Can I Carry a Gun in New Mexico? Open Carry, CHL, and Limits

You can carry a gun in New Mexico if you’re legally allowed to possess a firearm, but the rules split by how you carry. Open carry is legal without any permit for adults 19 and older (for handguns). Carrying a loaded, concealed firearm inside your own private vehicle is also legal without a permit. Carrying a concealed handgun on your person anywhere else requires a New Mexico Concealed Handgun License.

Open Carry

New Mexico does not require a permit or registration to openly carry a firearm in public. For handguns, the minimum age is 19. There is no state-imposed minimum age for openly carrying a rifle or shotgun.¹

You still have to be legally allowed to possess a firearm at all. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, anyone subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, anyone involuntarily committed to a mental institution, fugitives from justice, unlawful users of controlled substances, and anyone dishonorably discharged from the military.² If any of those apply to you, no form of carry is legal in New Mexico.

Carrying in a Private Vehicle

State law exempts private vehicles from the concealed carry prohibition. The statute covers any “private automobile or other private means of conveyance,” so motorcycles and bicycles are included. The firearm can be loaded, and it can be tucked out of sight in a glovebox, under a seat, or anywhere else in the vehicle without a license.³

The exemption ends the moment you step out. If you exit the vehicle with a concealed handgun on your person and don’t hold a valid CHL, that’s a crime. You can still open carry after exiting if you’re at least 19 and the firearm is visible.

Concealed Carry on Your Person

Carrying a concealed loaded firearm on your person without a license is a petty misdemeanor. The exceptions to the concealed carry prohibition are narrow:

Your own residence or real property you own, lease, or occupy.
Inside a private vehicle.
With a valid New Mexico Concealed Handgun License.

Carrying an unloaded firearm, whether openly or concealed, is not prohibited by the statute.³

How to Get a Concealed Handgun License

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety issues Concealed Handgun Licenses under the Concealed Handgun Carry Act. You must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen, and a New Mexico resident. Armed forces members permanently stationed in New Mexico and their dependents also qualify.⁴

What Will Disqualify You

The state will deny your application if any of the following apply:

A felony conviction or indictment in any state or under federal law.
Fugitive from justice status.
Addiction to alcohol or controlled substances.
Having been adjudicated mentally incompetent or committed to a mental institution.
A misdemeanor conviction, guilty plea, no-contest plea, conditional discharge, diversion, or deferment involving violence within the past 10 years.
A misdemeanor DWI conviction within the past 5 years.
A misdemeanor conviction for possession or abuse of a controlled substance within the past 10 years.
A misdemeanor conviction for assault or battery against a household member, with no time limit.
Any federal firearms prohibition, which sweeps in dishonorable discharge, renunciation of U.S. citizenship, and certain immigration statuses.⁴

Training Requirement

You must complete a DPS-approved firearms training course of at least 15 hours, taught by an approved instructor. The course covers safe handling, storage, shooting fundamentals, live-fire practice, federal and state firearms laws, and nonviolent dispute resolution.⁵ Active military, veterans discharged within 20 years, and law enforcement officers retired within 10 years are exempt from training.⁶ Course fees typically run $50 to $150, not counting ammunition or range fees.

Application, Fees, and Timing

Submit the completed application to the DPS Concealed Carry Unit with a copy of your New Mexico driver’s license or state ID, proof of citizenship (birth certificate or naturalization certificate; not required if your license is a Real ID), your training completion certificate, electronic fingerprints through IDEMIA (IdentoGO) at $59 for civilians or $23 for military and law enforcement, and a $100 non-refundable application fee.⁷⁸⁹ Budget roughly $200 to $310 in total.

DPS has 30 days after receiving your completed application and background check results to issue or deny the license. The background check itself can take 90 days or more, so plan on anywhere from a few weeks to several months.⁷

Renewal and Refresher Training

A civilian CHL is valid for four years. Military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement licenses last five years. There is a mandatory in-person refresher training at the two-year mark through a DPS-approved instructor; DPS stopped offering online refreshers in mid-2023. The refresher certificate must be submitted to DPS within 30 days of completion. Renewal costs $75, non-refundable, and repeats fingerprinting and a background check.⁷⁶

Where You Can’t Carry, License or Not

Schools and Universities

Carrying a deadly weapon on K–12 school premises (buildings, grounds, playgrounds, playing fields, parking areas, and school buses) is illegal. The one exception: a person 19 or older may keep a firearm in a private vehicle on school property for lawful protection while picking up or dropping off a passenger.¹⁰ University campuses follow a similar rule, with exceptions for ROTC, university-authorized programs, and the same vehicle exception for anyone 19 or older.¹¹

Establishments Serving Alcohol

Firearms, loaded or unloaded, are prohibited in establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages. There is a narrow exception for CHL holders in restaurants that hold only a beer-and-wine license and derive at least 60% of annual gross receipts from food sales. Even then, the exception disappears if the restaurant posts signs at public entrances prohibiting firearms or if the owner or manager verbally tells you firearms aren’t allowed.¹²

Posted Private Property

CHL holders cannot carry concealed onto private property where the owner or manager has posted conspicuous signs at each public entrance prohibiting concealed firearms, or where you have been verbally told firearms are not permitted.

Federal Property

Your state license has no effect on federal property. Federal law prohibits firearms in federal buildings where federal employees regularly work, including federal courthouses, Social Security offices, and IRS offices.¹³ Post offices and their parking lots are off-limits regardless of any state license.¹⁴ VA medical centers and facilities prohibit all firearms, with violations carrying a fine of up to $500.¹⁵

National parks are an exception. You may possess a firearm in a national park if you comply with the laws of the state where the park sits, so open carry is allowed in places like Carlsbad Caverns or White Sands. Firearms remain prohibited inside park buildings (visitor centers, ranger stations, administrative offices), and discharging a firearm in a park is illegal unless you’re hunting in a park that specifically authorizes it.¹⁶

Traveling to Other States

New Mexico recognizes concealed carry licenses from roughly 20 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. A larger group of about 30 states will honor a New Mexico license, including several whose licenses New Mexico does not recognize in return (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin).⁷ Reciprocity can change without notice, so verify the current status with both states before crossing a line with a firearm. Other states’ rules on open carry, vehicle carry, and restricted locations may look nothing like New Mexico’s.

If you’re passing through a state that doesn’t recognize your license, federal law lets you transport a firearm through it only if the firearm is unloaded and neither the gun nor its ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment. In vehicles without a trunk, the firearm must be in a locked container (not the glovebox or center console).¹⁷ This covers transport only, not carry or extended stops.

1
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Minimum Age To Purchase and Possess Laws in New Mexico
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 30-7-2 – Unlawful Carrying of a Deadly Weapon
4
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 29-19-4 – Applicant Qualifications
5
NM Department of Public Safety. Concealed Handgun Carry Act Booklet
6
NM Department of Public Safety. Concealed Carry Handgun Application
7
NM Department of Public Safety. Concealed Carry Licenses
8
NM Department of Public Safety. Fingerprinting Procedures for Concealed Carry License
9
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 29-19-5 – Application Form
10
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 30-7-2.1 – Unlawful Carrying of a Deadly Weapon on School Premises
11
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 30-7-2.4 – Unlawful Carrying of a Firearm on University Premises
12
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 30-7-3 – Unlawful Carrying of a Firearm in Licensed Liquor Establishments
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
14
eCFR. Conduct on Postal Property
15
eCFR. Security and Law Enforcement at VA Facilities
16
U.S. National Park Service. Firearms in National Parks
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms