New Mexico Gun Laws: Concealed Carry, Open Carry and Buying a Gun

No for concealed carry on the person. New Mexico requires a concealed handgun license to carry a loaded concealed handgun on foot; DPS says that without a license (from New Mexico or a state New Mexico recognizes) 'you may not have the weapon concealed on your person when you exit your vehicle or motorcycle.' Exceptions noted by DPS: a person not otherwise prohibited may keep a concealed loaded firearm in a vehicle without a license, and open carry is legal without a license.

Concealed Handgun License, issued by the Department of Public Safety (Concealed Carry Unit). Shall-issue: 'The department shall issue a concealed handgun license to an applicant who' is a U.S. citizen; a New Mexico resident (or armed-forces member stationed in New Mexico, or a dependent); 'is twenty-one years of age or older'; is not disqualified; and has completed a department-approved firearms training course for the category and largest caliber of handgun to be carried. The course 'shall be not less than fifteen hours in length' and includes live shooting. Fees (10.8.2.12 NMAC): 'a non-refundable application fee of $100 for new applications and $75 for renewal applications.' Licenses are 'valid for a period of four years from the date of issuance' (DPS: military, law enforcement and retired law enforcement licenses five years). A licensee must take a two-hour refresher course 22 to 26 months after issuance, and a four-hour course to renew. DPS decides within 30 days after receiving a complete application and background check. A licensee may carry 'only one concealed handgun at any given time' and must carry the physical license.

Allowed without a license. DPS: 'New Mexico is an Open Carry State, meaning it is legal to carry a loaded weapon as long as it is not concealed.' DPS lists places where a handgun may not be carried 'openly or concealed', including schools, university premises, preschools, courts, tribal land (unless authorized), public buses, airport security zones, federal property, and posted private property. Under state law, a person under nineteen may not possess a handgun except in listed situations (§ 30-7-2.2; see buying age).

New Mexico's weapons article sets no state minimum age to buy a firearm and no state age limit for possessing a rifle or shotgun. For handguns, 'Unlawful possession of a handgun by a person' (a 'person' being 'an individual who is less than nineteen years old') consists of knowingly having or transporting a handgun, except when the person is at a hunter's safety or handgun safety course or lawful shooting activity; target shooting at an authorized range or where discharge is not prohibited; in an organized competition; in a performance by a 501(c)(3) organization; legally hunting or trapping; traveling 'with an unloaded handgun' to or from those activities; or on real property controlled by a parent, grandparent or legal guardian while supervised by one of them. Violation is a misdemeanor, and the handgun is subject to seizure and forfeiture.

Yes. Since July 1, 2019, selling a firearm 'without conducting a federal instant background check' is a misdemeanor. A seller without a federal firearms license 'shall arrange for a person who does hold that license to conduct the federal instant background check'; the licensee may charge 'a fee not to exceed thirty-five dollars ($35.00)'. Exempt: sales by or to a federal firearms licensee, to a law enforcement agency, between two certified law enforcement officers, and 'between immediate family members' (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandchild, niece, nephew, first cousin, aunt or uncle). 'Sale' means passing ownership, possession or control 'for a fee or other consideration'.

Seven calendar days for all firearms (effective May 15, 2024, HB 129, NMSA 1978 § 30-7-7.3). '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.' The period includes the federal background check; if the check takes longer, the seller must wait until it is completed, but if it is not completed within twenty days the seller may transfer the firearm. Exempt: buyers with a federal firearms license or a valid New Mexico concealed handgun license, law enforcement agencies, transfers between law enforcement officers, and transfers between immediate family members. Violation is a misdemeanor. Court status (DPS): 'On August 27, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a final order enjoining the enforcement of the waiting period against the two named plaintiffs only. The waiting period remains in effect for all other firearm purchasers until further notice.'

Yes — Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act (2020). A petition 'shall be filed only by a law enforcement officer employed by a law enforcement agency' (by the district attorney or attorney general if the respondent is a law enforcement officer). An officer must file on credible information from a 'reporting party' — a spouse, former spouse, parent, stepparent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, co-parent of a child, child, a person in a continuing personal relationship with the respondent, an employer, or a public or private school administrator — and since 2025 may also file on credible information the officer collected 'while carrying out the officer's official duties.' After a hearing the court may issue a one-year order ('granted for up to one year'); the petitioner may seek extensions, and 'Each extension of the order shall not exceed one year.' The respondent must relinquish firearms 'immediately upon service of the order or as directed by the court.'

New Mexico has no state law that bans assault weapons or limits magazine capacity. Since 2025, knowingly possessing or transporting an unlawfully obtained 'weapon conversion device' (a part designed and intended to convert a semiautomatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon) is a third degree felony.

DPS: 'New Mexico law allows a person who is not otherwise prohibited to have a concealed loaded firearm in his/her vehicle (including motorcycles and bicycles).' Without a license (New Mexico or recognized state), the person 'may not have the weapon concealed on your person' after leaving the vehicle. The one-concealed-handgun limit for licensees 'does not apply to firearms carried in your vehicles'. Persons over 19 may keep a firearm in a vehicle on school and university premises (DPS). Statute: the concealed-carry offense does not apply to carrying 'in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance, for lawful protection of the person's or another's person or property' (§ 30-7-2(A)(2)); on school and university premises the vehicle exception is limited to 'a person older than nineteen years of age' (§§ 30-7-2.1(A)(5), 30-7-2.4(A)(5)).

New Mexico honors concealed carry licenses from (DPS list, 'New Mexico will accept'): Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota (effective 5-20-2024), Texas, Virginia and Wyoming. Reciprocity applies only to licenses held by people who are not New Mexico residents, 'visiting or passing through the state'. New residents must apply to transfer their license within 90 days.

DPS lists places where a handgun may NOT be carried, 'openly or concealed': schools (except in a vehicle if older than 19; § 30-7-2.1, fourth degree felony); university premises (except in a vehicle if older than 19; § 30-7-2.4); preschools (§ 29-19-8); courts, without the presiding judge's consent (§ 29-19-11); tribal land unless authorized by the tribe or pueblo (§ 29-19-10); public buses (§ 30-7-13); airport security zones; federal property; and private property posted against carrying or where the owner says no. Licensees may not carry in establishments licensed to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption, except restaurants licensed only for beer and wine that derive at least 60% of gross receipts from food and are not posted (§ 30-7-3). Since 2024, possessing a firearm within 100 feet of a polling-place voter entrance during early voting or on election day, or within 50 feet of a monitored ballot drop box from 28 days before an election, is a petty misdemeanor, except for people in private vehicles and concealed handgun licensees carrying concealed.

New Mexico has no state law that specifically regulates unserialized or homemade firearms or kits (no serial-number, registration or ban provision). The background-check law (§ 30-7-7.1) and the seven-day waiting-period law (§ 30-7-7.3) define 'firearm' to include 'the frame or receiver of any such weapon', so a sale of a frame or receiver is covered by those rules.