Three influential gun rights organizations, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), joined forces on Monday to oppose New Mexico’s latest infringement on the right to keep and bear arms.
The state now imposes a seven-day “cooling off” period after an individual clears the FBI background check before they may take possession of a firearm.
The plaintiffs sued in federal court after state officials ignored multiple rulings against the controversial law.
NM waiting period only affects law-abiding citizens
“New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raul Torrez are blatantly and unconstitutionally enforcing New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period law, despite it having twice been held to violate Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Mexicans,” NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane declared.
He further noted that violent criminals do not purchase firearms in gun shops or wait seven days to acquire one. Meaning only citizens who obey the law are affected.
Last year, the Tenth Circuit held that the waiting period is unconstitutional except when the background check is not cleared within three days.
Not satisfied, New Mexico officials asked the full Tenth Circuit to reconsider. It did and ruled against the state 10-2.
Officials stubbornly refuse to heed Court’s clear direction
Then, in August, the district court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment on remand. That should have been that, and enforcement of the waiting period, except for those whose background check results are delayed, should have ceased.
It didn’t; thus, the new legal action.
New Mexico authorities swung and missed three times, which normally means they back down. Instead, anti-gun leaders apparently dug in their heels in protest and ignored multiple determinations that the “cooling off” period violates the Second Amendment.
Gun rights groups were left with no choice, and this week they acted.
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