Key Takeaways
- Florida’s Attorney General supported gun owners by challenging the state’s three-day waiting period for firearm purchases.
- A court agreement will end the mandatory wait for buyers who clear background checks, allowing immediate sale of firearms.
- The waiting period, established in Florida’s constitution in 1990, is now deemed unconstitutional as it infringes on Second Amendment rights.
- Consumers will not face a second trip; if the background check clears, they can leave with their firearm immediately.
- The case highlights a broader trend as other states push for stricter waiting periods, contrasting Florida’s move towards de-regulation.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Florida’s top lawyer just sided with gun owners over the state’s three-day firearm waiting period, and the move is set to end the forced wait for anyone who clears a background check.
On June 5, the parties in the NRA’s challenge to the waiting period filed an offer of judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Attorney General James Uthmeier, Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, and 20 state attorneys agreed that the requirement violates the Second Amendment.
The case is Dunn v. Glass. The plaintiffs are the NRA, two Florida gun stores, 2nd Amendment Armory and Centurion Armament Co., and four NRA members. They filed suit in August 2025 alongside the Mountain States Legal Foundation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Uthmeier said every government office exists to protect “your God-given rights as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.” He framed the decision as a duty, not a political call.
Every government office, including mine, exists to protect your God-given rights as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 5, 2026
That’s why we’re settling a landmark federal case that declares Florida’s 3-day firearm purchase waiting period unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. https://t.co/9ZSZjhTO3m
Here is what the agreement does. Once the court enters final judgment, the state and anyone acting with it are permanently barred from forcing retailers to hold a firearm longer than it takes to finish a background check. The state would then have seven days to notify agencies and law enforcement that enforcement has stopped.
For a buyer, it is simple. If your check clears in an hour, the dealer can finish the sale and you leave with your firearm. No second trip. No mandatory three-day hold.
More from USA Carry:
The waiting period lives in two places. Florida voters wrote a three-day wait for handgun purchases into the state constitution in 1990. In 2018, after the Parkland shooting, the Legislature expanded it to cover every firearm under section 790.0655. That statute still imposes a three-day floor even when the records check finishes the same day.
The plaintiffs asked for judgment on all claims, the injunction, and $10,000 in fees. They waived damages. The point was never money. It was ending an arbitrary delay that treats a fundamental right like a privilege you have to wait your turn for.
The concession also lands while other states push the opposite way. New York’s Senate recently passed its own three-day waiting period bill. Florida’s reversal signals that waiting periods with no historical grounding are vulnerable, and that is exactly the weakness courts are now testing.
One point worth being clear on. The background check is not going away. The instant check still runs every time. What ends is the extra government-mandated wait stacked on top after the check already clears.
Final judgment has not been entered yet. I will update this story once the court signs off and the injunction takes effect.
