Written by 2025 Communications Fellow Evelyn Engle.
We don’t take our victories lightly at Mountain States Legal Foundation. Every single one is the result of countless hours of effort, carefully thought-out strategy, and the persistence of our supporters. That is why we are proud to share this past month’s news with you. August was a month of momentum, where our mission to fight for your Constitutional rights became a reality in multiple ways.
Our supporters deserve to hear directly about the progress being made in the many courtroom battles we bring against the government. The commitment that we have to protecting your freedom is actualized through your commitment to us. We are happy to give you this update of our work for this month as tangible proof that our strategy is working.
On August 19th, we secured a groundbreaking win in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a divided bench struck down New Mexico’s unconstitutional waiting period on firearm purchases. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, just one step below the Supreme Court, wrote a decision that shakes the foundations of anti-gun laws nationwide.
We argued simple common sense: Just as the First Amendment’s right to a free press presumes the ability to acquire a printing press, and the right to freely exercise religion assumes the ability to acquire a sacred text, the Second Amendment cannot mean less. The court made it crystal clear that baseless “cooling-off” delays imposed by the State directly infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
One of our clients, Paul Ortega, is a retired law enforcement officer who already legally owned multiple firearms and cleared his background check when the government had forced him to endure the waiting period. His case spelled out the absurdity of the law, and the court agreed. The majority opinion reaffirmed what the Supreme Court has already said: that the right to keep and bear arms is among the fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty. But here is why this ruling matters so much: it doesn’t just stop a bad law in New Mexico. It sets a precedent. It draws a clear line for courts across the country to follow. This is a monumental step forward, and we’re not stopping here.
At the same time, we have already begun our next challenge: Taking on Florida’s more complex waiting-period restrictions, cemented in both their state laws and state constitution. At the end of August, we started a new battle with the government in Florida: Dunn v. Glass.
Florida has hard-coded a violation of the Second Amendment into its highest law, something even worse than what New Mexico had done through their legislation. The result of this is dangerous. Law-abiding citizens are forced into defenselessness while waiting on the government to “allow” them to exercise a right. Real consequences can come from states violating our Constitution.
Taking on a case this size is exactly what our work is about: confronting these giants strategically wherever they appear. This is what sets our team apart. We know that momentum matters. The same month we celebrated the landmark Ortega case, we launched again in a new state. With your support, we turn success into strategy and strategy into action.
Beyond the Second Amendment, we have stood up for the free expression of a Penn State English professor who was silenced for respectfully questioning mandatory DEI trainings at his public university. Dr. Zack De Piero spent years helping underprivileged students in Philadelphia discover the power of language. But beginning in 2020, Penn State turned on Zack, dismissing his record of service and silencing the same educator who had dedicated his entire career to encouraging students through teaching.
When it became clear Penn State cared more about ideology than education, Zack made the difficult decision to resign. But he didn’t walk away quietly. Because asking questions is not a crime, we took the case. Our goal is to not only defend Zack’s basic right to speak, but the principle that classrooms should be places of learning, not indoctrination.
But we didn’t stop at three cases in the month of August. Just as we stood up for Zack De Piero’s right to speak freely, we also stood up for Christine Searle’s right to keep what is hers. Christine, a 70-year-old widow in Gilbert, Arizona, was set to lose her home—worth nearly half a million dollars—over just $1,607 in unpaid property taxes. Under Arizona’s prior broken tax-lien system, the state could take everything, stripping her of not only her house but every dollar of equity she had built over a lifetime.
That’s where we stepped in. On August 28, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed us a key victory, ruling that Christine’s fight wasn’t over and that her equity should still belong to her. Christine’s case is about more than one home. It’s about protecting every homeowner from being stripped of their life savings by government overreach.
Each of these fights matters. Deeply. Altogether, they show a picture of a legal team that is not just reacting, but pushing forward with a bold vision. Going back to this idea of momentum, August was a month that built energy, strength, and direction for what comes next. Your support not only motivates us, but it corrects the mistakes of the government and gives freedom back to the people. The momentum that you helped build is what will ultimately change our nation for the better.
