In Arizona, we wait 99 seconds. Catch up, States. After living in California my entire life, I moved to Arizona in 2018. When I bought my first firearm here, it felt like an out-of-body experience. I didn’t yet have an Arizona CCW permit, so the woman behind the counter made a quick phone call, exchanged a little small talk about family and everyday life, I filled out the 4473, paid for my purchase, and then—I WALKED OUT WITH MY GUN.
Other than the phone call and the 4473, it was pretty much the way the Founding Fathers intended.
Let’s start with a question. Why does the government think you need three days to decide whether you really want to exercise a constitutional right?
That’s the entire logic behind a gun waiting period. You pass your background check, the system clears you in minutes, and the state still makes you wait. Not for the check. For a mood.
It’s called a cooling-off period, and it’s exactly as condescending as it sounds.
Run the logic on any other right
The whole idea falls apart the second you apply it anywhere else.
Imagine being told you can’t post your opinion online for three days, in case you say something you’ll regret. Or that you have to wait three days before you can attend church, file a petition, or speak to a reporter. We’d call that absurd, because it is.
A right delayed is a right denied. The Second Amendment doesn’t come with a waiting room.
By Jacob Paulsen
