Going on Vacation... NM

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Arkie

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Well I think it's time for a Really nice Vacation for me. It's been about 20 years since I have been on a Real vacation.

Where I want to go is Carlsbad Caverns for a couple of days playing around in the caves and taking lots of photos with my new camera and then take a drive up to Roswell New Mexico to see if I can find little green men... :p I'm going to drive so where can I carry and not carry in New Mexico.

I have a Arkansas CHL so I know that they do not recognize it, so I will have to open carry or do I just leave it in the truck as not to alarm anyone. (I'm trying to get a Florida CCW).

And does anyone know of a good Hotel around the Carlsbad town that is gun friendly. :)

I found one Hotel but I don't know much about it. It's called Executive Suites. I was hoping someone would chime in near that area. :)
 
You can keep guns in your car in New Mexico, it's considered an extension of your home.
Don't know about your CCW. Open carry is still allowed, but.

Lincoln National Forest is near there, lots of historic places to see, and country.
 
I was just in N.M. visiting my parents. I could carry legally from Florida throughTexas until N.M. You can legally carry in your car there but they have no ccw permits.

If you should happen to be in Albuquerque at night I would carry anyway or better yet don't be there at night. You should check out Chaco Canyon and Bandolier. The cable car up Sandia Mnt. and hiking trail on the ridge is also worth seeing.
 
Carlsbad is great, Roswell is (where is the yawn smiley :) ). My wife owns a portion of some natural gas wells near Roswell, so we had to go see them. That is some desolate country. As my father in law used to say "You couldn't raise a jackrabbit on five acres down there".

Lincoln county has some great museums about the Billy the Kid era.

When we went down there a few years ago it was July and the AC in our van went on the fritz. We high-tailed it out of Carlsbad at 6:00 am and were in South Fork CO by evening.
 
Carlsbad.

Whenever it gets below 70 deg. F folks think the next ice age is upon them.:)

Nice town, quiet, hard to make a living there.

I doubt you would have any problems open carrying down there, it is in places like Albuquerque and The City Different :)neener: ) that you find folks who object to that perfectly legal practice. You want to take it off before going into any place that sells alcohol.

You will find plenty of places to shoot, bring a few guns and have fun!
 
Another Vote For Cloudcroft

Take 82 West out of Artesia. When you hit May Hill you'll see a dramatic change in scenery. Pines..high hills..head West to Cloudcroft. You'll be going straight up. Drink a lot of water to avoid altitude headaches. Look for a big lodge at the top.

Great place..great folks. Man, I'm ready to grab my better half and head there myself!

Have Fun!
 
Carlsbad Caverns is a National Park, so no carry. :cuss:

Don't carry there unless you are willing to face the federal charges.

IANAL, but in most places in NM you will not encounter any grief from LEOs just so long as you are well behaved. Even before we had CCW, there were no prosecutions of which I am aware for shooting bad guys in righteous situations. As my CCW instructor stated during the class, "I have been carrying, legally and illegally, for 17 years....."
 
SMLE, thanks for the information. The state of Florida must not have updated their list they sent me because N.M. wasn't on it for reciprocity. Also the web sight I checked didn't list N.M. as a ccw state.

I checked my BATFE book on state laws and published ordinances on firearms 2004 edition and N.M. does have a ccw permit. I stand corrected. I also found it interesting that residents of a contiguous state with N.M. can buy firearms in N.M.
 
Thanks for all the information about Cloudcroft. I will have to go there too. I'm going to probably spend about a week traveling around. I don't have to worry about altitude headaches, I lived in Colorado for thirty years and have been on most of the mountain ranges. lol.. Worked and lived in Pueblo. Just came back to my home town. :)

I know that I cannot carry in the National park. I read up on that one just to make sure. I just may have to bring a rifle too just to plink with in case I get bored. lol... I have a locking case for it so I should be ok with transporting it. :)

I was hoping that they would have reciprocity with Arkansas but I guess they are not going to before I leave. I was sure hoping they would...

All I need for a Floridia permit is a photo. I have to find a place that does photos around here pretty quick. I have everything else all ready to go.

I'm trying to make this trip a Fun trip for me. I think I will have a good time. I'll make myself have a good time. LOL!!!

Thanks again for all the pointers. :D
 
I've always wanted to go to Silver City, where then rail station in "Rat Race" was. If you get the chance to hit SE AZ I recommend the area around Tombstone. The town can be a little hokey, but a lot of cool shops and stuff, and the scenery is gorgeous!
 
That sounds like it might be fun to do to. I just want to relax and drive around to see all the things I have been missing when I had to work 7days a week just to pay bills.

I think it's my time to have fun. LOL...
 
I'm hoping to do that myself this summer. 3rd year here and I still haven't seen Yosemite or any of the parks further south. I'm going to head down the Bishop Valley because that is where they filmed "Tremors" and then head east across Nevada. Hopefully I'll be doing it on motorcycle but even truck camping would be fun.
 
Arkie: NM can be a very fun area for gun owners/users. Like many have pointed out, the state is open carry, and I'd be surprised if you didn't see at least a few holstered six guns at gas stations and truck stops within the state.

I live in Alamogordo and there are several nice areas around here (a previous poster already mentioned Cloudcroft, you could also do a web search on Ruidoso, or Mescalero and find a great indian reservation with a world class resort). There's also the White Sands National Monument and the Valley of Fires lava flow not too far away.

However, if you're really looking for gun things to do check out Whittington Center (an NRA center) up in the northern part of the state - they have various competitions running every weekend and their facility is one of the best range setups I've ever seen. Capitan NM hosts NRA High Power Rifle matches as well as other events. Otero County has a range hosted by OPSA that hosts cowboy action, IPSC, action, and Highpower matches every weekend.

Of course, if your trip is timed right - Santa Fe has this year's national Cowboy Action competition in a month or two - and that'll be a full week of cowboy action shooting and associated cowboy events.
 
End of the Trail, the SASS Cowboy Action Shooting championship, is held at Founder's Ranch, in Edgewood. While Edgewood is in the southern part of Santa Fe county, it is definately not Santa Fe.
 
Arkie

Your not likely to get in much trouble for CCW in NM it is a minor misdemeanor.

Tom in TN:)

Edit to say No carry allowed where liquor or beer are sold.
 
Hey there Larry.

Yep I know right where it is. I used to work for the American Furniture store that was downtown for about 19 years. If you have even bought any furniture from American or Benfattis then you probably have seen me. I was there Furniture Repairman. :)
 
Hey, Arkie, I must have met you then. Jim and Sally were friends of mine (you do know Jim is no longer with us?).

The only two furniture stores I have done business with are American and Benfatti's.
 
One More Thing, Arkie

..then I'll quit, as the Mods will boot me for non gun related posts! Be sure to visit "Smokey The Bear's" resting place. It's State run..yes, there was a real Smokey! He was originally called "Hot Foot Teddy" as he was found (a small cub) clinging to a burned pine after a forrest fire, the soles of his paws burned badly.

It's near the "Ghost Ranch" not far from Lincoln..you can Goggle up the info if interested.

What I love about New Mexico is the State owned land made available to the public. 1,000's of acres where you can just hop out and go!

Have a great trip!
 
beaucoup ammo

Well I may have to go see that too. I'm going to do a lot of driving and lots of sight seeing. Time for me to enjoy and not work myself down to nothing. lol...
 
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