Appeals Court Halts New Mexico's Gun Purchase Waiting Period

Above, a card I picked up last year at Loeffler's Guns Etc. in Grants. 

Last year, I bought a Winchester Model 12 shotgun just before the new New Mexico law forcing a 7-day waiting period on gun purchases.

The law went into effect May 15, 2024.

Lawsuits then ensued challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Yesterday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs against the law.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported:

A federal appellate court Tuesday landed a heavy blow against a New Mexico law requiring a seven-day waiting period for firearms purchases.

The ruling, which questions the constitutionality of the waiting period, could affect similar laws in place in states across the country.

Tuesday’s ruling means New Mexico’s gun purchase waiting period — passed into law last year — will be put on hold until the legal challenge by two state residents is resolved in a lower federal court. But the ruling also provides a signal of the how the court is likely to rule on the law.

Judges from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver reversed a lower court decision to deny a injunction against New Mexico’s Waiting Period Act, which requires a seven-day “cooling-off period” for purchases of guns throughout the state, with some exceptions for concealed carry permit-holders and law enforcement officers and sales between immediate family members.

An order issued by the appellate court Tuesday states the law is “likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.”

This is definitely great news for gun owners in New Mexico and, possibly, around the country.

To read more, go here.