Judge uses gun bans against Natives, Black slaves to uphold MLG’s gun grab
In a new ruling, a New Mexico judge has upheld the state’s new anti-gun law forcing citizens to wait seven days before purchasing a firearm. The decision, handed down by the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico’s James O. Browning, denied a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed by plaintiffs Samuel Ortega and Rebecca Scott. The plaintiffs argued that the Act violated their Second Amendment rights by unduly burdening their ability to purchase and possess firearms.
The court’s decision heavily relied on colonial-era historical precedents to justify the modern regulation. Judge James Browning cited early American laws that restricted firearm ownership for specific groups, such as Native Americans and Black slaves, to argue that the United States has a long history of regulating who can possess firearms. These historical laws, the judge noted, were designed to prevent individuals deemed dangerous from acquiring weapons, a principle that underpins the current Waiting Period Act.
“Colonial lawmakers, fearing the consequences of unregulated access to firearms and munitions, sought to regulate the sale of firearms and munitions,” the ruling stated. By referencing laws from the 18th and 19th centuries that prohibited the sale of firearms to Native Americans and Black slaves, the court argued that similar regulatory measures have existed since the founding of the nation.
The primary issue before the court was whether the Waiting Period Act infringed upon the Second Amendment rights of New Mexico citizens by imposing a mandatory delay on firearm purchases. The plaintiffs contended that the Act arbitrarily delayed their right to obtain arms, with significant criminal penalties for violations. However, the court found that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional claim.
Judge Browning emphasized that the Act’s seven-day waiting period is consistent with historical traditions of firearm regulation against Black slaves and Native Americans.
The ruling has significant implications for gun control measures in New Mexico and potentially sets a precedent for other states considering similar regulations. The judge highlighted the rise in firearm-related deaths in the United States and New Mexico, underscoring the public safety rationale behind the Act, despite proving no correlation between legal guns being the culprit for so-called “firearm-related deaths.”
“New Mexico’s age-adjusted firearm death rate increased by eighty-seven percent between 2010 and 2021,” Browning’s ruling pointed out, citing state health department reports.
By upholding the Waiting Period Act, the court has reinforced the state’s ability to enact gun control measures aimed at reducing violence and ensuring that firearms are kept out of the hands of individuals who may pose a danger to themselves or others.
Following the ruling, the Firearms Policy Coalition wrote on X, “A New Mexico federal judge denied a motion for preliminary injunction against the state’s firearm waiting period today, saying that the law is historically supported by bans on gun sales to Native Americans and slaves,” sharing a screenshot of one of the ruling’s pages.
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