NEW MEXICO’S 7-DAY DELAY ON FIREARM PURCHASES IS AN AFRONT TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE CONSTITUTION
Mountain States Legal Foundation Partners with the NRA to Challenge the Constitutionality of the New Mexico Waiting Period
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (May 16, 2024) — Today, New Mexico’s new 7-day waiting period law goes into effect. Enacted by the state’s legislature and signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the law requires those who purchase a firearm to wait seven days before taking possession of their gun. That is, even if a citizen has passed a background check and paid for a firearm upfront, the government still mandates a weeklong delay prior to taking possession of a firearm. With this new law, New Mexico is denying its citizens their Second Amendment rights and their right to self-defense.
Mountain States and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are not about to let this law stand. Today, Mountain States filed a lawsuit, Ortega v. Grisham, that challenges the constitutionality of New Mexico’s waiting period law. Additionally, we are filing a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to halt the enforcement of the waiting period while the case proceeds through the district court. New Mexico citizens should not have to endure this egregious violation of their Second Amendment-protected rights while a lawsuit proceeds.
Anyone who is familiar with the Supreme Court’s historic decision in NYSPRA v. Bruen realizes that this New Mexico gun law is patently unconstitutional. This is not the first-time that anti-gun politicians in New Mexico have attempted to undermine the Second Amendment, but this new law speaks to their desperation and hostility toward the rights of New Mexicans and Americans to defend themselves. Michael McCoy, Director of MSLF’s Center to Keep & Bear Arms, says, “This arbitrary law is just the latest attempt by Governor Grisham and her anti-gun comrades in the New Mexico legislature to limit the Second Amendment rights of their law-abiding citizens. The Second Amendment protects a private right of individuals to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense; but this ridiculous waiting period law arbitrarily delays the ability of law-abiding citizens to exercise this God-given right. For clients like Mr. Ortega, a former law enforcement officer, or domestic violence victims who need a firearm to protect themselves, 7 days is both an unnecessary and dangerous delay before they can exercise the right to self-defense.”
“The NRA is proud to team up with Mountain States Legal Foundation to challenge New Mexico’s waiting period law,” said Randy Kozuch, Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). “This new law is a clear violation of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Mexicans, and NRA is committed to seeing that this unconstitutional law be wiped from the state statutes.”
If the courts strike down the law, it will send a clear signal that any delay in a person’s right to keep and bear arms is a denial of that right. If the courts uphold the law, however, it will stand contrary not only to the text of the Second Amendment and the Supreme Court, but against the most basic right of protecting oneself and family.
Mountain States Legal Foundation along with the National Rifle Association (NRA) is representing Samuel Ortega and Rebecca Scott. We seek nothing short of a complete invalidation of the law by the federal courts, and a return to constitutional sensibility.
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Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) is a nonprofit, public-interest legal firm established in 1977. MSLF is dedicated to individual liberty, limited and ethical government, and the benefits of the free enterprise system. MSLF defends its clients through pro bono litigation and seeks victory for its clients at the highest level possible to establish binding legal precedents to benefit millions of Americans. Through its litigation and public discourse, MSLF educates the American public on the threat unrestrained government presents to our liberties. Learn more at mslegal.org
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