The Effect of Waiting Periods
In reaction to the recent school shooting, Florida passed a new gun control bill. This bill included a 3 day waiting period to buy a firearm. Now, the "instant" NICS check in place can already take up to 3 days, this is a delay on top of that process. In my state we once had a 10 day waiting period to buy handguns, which ended up being repealed because it came at a high administration cost and was completely ineffective in reducing violent crime rates.
What other costs come with a waiting period? Other than the government's cost of administration of it costs citizens time. It costs other government agencies time, like the Post Office and the FBI that has to duplicate effort to do a redundant background check. This cost is inordinately high for poor people. Why?
Think of the logistics of how a waiting period works. First, you have to visit a gun shop where you wish to make a purchase. You pay for the firearm, or perhaps put down a deposit. You get a slip of paper from the shop. You then need to make a trip to your local police department, city hall or sheriff's office and apply to start the wait. After the waiting period has passed, you get a letter saying you have passed the background check and you can come pick up your permit to purchase. Now you can engage in trip 3 of this process. After that we have trip 4 where you go back to the gun store to pick up the item. If the NICS system is busy that day, or you get a delay in your check for another reason, you have to come back to the shop again in 3 days.
For upwardly mobile people, this is a hassle. For people who can't easily get away from work, since government offices are only open M-F during business hours, you may have to take time off from work, twice. If you rely on public transportation, this process with the many trips becomes quite the barrier. Add being a single parent to the mix and this may create an insurmountable barrier. The only people that waiting periods prevent from getting legal firearms are poor folks in rough neighborhoods that work full time or rely on public transportation. This is exactly the type of people who are most likely to need a firearm for defensive use.
Why don't they stop crime? Because all a waiting period does is add another NICS check to a process that already includes a NICS check. It is nothing but an administrative hassle and a huge barrier of entry to the working poor. It's bad legislation. It makes gun control advocates feel like they are doing something when all they are is oppressing working class people trying to act within the law.