim who cleared the check, paid, and was still denied timely possession under Maine’s rule. Supporters of review say that is the core harm: the state imposes delay on the very people who follow the law and need protection now, not days later. That harm falls on families, small dealers, and vulnerable citizens.

The broader policy fight is now national. The Tenth Circuit struck down a seven-day wait in New Mexico as likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s modern test, while the First Circuit approved Maine’s 72-hour delay. Legal analysts describe a sharp split that invites Supreme Court guidance. Without a ruling, Americans face different rules for the same right based only on state lines and ideology, not constitutional limits.