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Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022

Did Wisconsin repeal the 48-hour waiting period to purchase a handgun in 2015?

Jacob Alabab-Moser, Wisconsin Watch
yes

On June 24, 2015, former Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill repealing Wisconsin’s 48-hour waiting period for purchasing a handgun. 

Before the Republican-led Legislature approved the repeal, the state had required firearm dealers to wait 48 hours between a purchaser passing a state Department of Justice background check and taking possession of a handgun. Today, the law only requires the DOJ to notify dealers within five working days of the start of the background check process of any "unclear" results from the check.

Democratic state Sen. Melissa Agard and Rep. Sheila Stubbs introduced legislation in February 2022 to reinstate the waiting period, which Stubbs called "a common-sense way to limit crimes of passion." One 2017 study estimates waiting periods reduce gun homicides by 17%. But the Rand Corp. in 2020 found a lack of high-quality research on such "cooling off" periods. 

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

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