The Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has denied New Mexico’s petition for rehearing in Ortega v. Grisham, again invalidating the state’s firearms-waiting-period law.
Lawyers for the state wanted a review by the full 10th Circuit after a three-judge panel found the 2024 law unconstitutional in August 2025.
In 2024, New Mexico enacted a law requiring individuals to wait seven days before taking possession of a newly purchased firearm — even after passing a background check and demonstrating that they are not prohibited from owning firearms.
The National Rifle Association, together with the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), filed suit challenging the law on the day it was enacted.
As Gun Tests reported in the article, Tenth Circuit Panel Says New Mexico’s Waiting Period Is Unconstitutional, the 10th Circuit held on August 19, 2025, that New Mexico’s law violates the Second Amendment the right to keep and bear arms necessarily includes the lawful acquisition of firearms. So “cooling off” waiting periods infringe on Second Amendment-protected conduct.
Also, the court concluded that waiting periods are a modern invention that are unsupported by the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
In online comments about the case, the Mountain States Legal Foundation said on its website, “The Governor of New Mexico is a repeat offender when it comes to violating the Constitution.” Michelle Lujan Grisham, the governor of the state, is the named defendant in the original suit and rehearing effort. New Mexico’s attorney general, Raul Torrez, is also a defendant.
Other losers listed in the court documents and aligned with Grisham and Torrez in the original case and now in the denied rehearing are Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence, Giffords Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence, the State of Colorado, and Everytown For Gun Safety.
The state petitioned for rehearing en banc on September 2, 2025. On December 22, 2025, the Tenth Circuit denied that petition, leaving the ruling invalidating the waiting period intact.
This decision restores the rights of New Mexicans and also impacts gun owners throughout the Tenth Circuit. Besides New Mexico, other states in the 10th Circuit include Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming, plus those portions of the Yellowstone National Park extending into Montana and Idaho.
Plaintiffs Rebecca Scott and Samuel Ortega filed legal objections to the law because they said it violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms, a view which the 10th Circuit has twice affirmed now.
The case was heard by Chief Judge Holmes and Circuit Judges Hartz, Tymkovich, Matheson, Bacharach, Phillips, McHugh, Eid, Carson, and Rossman. Circuit Judges Federico and Moritz dissented.
Circuit Judge Federico wrote in dissent that “This appears to be the first time the 10th Circuit court has ever struck down a firearms statute for violating the Second Amendment.”
