A federal judge in Portland has granted a request from gun rights groups to temporarily pause a new three-day waiting period on firearm purchases.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker said in Thursday’s order that he’s granting the plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief because they have presented a strong argument that the 72-hour waiting period, which was enacted this year and took effect in August, is unconstitutional.

Walker said in his 17-page decision that the request for an injunction required him to consider the “balance of equities and the public interest.”

“Given that Plaintiffs have established a likelihood of success and the existence of irreparable injury, I find that the balance of equities favors them as well,” Walker wrote. “Similarly, although members of the public undoubtedly feel that they have a genuine interest in laws curtailing the right to keep and bear arms, their interest is not exclusive and not one that can win out in terms of an interest-balancing exercise by a court that is sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

Walker’s decision states that “acquiring a firearm is a necessary step in the exercise of keeping and bearing arms.”

“Any interpretation to the contrary requires the type of interpretative jiujitsu that would make (Franz) Kafka blush,” Walker wrote, referring to the author known for his novels about alienation and bureaucratic absurdity.

Lawmakers passed the new waiting period as part of a slate of gun safety reforms following the October 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston that killed 18 people and wounded more than a dozen others. The law took effect without the signature of Gov. Janet Mills, who faced pressure from both gun owners and safety advocates.

Gun sellers who violate the waiting period face fines ranging from $200 to $500 for the first violation to $500 to $1,000 for each additional violation.

While the proposal was not directly tied to the shooting, proponents argued that a waiting period was needed to address Maine’s relatively high rate of suicides committed with firearms. They argued that it allows for a cooling off period, reducing the likelihood of compulsive gun violence.

Gun rights groups countered that the waiting period is unconstitutional and threatens to shut down gun shows and economically harming local firearm dealers with onerous requirements that would make it virtually impossible for stores to sell firearms to out-of-staters coming to the state to hunt.

Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a written statement that the ruling was “very disappointing” and that he will be considering his options for defending the law, which he said has “obvious public safety benefits.”

“The United States Supreme Court has made plain that regulations on the commercial sale of firearms, like Maine’s waiting period law, are presumptively lawful,” Frey said. “The law imposes a mere 72-hour delay in obtaining a firearm, and we presented undisputed evidence that by deterring impulsive purchases, firearm waiting periods save lives. It is estimated that in just one year, a waiting period law in Maine would have prevented 12 suicides.”

Gun safety advocates decried the ruling issued by Walker, who was appointed to the state bench by Republican Gov. Paul LePage and to the federal bench by President Donald Trump.

APPEAL EXPECTED

Maine Gun Safety Coalition Executive Director Nacole Palmer said in a written statement that she expects the state will appeal, noting that similar waiting periods have been upheld in other states, including “some up to 10 days ago.”

Twelve other states and the District of Columbia have waiting period laws, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit that advocates for stronger gun control laws.

“We’re deeply troubled by the decision of a Trump-appointed judge to roll back Maine’s gun safety laws,” Palmer said. “That the gun lobby sued to roll back a commonsense law that doesn’t prevent anyone’s right to buy guns but does help prevent suicide is unsurprising. That a judge granted them this political victory at the cost of Mainers is surprising.”

The Gun Owners of Maine celebrated the ruling, calling it “a good day for gun owners in the state of Maine.”

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with Judge Walker’s ruling on the request for a preliminary injunction,” Laura Whitcomb, the group’s president, said in a written statement. “The unconstitutional 72-Hour Waiting Period law is now currently not in effect. This law does little to improve any aspect of public safety and only denies the rights of responsible gun owners.”

Walker heard arguments Tuesday about whether to pause the 72-hour rule enacted by the Legislature last year while the courts consider a lawsuit that alleges it violates the Second Amendment.

Andrea Beckwith, who runs self-defense classes for victims of domestic violence, Rep. James White, who owns J. White Gunsmithing, and other Maine gun stores and gun owners, filed a lawsuit in November against Frey in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

A ‘CURIOUS CONSTRUCTION’

Walker’s ruling did not include a discussion about the legislative intent behind the bill, or evaluate evidence about whether waiting periods curb compulsive gun violence.

But he described a waiting period that delays firearm acquisition for most gun sales to be overly broad and out of sync with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation — a new standard established by the United State Supreme Court’s Bruen decision.

Walker described Frey’s arguments that the Second Amendment does not cover an individual’s right to acquire firearms a “curious construction” and batted away his efforts to equate a near universal waiting period with other regulations — background checks or prohibitions on carrying a firearm while intoxicated — because those are tied to objective standards.

Walker said the consequences of Maine’s waiting period law are “absolute and universal, not conditional and individual.”

“The waiting period is not narrow since it applies to very near everyone seeking to purchase a firearm, and their entire right to keep and bear any firearm at all through a purchase is temporarily banned,” Walker said. “Nor is the waiting period objective since it does not permit the evaluation of facts as they pertain to the individual seeking to carry away the firearm.”