A: No. New Mexico requires a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) to carry a loaded firearm concealed. Carrying a concealed loaded firearm without a license is...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
A: No. New Mexico requires a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) to carry a loaded firearm concealed. Carrying a concealed loaded firearm without a license is "unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon," a petty misdemeanor under NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-2, unless you hold a valid CHL or fall within another listed exception (such as your own residence or your private vehicle). The state constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms but expressly does not extend that protection to concealed carry: N.M. Const. art. II, Section 6 states that "nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons." Open carry of a firearm by a person who may lawfully possess it is generally permitted without a license, because Section 30-7-2 criminalizes only the carrying of a concealed loaded firearm.
A: 21 years old. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-4(A)(3) requires that an applicant be twenty-one years of age or older. New Mexico does not issue CHLs to applicants under 21.
A: New Mexico does not have a separate non-resident CHL category. Under NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-4(A)(2), an applicant must be a resident of New Mexico, a member of the armed forces whose permanent duty station is located in New Mexico, or a dependent of such a member. Non-residents who carry in New Mexico typically rely on their home-state permit through the reciprocity framework of Section 29-19-12.
A: Four years. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-3 provides that original and renewed concealed handgun licenses are valid for a period of four years from the date of issuance, unless suspended or revoked. (A retired law enforcement officer's license under Section 29-19-14 and a military service person's license under Section 29-19-15 are each valid for five years.)
A: A minimum of 15 hours of instruction. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-7 requires an approved firearms training course of not less than fifteen hours, including classroom instruction, range instruction, and an actual live demonstration by the applicant of the ability to safely use a handgun. The course must be approved by the Department of Public Safety and must cover topics including safe handling, safe storage and child safety, live shooting on a firing range, and the federal, state, and local laws on the purchase, ownership, transportation, use, and possession of handguns.
A: The applicant must demonstrate the ability to use a handgun, and at a minimum must qualify with a handgun of .32 caliber (Section 29-19-7). Under Section 29-19-4(A)(10), the training is completed for the category and the largest caliber of handgun the applicant wants to be licensed to carry. The license then states the category and largest caliber the licensee may carry (Section 29-19-6(C)(4)), and the licensee may carry smaller-caliber handguns of that category but may carry only one concealed handgun at a time.
A: A four-hour refresher firearms training course approved by the Department of Public Safety. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-6(F) requires a completed renewal form, a $75 renewal fee, and a certificate of completion of a four-hour refresher course.
A: Yes. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-6(H) requires a two-hour refresher firearms training course two years after the issuance of an original or renewed license. The course must be taken twenty-two to twenty-six months after issuance, and the certificate of completion must be submitted to the department no later than thirty days after completion. This is separate from the four-hour course required to renew.
A: The application fee is set by statute at an amount not to exceed $100 (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-5(B)(2)). The renewal fee is $75 (Section 29-19-6(F)(2)). You also pay for fingerprinting (a law enforcement agency may charge a reasonable fee to fingerprint an applicant under Section 29-19-5(C)) and for the training course itself. Current and retired certified law enforcement officers, New Mexico mounted patrol members, and qualifying military service persons are exempt from the application fee, renewal fee, and (within limits) the training course under Sections 29-19-14 and 29-19-15.
A: The department acts within thirty days after receiving a completed application and the results of the national criminal background check (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-6(A)). Actual processing time varies with application volume and federal background-check turnaround.
A: It depends on the type of license the establishment holds. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-3 makes it unlawful to carry a loaded or unloaded firearm on premises licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages, a fourth-degree felony. A CHL holder may carry concealed under two listed exceptions: (a) on the premises of a licensed establishment that does not sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises; or (b) in a restaurant licensed to sell only beer and wine that derives no less than sixty percent of its annual gross receipts from food sold for on-premises consumption, unless the restaurant posts a conspicuous no-firearms sign at each public entrance or the owner or manager verbally tells you that firearms are not permitted. Bars and other on-premises liquor establishments that do not fit those exceptions remain off-limits even for CHL holders.
A: Yes. Section 30-7-3's exception in Subsection A(4)(a) covers a licensed establishment that does not sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. A store selling sealed beer and wine for off-site consumption falls within that exception. You must still comply with all other carry rules and any posted private-property notice.
A: No. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-2.1 makes carrying a deadly weapon on school premises a fourth-degree felony, and Section 29-19-8(B) confirms that a CHL does not authorize carry on school premises. "School premises" includes the buildings, grounds, playgrounds, playing fields, parking areas, and school buses of public elementary, secondary, junior high, and high schools. A CHL also does not authorize carry on the premises of a preschool (Section 29-19-8(C)).
A: Generally yes. Section 30-7-2.1(A)(5) exempts a person older than nineteen years of age who is on school premises in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance for lawful protection of person or property. The firearm must stay with the vehicle; carrying it onto the school grounds is the felony the statute prohibits.
A: Carrying a firearm on university premises is unlawful under NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-2.4, a petty misdemeanor. This covers baccalaureate institutions, community colleges, branch community colleges, technical-vocational institutes, and area vocational schools, including their buildings, grounds, playing fields, and parking areas. The same statute has a vehicle exception in Subsection A(5) for a person older than nineteen carrying in a private vehicle for lawful protection. Universities are required to post conspicuous notices that carrying a firearm on university premises is unlawful.
A: No, not without permission. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-11 provides that a concealed handgun license is not valid in a courthouse or court facility unless authorized by the presiding judicial officer for that courthouse. Federal court facilities are governed separately by 18 U.S.C. Section 930.
A: Federal facilities (federal office buildings, and similar federally owned or leased property where federal employees regularly work) are off-limits under 18 U.S.C. Section 930, regardless of state law; a violation is punishable by a fine or up to one year of imprisonment, with heavier penalties if you intend the weapon to be used in a crime. The statute treats federal court facilities even more strictly. National parks generally allow firearm possession by people who may lawfully carry under the law of the state in which the park sits, but buildings within parks where federal employees regularly work remain off-limits.
A: A property owner may bar firearms from the premises. The Concealed Handgun Carry Act directs the department to adopt rules giving a private property owner authority to disallow concealed carry on the owner's property (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-12(C)). If you stay or refuse to leave after notice, you may be charged with criminal trespass under Section 30-14-1, a misdemeanor. Holding a CHL is not a defense; comply with posted private-property notice.
A: N.M. Const. art. II, Section 6 provides that "no municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms." Local ordinances that try to regulate carry as an incident of that right may be preempted. This is a constitutional question that turns on the specific ordinance, so consult counsel rather than arguing the point on the scene. A city or county acting as a property owner of a particular building may still control firearms on that property, and you should comply with posted notice.
A: Not automatically. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-10 provides that a concealed handgun license is not valid on tribal land unless the carry is authorized by the governing body of the Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo. Check the rules of the specific tribe before carrying.
A: You must keep the license on you. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-9 requires a licensee to have the concealed handgun license in possession at all times while carrying a concealed handgun. The Concealed Handgun Carry Act does not, by its terms, impose a separate statutory duty to volunteer or to announce that you are carrying. The department is authorized to make rules allowing an officer to confiscate a license when a licensee violates the Act (Section 29-19-12(B)). As a practical matter, calmly identifying yourself as a CHL holder during a law enforcement encounter avoids confusion, but treat that as good practice rather than a charged statutory mandate.
A: Do not carry a firearm while under the influence. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-4(A)(2) makes "carrying a firearm while under the influence of an intoxicant or narcotic" the offense of negligent use of a deadly weapon, a petty misdemeanor. Carrying in an establishment licensed to dispense alcohol is separately restricted by Section 30-7-3. The safest course is not to carry while drinking.
A: No. Carrying a firearm while under the influence of a narcotic is negligent use of a deadly weapon under NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-4(A)(2). Separately, federal law at 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(3) makes it unlawful for any person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance to possess a firearm. Marijuana remains a federally controlled substance, so a marijuana user faces federal exposure even though marijuana is legal under New Mexico state law. A marijuana user who applies for or holds a CHL faces legal risk under both state and federal law.
A: Your license is qualified to one category of handgun and to a maximum caliber. Under NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-2, "category" means whether a handgun is semiautomatic or not semiautomatic, and "caliber" means the diameter of the bore. The applicant trains for the category and the largest caliber to be licensed (Section 29-19-4(A)(10)), and the license states that category and largest caliber (Section 29-19-6(C)(4)). You may carry handguns of the same category in that caliber or smaller, but only one concealed handgun at a time. To move up a category or caliber, complete additional approved training.
A: Yes. Section 30-7-2 criminalizes only the carrying of a concealed loaded firearm, so open carry of a firearm by a person who may lawfully possess it is generally lawful in New Mexico without a state license. The same place restrictions on firearms (schools, universities, liquor establishments, courthouses, federal facilities) still apply.
A: Yes. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-2(A)(2) lists, as an exception to unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, carrying in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance for the lawful protection of one's own or another's person or property. This applies whether or not you hold a CHL.
A: New Mexico does not impose a general statutory locked-storage mandate for firearms kept in the home. However, handling a firearm in a way that endangers others, including negligent handling, is the offense of negligent use of a deadly weapon under NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-4(A)(3), a petty misdemeanor. Reasonable care, especially around children or unscreened guests, supports using a safe or locked container.
A: Yes. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-7.3 (enacted by Laws 2024, ch. 46) requires a seven-calendar-day waiting period for the sale and transfer of a firearm; the period includes the time needed for the federal instant background check. If the check is not completed within twenty days, the seller may transfer the firearm. The waiting period does not apply to a sale:
A violation is a misdemeanor. The CHL exemption is one practical benefit of holding the license.
A: Yes, in most cases. NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-7.1 makes it unlawful to sell a firearm without a federal instant background check. A seller who is not a federal firearms licensee must arrange for an FFL to run the check, and the FFL may charge a fee of up to $35. The requirement does not apply to a sale by or to an FFL, to a law enforcement agency, between two qualifying law enforcement officers, or between immediate family members. A violation is a misdemeanor.
A: A temporary transfer between adults who may lawfully possess firearms is generally lawful, but a "sale" (a transfer for a fee or other consideration) triggers the background-check requirement of Section 30-7-7.1 unless an exception applies. Knowingly buying or transferring a firearm for someone you know to be a felon, or to further a firearm-related crime, is "unlawful purchase or transfer of a firearm for another," a fourth-degree felony under Section 30-7-7.2.
A: Recognition depends on each destination state's rules. Constitutional-carry states allow any lawful possessor to carry concealed without a permit, so they effectively let an NM licensee carry. Other states recognize the NM license only if it appears on their reciprocity list. Always verify the destination state's current rules before traveling.
A: Possibly. NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-12(E) gives the Department of Public Safety discretionary authority to recognize a license from another state if the issuing state's program is at least as stringent as or substantially similar to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act, prints an expiration date, can verify status for law enforcement within three business days, has disqualification and revocation requirements, and requires a national criminal history check and a qualifying firearms safety program. If your state is on the department's current recognition list, you may carry in New Mexico subject to all New Mexico carry rules.
A: New Mexico law treats a killing as justifiable homicide in defined circumstances. NMSA 1978 Section 30-2-7 provides that homicide is justifiable when committed in the necessary defense of one's life, family, or property, or in the lawful defense of oneself or another where there is reasonable ground to believe a design exists to commit a felony or do great personal injury and there is imminent danger that the design will be accomplished. New Mexico's uniform jury instructions frame this as requiring an apparent danger of immediate death or great bodily harm, action taken because of that fear, and conduct that a reasonable person would have taken in the same circumstances. Use only the force reasonably necessary and stop when the threat ends.
A: New Mexico has not enacted a comprehensive stand-your-ground statute. New Mexico case law does not impose a strict duty to retreat as a precondition to self-defense. The availability of a safe retreat may be considered as part of the overall reasonableness of the use of force, rather than as a separate threshold requirement.
A: In your own home there is no duty to retreat before using reasonably necessary force, including deadly force, to defend against an unlawful attack. New Mexico's castle doctrine is grounded in common law and the justifiable-homicide framework of NMSA 1978 Section 30-2-7, rather than in a separate codified "castle" statute.
A: Yes, the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 40, Article 17 (Sections 40-17-1 through 40-17-13, enacted by Laws 2020). A court may order a person who poses a significant danger of causing imminent personal injury to self or others to surrender firearms and to refrain from purchasing, possessing, or receiving firearms while the order is in effect.
A: A petition may be filed only by a law enforcement officer employed by a law enforcement agency (NMSA 1978 Section 40-17-5(A)); if the respondent is a law enforcement officer, the petition is filed by the district attorney or the attorney general. A "reporting party" may ask an officer to file. Under Section 40-17-2(H), a reporting party includes a spouse or former spouse, a parent, a present or former stepparent or parent-in-law, a grandparent or grandparent-in-law, a co-parent of a child, a child, a person with whom the respondent has or had a continuing personal relationship, an employer, or a public or private school administrator. On credible information giving probable cause, the officer must file a petition or, if declining, file a notice of declination with the county sheriff (Sections 40-17-5(C) and (D)).
A: You must relinquish all firearms in your possession, custody, or control to a law enforcement officer, a law enforcement agency, or a federal firearms licensee within forty-eight hours of service of the order, or sooner if the court directs (NMSA 1978 Section 40-17-10). The order also enjoins you from purchasing, receiving, or attempting to acquire firearms while it is in effect. A temporary order lasts until a hearing held within ten days (Section 40-17-6); after the hearing the court may issue a one-year order (Sections 40-17-2(F) and 40-17-7).
A: Suppressors are regulated under federal law (the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53). A suppressor lawfully registered under federal law may be possessed in New Mexico. New Mexico does not separately bar lawfully possessed NFA suppressors.
A: Notify the Department of Public Safety within ten days if your license is lost, stolen, or destroyed (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-6(D)). A lost, stolen, or destroyed license is invalid; you may obtain a duplicate by furnishing a notarized statement and paying a reasonable fee, and if the license was lost or stolen you must file a police report and include the case number in the statement (Section 29-19-6(E)).
A: The department denies an application on the ground that the applicant failed to qualify under the Concealed Handgun Carry Act (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-6(A)(2)). Information about applicants and licensees is confidential and exempt from public disclosure absent a court order (Section 29-19-6(B)). The department adopts rules governing the grounds for suspension and revocation (Section 29-19-12(A)). Consult counsel about the available administrative and judicial review of a denial.
A: Residency is an issuance requirement (NMSA 1978 Section 29-19-4(A)(2)), and the department must suspend or revoke a license if the licensee did not satisfy the issuance criteria or later violates the Act (Section 29-19-6(I)). Notify the department of a change of name or permanent address within thirty days (Section 29-19-6(D)), and apply for a permit in your new state of residence.
A: Not automatically. Under NMSA 1978 Section 30-7-16, it is unlawful for a "felon" to possess a firearm (generally a third-degree felony), but that section defines a "felon" to exclude a person who has been pardoned, who has received a deferred sentence, or for whom more than ten years have passed since completing the sentence or probation. Federal firearm disabilities are separate; the federal relief-from-disabilities process is in 18 U.S.C. Section 925(c). Because the interaction of state and federal restoration rules is complex, consult an attorney before relying on any restoration.
A: Consult a licensed New Mexico attorney with firearms-law experience. The State Bar of New Mexico's Lawyer Referral Service is one starting point. This guide is informational only and is not legal advice.
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