Appeals court strikes down New Mexico’s gun purchase waiting period law

A federal appeals court on Tuesday halted New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period for gun purchases, ruling that it likely infringes on citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

The 2-1 ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals leaves the law on hold pending a legal challenge and returns the case to a lower court.

The waiting period went into effect in May of last year and included violators being subject to a misdemeanor, but it does have an exception for concealed permit holders. Democrats had enacted the measure in an effort to allow for more time for federal background checks on gun buyers to be completed.

“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,” Judge Timothy Tymkovich wrote for the majority. “We conclude that New Mexico’s Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.”

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The Mountain States Legal Foundation and National Rifle Association filed the lawsuit on behalf of two New Mexico residents, arguing that the law was unconstitutional and delayed access to firearms for victims of domestic violence and other citizens.

The lawsuit referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen in which a new standard to determine whether a gun restriction is unconstitutional was established. To meet that standard, the government must show there is a “historical tradition of firearm regulation” that supports the law.

Michael McCoy, director of the Mountain States Legal Foundation’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms, celebrated the ruling.

“The court found that there was no analogous law from that era that would support the modern day law that’s at issue,” McCoy said. “For now, it means New Mexicans can go buy their firearms without an arbitrary delay imposed.”

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John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, also praised the court’s decision, saying it “serves as a key piece in dismantling similar gun control laws across the country.”

In a dissent, Judge Scott Matheson argued that New Mexico’s waiting period “establishes a condition or qualification on the commercial sale of arms that does not serve abusive ends.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said she was disappointed with the ruling and claimed it would likely cost lives.

“New Mexico’s waiting period law was carefully crafted to minimize gun violence while respecting Second Amendment rights,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement, pointing to other exceptions for gun purchases by law enforcement officers and transactions between immediate family members.

“Waiting periods prevent impulsive acts of violence and suicide, giving people time to step back and reassess their emotions during moments of crisis,” she added.

Since she was sworn in as governor in 2019, Lujan Grisham has signed several gun control measures, including a “red flag” law allowing a court to temporarily remove guns from people suspected of being at risk of hurting themselves or others and restrictions on firearms near polling places.

In 2023, the governor suspended the right to carry guns in public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque in response to shootings across the state that killed children.

Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in Albuquerque earlier this year, saying that a significant uptick in crime warranted the help of the state’s National Guard. She also declared a state of emergency last week over violent crime and drug trafficking across parts of northern New Mexico.

Legal experts have said the ruling could have wider consequences because other states, including California, Hawaii and Illinois, have imposed similar restrictions on gun purchases. In New Mexico, the waiting period applies to all licensed dealer firearm sales for handguns and long guns.  The only exception applies to concealed carry permit holders, law enforcement and immediate family transfers. Those in support of the waiting period laws argue that research links the law to reduced suicides and crimes of passion limiting impulsive behavior.  Officials in New Mexico have not said if they will seek review from the full 10th Circuit or appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.