NRA sues New Mexico (again) over its 7-day waiting period¶
What happened. The NRA, joined by NSSF, the Second Amendment Foundation, New Mexico gun groups and businesses, and an NRA member, filed NSSF v. Torrez in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The Tenth Circuit already held New Mexico's 7-day waiting period unconstitutional in Ortega v. Grisham, except as to people whose background checks don't clear within three days. According to NRA-ILA, the state keeps enforcing the law against everyone except the two Ortega plaintiffs and has threatened criminal enforcement against retailers and buyers. The new suit seeks to stop that.
Why it matters. When a federal appeals court says a law is unconstitutional, the usual next step is to stop enforcing it. New Mexico's reading is that the Constitution only protects people who have already sued. That's a creative theory of rights, and the NRA is asking a court to retire it.