Florida AG Sues His Own State to Kill the Waiting Period

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier just sided with gun owners against his own state's firearm waiting period — filing to support the NRA's active federal lawsuit demanding the restriction be struck down as unconstitutional.

That is not a typo. The state's top law enforcement officer filed to kill a Florida law. Uthmeier's office argues the 3-day waiting period cannot survive post-*Bruen* scrutiny because no historical tradition exists of the government forcing law-abiding citizens to wait before exercising a constitutional right.

The NRA originally filed the suit targeting Florida Statute §790.0655 — a law that forces buyers who already cleared a federal background check to cool their heels for 72 hours before taking possession of a firearm they legally purchased. The restriction applies even to concealed carry permit holders — people the state already vetted, fingerprinted, and cleared.

*Bruen* flipped the burden. The government must now prove any gun restriction is rooted in America's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Florida's lawyers looked at that standard, looked at a 72-hour waiting period, and could not find a defense — so they stopped defending it.

The gun-control lobby sells waiting periods as a "cooling off" measure. What they actually do is strip a domestic violence victim of the ability to arm herself immediately against a known threat. They punish the responsible buyer for a crime someone else might commit — someday, theoretically, maybe. The responsible buyer waits. The threat does not.

With the AG now aligned against the waiting period, the state's defense collapses from within. A federal judge watching both the plaintiff and the defendant's own top attorney argue the same side has a very clear road ahead.

This case matters beyond Florida. A favorable ruling in the third-largest state by population — home to millions of gun owners — builds precedent that anti-gun states cannot ignore.

**Bottom line:** Florida just handed gun owners a roadmap. If AG Uthmeier can flip on a waiting period in Tallahassee, gun owners in every state should demand the same accountability from their own attorneys general. Find yours. Make the call.