US appeals court blocks New Mexico's 7-day waiting period on gun purchases
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A panel of federal appellate judges ruled Tuesday that New Mexico's seven-day waiting period on gun purchases likely infringes on citizens' Second Amendment rights, putting the law on hold pending a legal challenge.
The ruling by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals sends the case back to a lower court. New Mexico's waiting period went into effect in May 2024, and does hold an exception for concealed permit holders.
'Cooling-off periods do not fit into any historically grounded exceptions to the right to keep and bear arms, and burden conduct within the Second Amendment's scope,' wrote Judge Matteson Tymkovich in the split 2-1 ruling. 'We conclude that New Mexico's Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.
Two New Mexico residents had sued, citing concerns about delayed access to weapons for victims of domestic violence and others. Democratic state lawmakers had enacted the restrictions in hopes of ensuring more time for the completion of federal background checks on gun buyers.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham promised at the time that the new law would help to curb what she has described as a crime crisis in the state.
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AUSTIN — No matter where state Rep. Suleman Lalani went, the black-suited man followed him. When he headed to lunch at the eatery inside the Capitol — downing a chili dog and bowl of tortilla soup — the man sat a couple tables away. When he went to fetch dirty laundry from his nearby hotel room, the man followed in a gray pickup. And when the lawmaker-physician headed back toward Houston on Tuesday afternoon, to see elderly patients in his suburban district, the plainclothes officer was close behind. The constant surveillance came after Lalani and two dozen fellow House Democrats returned to the state following nearly two weeks evading Texas authorities in Illinois, where they had traveled to break quorum and block Republican redistricting legislation that could tip the balance of power in Congress. 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What he now thought: He'd fallen into the trap. He worried that if fellow lawmakers could impose a police escort on him, they could do it to anybody. 'This is not freedom,' Lalani said as he rode east past fields full of cotton and grazing cattle. But he felt a duty to check on his patients, some in their 80s and infirm. He kept an eye on the truck behind them. The rules of engagement were unclear. 'Should I speed?' joked chief of staff Tony Flores. Lalani scanned his colleagues' social media. Officers had followed some to the bathroom, others to pick up their children. Lalani worried his guy might scare the patients he planned to visit at a nursing home. What if the officer ventured inside? Stopping for gas en route to Houston at 4 p.m., Lalani stared at the DPS officer's tinted car windows across the parking lot. 'They have real jobs, and yet they are babysitting all of us,' he said. By 5 p.m., Lalani had arrived at his district office in an oak-shaded brick complex in the suburb of Sugar Land. His wife, three sons — ages 15, 26 and 27 — and a dozen supporters waited with flowers and handmade signs, including 'Police escort of Texas Reps = police state.' 'They will not stop my life,' Lalani told the group. He is in his second term, one of the state's first Muslim and Southeast Asian representatives, a native of Pakistan. His wife, who is a registered nurse, said the police escort reminded her of their homeland. She has been feeling so stressed, she's had dizzy spells. 'Even in that country you have freedom of speech,' Zakia Lalani said. 'I don't feel comfortable. I mean, you're living in America.' About 6:30 p.m., the officer ducked inside. He was trying to stay out of the way, he said, but needed to 'coordinate logistics.' When would the lawmaker be leaving to drive back to Austin? About 9 p.m., Lalani replied. He was terse but polite. 'The poor guy is doing his job,' he'd say later. At the nursing home, the officer remained in the parking lot. Inside, nurses loaned Lalani a stethoscope because he'd forgotten to bring his. So went the next few hours. After making his rounds at the nursing home — reassured that several patients were doing well — he and his family managed dinner at a local restaurant serving Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Zakia Lalani invited the officer to join them. He declined, waiting in the parking lot until a new shift arrived. The meal was interrupted repeatedly by constituents, supporters who thanked Lalani in both English and Urdu. 'We admire what you are doing,' local businessman Qaisar Imam said. 'We are afraid to say a lot of things. So when you do, it gives us a voice.' Even as he fumed at the expense of so many officers trailing him — three in one day so far, all at taxpayers' expense — Lalani wondered whether the police escort was a blessing in disguise. The redistricting battle in Austin, in large part at President Donald Trump's urging; the issues that could hang in the balance in both Texas and the country; and, of course, the way the drama had played out at the Capitol between the Republicans and Democrats. 'People are being motivated. They see [GOP leaders] doing this to their representatives,' he said. It was much later than Lalani had expected when everything finally wrapped up. Dinner had taken longer, and then he'd paused to pray. He had been following reports through the evening that a threat had been posted online against officers at the Capitol and the building shut down, but information still was sketchy. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., as Lalani prepared to depart, a new officer in a gray SUV explained that he would follow them halfway, then trade off with yet another officer. Lalani nodded. About an hour later, the gray SUV peeled off, replaced by yet another SUV waiting on the highway shoulder on the way back to Austin. 'You think that's the guy?' Lalani's chief of staff asked. He shrugged. The escorts' novelty had worn off. Along with the other House Democrats who fled out of state, Lalani faces fines of up to $500 a day for those days away. He and a dozen others also face legal action brought by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued to vacate their seats because of their moves to prevent a House quorum. Lalani returned to his hotel after midnight. By Wednesday morning, he had yet another officer to accompany him back to the Capitol. The man trailed him down the hall, upstairs to the House chamber door. And there, just before 10 a.m., Lalani's shadow finally vanished.
