Philadelphia Inquirer: Waiting Period Could Have Prevented Sandy Hook

On June 13, the Philadelphia Inquirer weighed in on the feeding frenzy against AR-15s with a column that claimed a waiting period could have prevented Adam Lanza from opening fire on Sandy Hook innocents.

The immediate flaw with this argument: Lanza stole his guns. In so doing, he circumvented any and all gun controls. So a waiting period would not have made a bit of difference.

On the other hand, the Inquirer column contends that a waiting period might have prevented Omar Mateen from allegedly killing around 50 innocents in Orlando. The problem with this suggestion is that Mateen did submit to a waiting period for the handgun he used in the attack. In fact, Mateen complied with all gun control laws to acquire his guns and even possessed a Florida Security Officer license and a Statewide Firearms License on top of everything else.

The Inquirer somehow missed this.

Moreover, the Inquirer lamented the fact that a person who passes a background check can — by federal law — take possession of their firearm immediately, barring any state-instituted waiting periods to the contrary. Think about it — the columnist is upset over the fact that a person who passes an FBI-conducted background check gets to take possession of his or her gun immediately.

What other scenario would one expect under the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)? The key word is “instant.” And what justification would there be for doing it any other way? Why should a citizen with no criminal record be forced to wait days to exercise his or her God-given Second Amendment rights?

Seriously. Adam Lanza blew past all gun control by stealing his guns, and he killed 26 people. Omar Mateen submitted to every gun control on the books — including a waiting period for his handgun — and he allegedly killed about 50. Can the Inquirer explain the advantage of a waiting period?

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.