[Huron Daily Tribune] SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's policy of withholding weapons for 10 days from buyers who previously purchased a gun and clear a background check before the state's waiting period is a reasonable safety precaution that does not violate the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower-court decision that found the law was unconstitutional when applied to existing gun owners and people with concealed-weapons permits who pass the checks before the 10-day waiting period.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii said in his 2014 ruling that the state's goal of implementing a cooling-off period to prevent impulsive acts of violence will not deter those who already own a gun.
But 9th Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder said the waiting period makes sense, for example, for someone who already owns a hunting rifle but may want to buy a larger-capacity weapon that will do more damage when fired into a crowd.
"A 10-day cooling-off period would serve to discourage such conduct and would impose no serious burden on the core Second Amendment right of defense of the home," she said.