Civil Rights Victory in California

NRA’s Annual Firearms Law Seminar is reporting that we have won in the case of Sylvester v. Harris:

V. ORDER

The Court has found that the 10-day waiting periods of Penal Code § 26815(a) and § 27540(a) violate the Second Amendment as applied to certain groups. Plaintiffs urge the Court to follow the approach of Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933, 942 (7th Cir. 2012), in which the Seventh Circuit stayed its ruling for 180-days in order to give the Illinois legislature the opportunity to craft new laws in light the unconstitutionality of various Illinois firearms laws. The Court finds Moore‟s approach to be appropriate.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. The 10-day waiting periods of California Penal Code § 26815(a) and § 27540(a) violate the Second Amendment as applied to those individuals who successfully pass the BFEC/standard background check prior to 10 days and who are in lawful possession of an additional firearm as confirmed by the AFS system;(a) If the BFEC/standard background check for such an individual is completed and approved before 10-days, Defendant shall immediately release the firearm for delivery to such individual and shall not wait the full 10-days;
2. The 10-day waiting periods of California Penal Code § 26815(a) and § 27540(a) violate the Second Amendment as applied to those individuals who successfully pass the BFEC/standard background check prior to 10 days and who possess a valid CCW license issued pursuant to California Penal Code § 26150 or § 26155;(a) If the BFEC/standard background check for such an individual is completed and approved before 10-days, Defendant shall immediately release the firearm for delivery to such individual and shall not wait the full 10-days; Case 1:11-cv-02137-AWI-SKO Document 106 Filed 08/25/14 56
3. The 10-day waiting periods of California Penal Code § 26815(a) and § 27540(a) violate the Second Amendment as applied to those individuals who successfully pass the BFEC/standard background check prior to 10 days and who possess both a valid COE issued pursuant to California Penal Code § 26710 and a firearm as confirmed by the AFS system.(a) If the BFEC/standard background check for such an individual is completed and approved before 10-days, Defendant shall immediately release the firearm for delivery to such individual and shall not wait the full 10-days;
4. Defendant shall modify their BFEC procedures as they deem necessary so as to be able to comply fully and in good faith with this order.

The ruling is stayed for 180 days. I would imagine the State will appeal. There could never be any sound rationale for applying a waiting period for people who already owned guns. I don’t even think there is one for a waiting period at all, but for now we’ve at least started to push back a little bit on the whole notion of waiting periods. Victories are going to come in small increments at first, and then either sweeping victories or sweeping defeats, as the case works its way up. This is one of those small increments in the right direction.

This was a case brought by the CalGuns Foundation.