Waiting Periods Reduce Gun Deaths... What's Your Take?

Legal & Second Amendment
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Here are four different resources that weigh in on whether or not waiting periods reduce gun deaths. The second to last one definitely suggests a flaw in the research (quote below the Politifact link). And the last one gives a reference about mass shootings and waiting periods.

For those of you who love statistics, enjoy these three links! :wink:

However, waiting periods were not linked to lower suicide rates overall, which suggests some opted for alternative means of suicide.

Ten-day waiting periods? He bought his firearms at least a month before the attack, in some cases years earlier.

What facts are being missed in these reports?

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I wanted to read up on vital stastics before answering. I paid special attention to IL because well this is my home; however I read for all states. There’s no data I can see directly linking the 72 Hour (3 Day) Cooling Off Period to less or more gun death by suicides or domestic type violence. IL former Governor Bruce Rauner signed a 72 hour waiting period for all gun sales where previously for decades were only for handguns of all varieties. I can tell everyone however as a now retired licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer firearms are the least used method of suicides. I have been to hundreds of crime scenes and removed bodies from dozens of County Morgues in IL, IN, and a couple other states the common thread is gun deaths are least of all suicides. Maybe another time I will go into methods but the question was about guns, not about anything else so I will do that some other time possibly.

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I disagree. A friend who owns a gun shop, sold a 9 mm to a customer. The customer had no record, obviously, and paid his money. Although he could have picked it up in 3 days, he didn’t until the 4th. A few days later, he used it to shoot his wife. He claimed he was going to commit suicide, and that she interrupted, and the gun “went off” in her direction. He was found guilty of murder. He also owned other guns already.

If someone is in a hurry to kill others, there are “weapons of opportunity”. A ball bat, a wrench, even a car. And those opportunity items are used more than guns in our nation to murder every year. Someone who is “planning” a murder, doesn’t do it in a few hours. They are patient, and the waiting period isn’t going to make them rethink their life choices.

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Purchasing a gun with the intent to kill either yourself or someone else is a premeditated decision sorting out the method. The waiting period either delays or changes the implementation method. If a person has become so depressed or angry as to seriously consider using a gun in an offensive manner, then even if the waiting period does indeed “cool them down” they are prone to get to that point again in the future. If they have not already executed an alternative implementation, then the waiting period will pass, they will pick up their new gun, and it will be readily available for future depression or anger episodes.

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Agreed!

Waiting periods might just prevent a law-abiding citizen from saving their own lives.

Louisiana has no waiting period, thank God! F.B.I or NICS approves me in 2 seconds, BOOM getting my fire-arm and leaving


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That’s just one death Chet. I have been to probably one thousand crime scenes and as I said probably upwards of 600 different counties morgue. Not just One as your friend.
After looking again, I think you meant the original documentations and not what I stated.

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The one that really stands out to me more than any other is the man who detested his family and I was told hated everyone else equally. He received a necktie as a gift from I was told his brother; he waited for a family gathering and went into his room, into his walk in closet. He got on a bedroom chair tied the necktie tightly and securely around his neck kicking the chair from under his feet and around an hour later the family found the man hanging in his closet. I guess hatred doesn’t know any boundaries.

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Yes. I was agreeing with you. There is no data that shows the “cooling off” period stops crime.

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@45IPAC I saw that Chet, but what now concerns me about Interstate I-57, I never knew that until now. What’s your take on Springfield, IL? We are thinking about moving to Springfield, I will welcome your opinion.

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Where I always thought a waiting period might help is in regards to suicides.

However as I researched that was not the case. What’s true, and what the politifact article highlighted was that waiting periods reduces “gun suicides”
but not overall suicides. People simply found another way.

Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world
and all without guns.

The other area I thought a waiting period might be helpful is in regards to “impulse” killings, however I don’t know that they reduce it to the amount that would justify preventing someone from being able to make an immediate purchase in order to protect themselves from a sudden recognized threat. (and oh by the way how would they even capture that data for prevented impulse murders?)

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Maybe it will, a case here & there
 But the truth is that a person motivated enough will find a way to accomplish whatever they desire. Evil doesn’t rest & there’s no waiting period that will outlast “crazy.” These so-called solutions never hold up to logic or a simple understanding of human nature. These folk just have a strong disdain for the 2ND AMENDMENT. :v:t5:

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Since most guns used in crimes are not obtained legally I would venture to guess that there was no waiting period for their purchase. I would also venture to guess that the all of the statistics relating to waiting periods did not include the transfer of illegally obtained firearms.

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@MikeBKY is on point with that ^^^^

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Waiting periods reduce murder victims???

Well, Illinois has waiting periods. One word: Chicago.

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Someone help me understand here. The rationale is that if I want to go out and kill someone, I go to buy a gun, I am presented with a “cool down” period. Ok, I follow that train of thought. I am not saying I agree or believe it, but I comprehend it.

So why then must I wait to buy a gun if I already own a gun? If I wanted to shoot someone, wouldn’t I use the gun I already own? I’m just trying to point out the fact that gun laws are stupid and blow a big hole into the waiting period argument.

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Now, you know those gang members all have a valid FOID card, and were alter boys just last year.

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How can they prove a crime was prevented, if it does not happen?

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Heck Yeah! And Bonus :laughing::laughing::laughing:
They all are NRA MEMBERS
:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

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It has to be true because we all know criminals obey gun laws.

#sarcasm

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What facts are being missed in these reports?

I haven’t yet gone through the underlying studies referenced on the Gifford’s page and/or the Brady study. But just looking at the summary (emphasis mine) you can see it looks like they are really stretching to find any correlation at all.

That study found waiting periods were associated with reductions in the firearm suicide rate for people age 55 and older. However, waiting periods were not linked to lower suicide rates overall, which suggests some opted for alternative means of suicide.

Similar to the “proven effective” Firearms Licensing laws in some states, there is a difference between causation and correlation. If you implement a law and gun violence drops is it because of the law? Or is it because of other non-related factors? A write-up here on the oft-quoted “Connecticut implements firearms license, sees 40% drop in gun violence” myth which doesn’t take into consideration that the entire country also dropped 40% over the same timespan.

I suspect that is the case here when sometimes there is a drop in gun violence with a waiting period in effect that there are other factors in play.

The reason I don’t buy that it has any kind of significant impact is it doesn’t pass the sniff test. As @AlphaKoncepts points out, if you already have a firearm the waiting period is moot. Gun buyers who already have a firearm is likely the vast majority. So then out of the potential pool of people this might impact is only going to be first time gun buyers.

I have a hard time believing its going to be anything other than a tiny fraction of a percentage that would have to be so angry/sad that they would then hop in a car, drive to the store, talk to a salesperson (while still angry/sad), fill out a form, wait for a background check, pay for firearm, pick out and buy ammo, drive to wherever the target is (if murder) or home (if suicide), all in one go. All of that is at least a couple hours if not longer if you have to drive any significant distance to an LGS, plenty of time for most people to “cool off”. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but the number of people who bought a firearm and then immediately shot someone/themselves has to be a very small number.

Even the other side of the coin, where someone bought a gun out of fear for their life/safety, and then immediately had to use it is probably a fairly low number. (But I bet it’s higher than those who purchase and then immediately cause harm).

If there was a survey you could hand out to first time gun buyers to check in 30 days later and just say “did you shoot anyone”, that would answer whether or not the waiting period would be any benefit.

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