Daily Journal
September 3, 2014
 
The 10-Day Waiting Period Is Reasonable
By John J. Donohue
 
Rarely will the conservative majority on the Supreme Court issue a decision so objectionable that it draws harsh rebukes from sitting conservative, Regan-appointed federal appellate court judges; but 2008's Heller decision, creating an individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms, elicited just that. Jusges Richard Posner and Harvie Wilkinson strongly criticized the decision as an unwise “snow job” of unprincipled rhetoric that violated established principles of constitu­tional interpretation, federalism, and the proper role of thejudiciary in dealing with issues best left to the political branches. The Aug. 22 decision of a federal district court judge in California, who ruled that California's 1-day waiting period unconstitutionally burdens the Sec­ond Amendment rights of existing gun owners shows that Posner and Wilkinson had it right (Silvester v. Harris, E.D. Cal. 2014). The dam­age should be short-lived, however; since the decision will hopefully be reversed on appeal.