A federal appeals court has blocked enforcement of New Mexico’s new seven-day waiting period for gun purchases, siding with challengers who argued it violates constitutional rights.

Source New Mexico staff, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

The federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday paused New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period for gun purchases, enacted into law last year.

Two New Mexico residents, Paul Ortega and Rebecca Scott, both of whom say they were forced to wait for their gun purchases despite quickly passing background checks, sued Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez over the law on the day it took effect: May 15, 2024. Their suit, backed by the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun organizations, contends the law is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. A federal district judge in July of 2024, however, denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the law while the lawsuit proceeded.

In its 2-1 split decision Tuesday, the Appeals Court reversed that decision, pausing the law, and sent the case back to the lower court. “Cooling-off periods infringe on the Second Amendment by preventing the lawful acquisition of firearms,” the decision reads. “Cooling-off periods do not fit into any historically grounded exceptions to the right to keep and bear arms, and burden conduct within the Second Amendment’s scope. In this preliminary posture, we conclude that New Mexico’s Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.”

The governor’s office says it is reviewing its legal options for responding to the ruling.

“Today’s decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is deeply disappointing, plainly wrong and likely to cost lives in New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “New Mexico’s waiting period law was carefully crafted to minimize gun violence while respecting Second Amendment rights. The dissenting opinion in today’s ruling even notes that New Mexico’s law ‘is likely to save approximately thirty-seven lives per year.’”

The governor’s statement continues to say that the Tuesday ruling ignored a prior Tenth Circuit ruling that upheld Colorado’s law barring gun purchases by anyone under the age of 21, or “a law that requires 18-year-olds to wait three years to purchase a weapon.” Judge Scott M. Matheson’s dissenting opinion in Tuesday’s decision makes the same argument. The majority opinion acknowledges that precedent and also acknowledges that “courts have only partially fleshed out the boundaries of these commercial conditions.” However, it continues, “even in this murky territory, the Waiting Period Act falls far short of a presumptively constitutional law.”

Lujan Grisham’s statement also contends the ruling mischaracterized New Mexico’s gun-purchase waiting period as applying to “everyone,” when it exempts people with concealed carry permits; law enforcement officers; and people who sell guns to immediate family members.

“The evidence is clear,” the governor concludes. “Waiting periods prevent impulsive acts of violence and suicide, giving people time to step back and reassess their emotions during moments of crisis. I’m disappointed that today’s ruling doesn’t take this into account.”

The NRA issued a statement commending the decision. “In courtrooms across America, the NRA is successfully leading the charge to protect law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” said NRA-Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director, John Commerford said in a statement. “The 10th Circuit has sided with the NRA and held that radical waiting period laws are indeed unconstitutional. This decision not only impacts gun owners in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma, but serves as a key piece in dismantling similar gun control laws across the country.”