The federal appeals court based in Denver declined on Tuesday to suspend a trial judge’s order preventing Colorado from enforcing a new law that increased the firearm purchase age from 18 to 21.

Previously, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer granted a preliminary injunction to two Colorado residents who challenged the constitutionality of Senate Bill 169, a Democratic-backed law that would have taken effect this month. Brimmer found the plaintiffs had shown they are likely to succeed on their claims under the new Second Amendment test the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority laid down in 2022.

Brimmer refused to suspend, or stay, his ruling while Colorado appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The government then asked the 10th Circuit to stay the injunction itself.

Brimmer allegedly lowered the burden for the plaintiffs to establish that SB 169 injured them, Colorado argued, and improperly rejected the government’s historical evidence that 18-to-20-year-olds have been subject to restrictions on firearm possession.

“Most troubling, the district court’s injunction takes effect the same month that schoolchildren across Colorado will be returning to the classroom to start the new school year. The lower court’s injunction allows some of those schoolchildren to purchase guns, contrary to the will of the people of Colorado,” wrote the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. “Coloradans will undoubtedly be harmed.”

In a brief order from the 10th Circuit, Judges Carolyn B. McHugh and Nancy L. Moritz denied the government’s request for a stay, finding the state is not entitled to one under the legal criteria. Both are appointees of Barack Obama.

The parties will now file their briefs in the underlying appeal.

The case is Rocky Mountain Gun Owners et al. v. Polis.