The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico has granted summary judgment and entered final judgment holding New Mexico’s seven-day firearm waiting period unconstitutional in Ortega v. Grisham. The case was brought by the National Rifle Association and Mountain States Legal Foundation, in partnership with the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
In response to the ruling, the NRA released the following statement:
“The NRA’s legal team has secured another historic victory by striking down New Mexico’s unconstitutional waiting-period law,” said John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director. “A right delayed is a right denied, and the court correctly held that forcing law-abiding citizens to wait after passing a background check cannot be squared with the Second Amendment. Under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the NRA’s landmark 2022 case, waiting period laws like this fail because they have no analog in the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. While we celebrate with the people of New Mexico, our work is far from over. The NRA will not rest until we remove these unconstitutional gun control laws across our country.”
Enacted in 2024, the law required purchasers to wait seven days before taking possession of a newly purchased firearm—even after immediately passing a federal background check confirming they were not prohibited from owning firearms. The NRA and MSLF filed suit the day the law took effect on behalf of plaintiffs Samuel Ortega and Rebecca Scott.
On August 19, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the waiting period violates the Second Amendment. The court ruled that the right to keep and bear arms includes the lawful acquisition of arms and that “cooling-off” periods are a modern invention unsupported by the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. On December 22, 2025, the Tenth Circuit denied the State’s petition for rehearing en banc.
After the case returned to the district court, the State argued that the court was not bound by the Tenth Circuit’s decision and should uphold the law. District Judge James O. Browning concluded that the court was bound by the appellate ruling and granted judgment to the plaintiffs on August 27, 2026. The State may appeal to the Tenth Circuit, which has already held the law unconstitutional.
About NRA-ILA: Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action is the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association. NRA-ILA is committed to preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
