New Mexico will not issue a concealed handgun license until you finish a firearms training course approved by the Department of Public Safety. NMSA...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
New Mexico will not issue a concealed handgun license until you finish a firearms training course approved by the Department of Public Safety. NMSA 1978, Section 29-19-4(A)(10) conditions issuance on an applicant who "has satisfactorily completed a firearms training course approved by the department for the category and the largest caliber of handgun that the applicant wants to be licensed to carry as a concealed handgun." Course length, content, and instructor approval come from NMSA 1978, Section 29-19-7 and the department rule at 10.8.2 NMAC. DPS states that 10.8.2 NMAC was amended effective December 9, 2025 and directs readers not to rely on materials dated earlier than that.
Section 29-19-7(A) provides that a firearms training course "shall include classroom instruction and range instruction and an actual demonstration by the applicant of his ability to safely use a handgun," and that the course "shall be not less than fifteen hours in length." The same subsection sets the floor on what you shoot: "An applicant shall not be licensed unless he demonstrates, at a minimum, his ability to use a handgun of .32 caliber."
The rule repeats the 15 hours. Under Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of 10.8.2.15 NMAC, civilian applicants, honorably discharged veterans separated 20 or more years from the military, and peace officers separated more than 10 years from a law enforcement agency must "satisfactorily complete an initial firearms training course approved by the department that includes at least 15 hours of classroom and firing range instruction."
Subsection B of 10.8.2.7 NMAC defines an approved instructor as a person to whom the department has issued a permit "to provide all or any part of classroom and firing range instruction." Subsection A of 10.8.2.22 NMAC states the consequence: "A person who is not an approved instructor shall not instruct a firearms training course pursuant to this rule."
Approval attaches to the person and to the curriculum separately. Under Subsection D of 10.8.2.22 NMAC, an instructor permit is valid for four years and carries an instructor number assigned by the department, while approval of a proposed course "shall remain in effect for the shortest of" one year, until the instructor substantially changes the curriculum or course materials, or until the requirements in the act or rule change. Section 29-19-7(A) requires the underlying course to be certified or sponsored by a federal or state law enforcement agency, a college, a firearms training school, or a nationally recognized organization approved by the department that customarily offers firearms training. Section 29-19-7(B) adds that "Every instructor of an approved firearms training course shall annually file a copy of the course description and proof of certification with the department." Subsection G of 10.8.2.22 NMAC requires the department to maintain a public list of approved instructors, which DPS publishes on its concealed carry page.
Section 29-19-7(A) does not name any particular national organization, and it does not make any specific national instructor credential sufficient on its own. Such a credential matters because it can be the certification or sponsorship behind a course the department then approves, and that approval is the operative step.
Confirm the permit before you pay. Under Subsection A of 10.8.2.24 NMAC an instructor may not let a student begin a course until the student has received written information stating all fees including incidental costs, the pass and fail policies, refund and reschedule policies, and attendance requirements. The same subsection also limits an approved instructor to the curriculum, course materials, handouts, and videos approved by the department, and to engaging as instructors only persons the department has permitted, apart from guest instructors cleared in advance under Subsection C.
Subsection B of 10.8.2.15 NMAC states the competency demonstration:
You demonstrate on each category and highest caliber for which you seek certification. Under Subsection C, the approved instructor decides whether to issue a certificate based on that score plus your knowledge and understanding of the subjects specified in the act. Subsection D permits instructors to deny certificates to students who show unsafe handgun handling practices or adverse behavior in class or on the range.
Section 29-19-2 defines "category" as whether a handgun is semiautomatic or not semiautomatic, and "caliber" as the diameter of the bore of a handgun. Section 29-19-6(C)(4) requires the license to show the category and largest caliber you are licensed to carry, with a statement that you may carry smaller caliber handguns but "shall carry only one concealed handgun at any given time." Subsection A of 10.8.2.16 NMAC states the same limit from the carrier's side: no person shall carry a concealed handgun of a different category or higher caliber than the license indicates.
Adding a category or a higher caliber later is an endorsement, not a new license. Under 10.8.2.18 NMAC you file an endorsement application with a certified copy of a certificate of completion from an approved instructor showing range competency for each additional category and caliber, your current license, and a $10 processing fee. You do not retake the classroom portion. The department issues an updated license within 10 days of receipt, counted in business days because Subsection F of 10.8.2.7 NMAC treats any period of 10 days or less that way. That license expires on the same date the original would have, and you may not carry the higher caliber handgun until you receive it.
Section 29-19-6 calls both of the shorter courses a refresher: a "four-hour refresher firearms training course" for renewal in Subsection F, and a two-hour refresher two years into a term in Subsection H. The rule separates them. Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of 10.8.2.15 NMAC names the four-hour course the renewal course, and Paragraph (2) names the two-hour course the refresher.
The Concealed Carry Unit's standard operating procedure for online concealed carry courses uses those same two labels. It requires an instructor to provide no less than seven hours of in-person training for an initial course, no less than two hours for the four-hour renewal course, and no less than one hour for the two-hour refresher. Five topics must be covered in the in-person portion: safe handling of revolvers and semiautomatic handguns, safe handgun shooting fundamentals, live in-person shooting on a firing range, ways to develop and maintain shooting skills, and safe storage and child safety. All portions of the training, online and in person, must be completed within 30 days of the course start date, and the platform and each video must be approved by the department. This is department operating guidance rather than statute.
Section 29-19-3 makes an original or renewed license valid four years from issuance unless suspended or revoked. Two statutory categories run five years instead: a retired law enforcement officer's license under Section 29-19-14(F), and a military service person's license under Section 29-19-15(C); the rule extends five-year terms to current peace officers residing in New Mexico as well (10.8.2.30 A NMAC).
Two-year refresher. Section 29-19-6(H) requires a licensee to complete a two-hour refresher firearms training course two years after issuance of an original or renewed license. The refresher must be approved by the department, must be taken 22 to 26 months after issuance, and the certificate of completion goes to the department no later than 30 days after the course. Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of 10.8.2.15 NMAC describes that refresher as range qualification of the licensee's approved caliber of handgun. Paragraph (4) allows the department to suspend a license when the licensee does not comply, with a $5 reinstatement fee once the licensee complies. DPS states that as of June 30, 2023 it no longer offers the two-year refresher online, and directs licensees to a DPS-approved instructor.
Renewal. Section 29-19-6(F) requires a completed renewal form, a $75 renewal fee, and a certificate of completion of a four-hour refresher firearms training course approved by the department. Under Subsection A of 10.8.2.17 NMAC the four-hour course must be completed before you file, the certificate must have been issued by an approved instructor not more than 90 days before filing, and the application may be submitted from 60 days before the license expires until 60 days after. Section 29-19-6(G) bars renewal more than 60 days after expiration. Past that window you apply for a new license, which puts you back in the 15-hour initial course.
Section 29-19-5(B)(4) requires the application to include a certified copy of a certificate of completion for a department-approved firearms training course. Subsection C of 10.8.2.12 NMAC adds that the certificate must be issued by an approved instructor and submitted not more than 90 days before the application is submitted. Subsection D of 10.8.2.15 NMAC sets what the certificate must carry: your name and date of birth, the printed name and signature of the approved instructor who scored the competency demonstration, the completion date, every category and caliber for which you demonstrated competency, and a unique number built from the instructor's department-assigned number and a sequential number.
Subsection A of 10.8.2.15 NMAC tracks the same list, adding active military status and active peace officers.
Under Subsection B of 10.8.2.17 NMAC, a person establishing New Mexico residency has 90 days to file a transfer application, and must complete either a four-hour firearms training course, if the other state's training meets or exceeds New Mexico's requirements and was completed recently enough, or an initial firearms training course otherwise. The published rule states that recency cutoff two ways in adjacent subparagraphs, "not more than one year prior to filing the application" in the first and "more than 180-days prior to filing the application" in the second. Ask the Concealed Carry Unit which cutoff it applies before booking a four-hour class on an out-of-state certificate.
Subsection B of 10.8.2.24 NMAC bars a student from firing range instruction until the student completes the classroom portion covering safe handgun shooting fundamentals, and caps the range at five students per instructor for daylight training, three for lowlight training, and one for dynamic training such as shooting on the move. Subsection E requires an after action report to the department within 10 days after each course ends, business days again under Subsection F of 10.8.2.7 NMAC, listing each attendee, the score achieved, the category and highest caliber demonstrated, and whether a certificate issued. Subsection F of 10.8.2.24 NMAC requires records kept five years and available for inspection on request. Under 10.8.2.25 NMAC every approved instructor receives a minimum of eight hours of training biennially. Under Subsection D of 10.8.2.24 NMAC a department employee monitoring a class may end it and take the instructor's permit.
Under 10.8.2.26 NMAC, where the department finds a course deficient because the instructor was not an approved instructor, was impaired, has committed a misdemeanor or felony under the criminal code, or was teaching something contrary to law or accepted safety practices, it may order the fees refunded to every student and require those students to retake the deficient portions.
This page covers one part of our New Mexico concealed carry guide.
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