A 7 Day Waiting Period, it's the Law

• What is the 7-Day Waiting Period?

On March 4, 2024, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law House Bill 129, which made important amendments to the criminal offenses chapter of the New Mexico Statutes. Among those changes is a new mandatory 7-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms. HB 129 created a new section of New Mexico’s statutes, § 30-7-7.3, Unlawful Sale of a Firearm Before Required Waiting Period Ends. Section 30-7-7.3 requires the following:

• A waiting period of seven calendar days shall be required for the sale of a firearm and the transfer of the firearm to the buyer.
• This waiting period shall include the period of time required to conduct a federal instant background check. If the background check takes longer than the 7-calendar-day-waiting period, the seller must wait to transfer the firearm until the background check is completed. If the background check is not completed within twenty days, however, the seller may—but is not required to—transfer the firearm to the buyer.
• The firearm shall remain in the custody of the seller or the federal firearms licensee performing the federal instant background check during the entirety of the waiting period.
• Unlawful sale of a firearm before the required waiting period ends consists of the transfer of ownership, possession, or physical control of the firearm from the seller to the buyer before the end of the required seven-calendar day waiting period, but does not include temporary possession or control of a firearm provided to a customer by the proprietor of a licensed business in the conduct of that business.
• Each party to an unlawful sale of a firearm before the required waiting period ends is in violation of this section and may be separately charged for the same sale.
• Each firearm sold contrary to the provisions of this section constitutes a separate offense under Subsection C of this section, and two or more offenses may be charged in the same information, complaint, or indictment and will be charged separately.
• Whoever violates the provisions of § 30-7-7.3 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
• Section 30-7-7.3 do not apply to:
  • A buyer who holds a valid federal firearms license;
  • A buyer who holds a valid New Mexico concealed handgun license;
  • A law enforcement agency;
  • Between two law enforcement officers authorized to carry a firearm and certified pursuant to federal law or the Law Enforcement Training Act; or
  • Between immediate family members; immediate family member is defined as a spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling, a grandparent, a grandchild, a great-grandchild, a niece, a nephew, a first cousin, an aunt or an uncle.
• When does the new 7-day waiting period take effect?

This new law is effective on May 15, 2024.