New Mexico Gun-Related Questions

[joe4702]

Folks, I'm investigating a possible job opportunity in Albuquerque, NM. Based on some initial research, it looks like a pretty gun-friendly state, on par with AZ and probably a tad better than TX (due to open carry). I have a few questions that I was hoping NM residents could help with.

- Apparently, CCW qualification is by caliber. So, if I qualify with a .45ACP, does that mean I can carry any caliber of smaller diameter (.44 mag, .357, etc) or do you have to qual with each caliber seperately?

- Is taking a class required for the bi-annual renewal and if so, how much do those classes typically cost?

- Is open carry respected or will you get hassled in certain areas?

- I see concealed carry is banned in state parks (bummer). Is open carry allowed there?

- Does it look like the legislature will remain gun friendly or are things trending left like CO & other states with large influx of CA liberals?

- How are the gun ranges, stores and gun shows in/around Albuquerque area?

Any other useful info about the area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Sistema1927]

- Apparently, CCW qualification is by caliber. So, if I qualify with a .45ACP, does that mean I can carry any caliber of smaller diameter (.44 mag, .357, etc) or do you have to qual with each caliber seperately?

The law recently changed, and if your qual. with a .45 ACP Semi and a .45 revolver you will be able to carry any bore size smaller, to include .44 Magnum.

- Is taking a class required for the bi-annual renewal and if so, how much do those classes typically cost?

You renew every 4 years now, with a short refresher at 2 years. Since this is also new I have no clue what folks will charge for it. I belong to the Zia Rifle & Pistol Club, and we have folks who conduct the classes for members cheaper than the commercial concerns. I recommend joining Zia. The web page is www.ziarifleandpistolclub.com

- Is open carry respected or will you get hassled in certain areas?

YMMV, but I have never been hassled.

- I see concealed carry is banned in state parks (bummer). Is open carry allowed there?

I don't believe carry is allowed at all in state parks.

- Does it look like the legislature will remain gun friendly or are things trending left like CO & other states with large influx of CA liberals?

I think that we are in good shape, at least for now with a Governor looking for the demo presidential nomination.

- How are the gun ranges, stores and gun shows in/around Albuquerque area?

About the same as other places I have lived. As I said earlier, I recommend Zia. Also, we have the State Shooting Range here, and it works for many. Ron Peterson's, Charlie's, Los Ranchos, and other are decent gun shops.

 

[cloudcroft]

joe4702,

I have been told by people living in NM/Albuquerque that open-carry, being a state law based upon the NM Constitution, is perfectly legal. When I asked about police harassing someone carrying, I was unable to find any examples of that happening, even in Albuquerque. I also was unable to find out if there was any state preemption law passed that PREVENTED any municipalities from "regulating open carry" but can't find info on this.

BTW, you may want to read this forum re: relocating to NM, Albuquerque in particular...lots of topics covered here re: other issues you'd want to know about if you're going to live there:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-mexico/


Further, re: the open-carry issue, check out here:

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/

...this site has the states listed further down...check out the New Mexico threads.


Good luck,

-- John D.

 

[joe4702]

Good info. Thanks guys.

Sistema1927, I noticed you listed "Land of (dis)Enchantment" as your location. Anything in particular you are disenchanted with about NM?

 

[Travis Lee]

The good thing is that you don't even need a permit to have a loaded pistol in your car....

The bad is that you can't legally carry in a bar, or even a store which sells package liquor. Also one pistol only to carry.

--Travis--

 

[Sistema1927]

The (dis)Enchantment is more a slam on our silly state motto than an indication of any actual disenchantment on my part.

 

[NORTEXED]

We vacation in N.M. in the summer to trail ride (mostly Cloudcroft and Red Sands) and I wondered about carying in the National Forrest while riding. I chose not to ask, or carry while we were up there last year, but now that N.M. recognizes Texas CCL, it would be nice just for safety sake.

 

[BigRed]

Carrying in ANY National Park is not allowed. Open or concealed its a NO-NO.
I for one think this law is crazy. One can carry open in the city and protect himself or others from a would be mugger; but cant carry to protect oneself or others from a hungry bear?

 

[joe4702]

National Parks, no, However, some states, like CO, allow CCW in state parks. Unfortunately, NM does not.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Albuquerque and NM in general are VERY gun friendly. For shooting ranges. I used two: Shooting Range Park ($6/day public park) and Calibers (a real nice indoor private range). Also, try the full auto shoot at August Arms/Full Auto. Dave, the owner is a generally nice and very interesting fellow, he also specializes in selling class 3 devices at reasonable prices. Precision Arms is also a good store with generally low prices on EBRs and such. Albuquerque also hosts a cowboy shoot (I think it's supposedly the largest in the country) yearly. Guns aside, Albuquerque is probably one of my favorite cities in North America. There's a healthy selection of restaurants, a really cool Aquarium, a Balloon Festival (don't knock it till you see it), you're only 1 hour from the Santa Fe Opera (it's Met Level, so good talent, mainstream shows)- you're also only 1 hour from Santa Fe. There's a good gun store in the DeVargas center (a strip mall), there. I lived in ABQ for 2 1/2 years and the only reason I moved was to complete my PhD but seriously, I'd move back in a heartbeat.

EDIT: Also if you ski, you're only 2.5 hours from Taos NM.

 

[nwilliams]

I lived in Santa Fe last year

Gun laws are tricky in New Mexico, some things are good some are bad. One of the good things is you don't need a ccw to have the gun anywhere in your car. I guess thats the best news.

The bad news

As far as State Parks go, you can not carry a gun on you when you enter one, and they want then unloaded and in the trunk of your car.

On a similar note there are dozens of separate Indian reservations and just driving on the highway you cross over a lot of them. Most have their own gun laws in almost every case guns are not allowed to be carried on tribal land. Also be careful if you get pulled over by tribal police they can be pretty harsh when it comes to enforcing the laws on their land, they also patrol the highways and the fines for speeding are unbelievable! So just be aware of when youre on tribal land.

Open carry is allowed but you don't see it a lot, I actually never saw anyone open carrying when I lived there.

The best place to find out details is just to go to www.packing.org and read the info there, which there is a lot of.

In my opinion NM is not a very good state for the gun enthusiast and one of the reasons I moved back to Arizona. Good Luck

 

[AZ Jeff]

On a similar note there are dozens of separate Indian reservations and just driving on the highway you cross over a lot of them. Most have their own gun laws in almost every case guns are not allowed to be carried on tribal land.

That situation exists in Arizona here, too. According to Alan Korwin, author of a book on Arizona gun laws, as long as you are travelling on STATE or FEDERAL highways on a reservation, state laws related to firearms apply.

In other words, if you have CCW, and are stopped by tribal police on a state highway that crosses the reservation, they cannot cite you for violating tribal laws pertaining to firearms. (Assuming you are not doing anything with said firearm that would get in trouble when NOT on the reservation.)

Once you start travelling down reservation roads, the reservation laws pertaining to firearms take over, and your CCW, for example, may become invalid, among other things.

 

[Sniper X]

I live outside Albuquerque

Open carry is fine and not at all frowned upon by LEO's, never had a question asked and been seen by many many LEO's carrying. CCW is every 4 and is now reciprocal with adjoining states. There is a good number of good gunstores here Sportsmans, Chralies, Shootersden, and a few others.


Zia is probably the best and the memebrs are great under 100bucks for a year.

There is good hunting here too as long as you don;t NEED to hunt deer. There are a lot of non game animals here too to hunt like coyotes and feral pigs, and other varmints.


It is a very gun freindly state and you can carry conceld in your car or on your motorcycle even if you don' have a CCW.


email me with any other questions as I have lived here this time for 11 years, and sorta grew up here till I went in the Army for 11 years.

 

[Harve Curry]

National Forest = YES
National & State Parks = NO
Basically this is the same in Az, NM, or in most NF, SP & NP.
If you open carry in a urban/suburban you are going to draw attention to yourself. In the National Forests, BLM or some state lands open carry is normal.

 

[Sistema1927]

Not a lot of gun stores in Albuquerque?

Let's see:

Ron Peterson's
Charlie's
Los Ranchos
Shooter's Den
Calibers
Precision Arms
(new place on Mountain Road, but I can't remember the name)

Not Specifically gun stores, but they do sell guns:
Sportsman's Warehouse
Big-5
several Wal-Marts

This isn't counting Rio Rancho (August Arms) or other bedroom communities, and I have probably missed one or two in Albuquerque proper.

 

[cloudcroft]

Prince Yamato,

I've seen the Balloon Fiesta...when you've seen one, you've seen them all...they're just balloons.

But it's great for the tourists...and hotels...allows them to jack up room rates to the max in October. And the bumper-to-bumper traffic with all those people in town goes over really well with the residents trying to take less than 2 hours to go down the block and back.

But for the most part, I like Albuquerque better than where I live now.

-- John D.

 

[joe4702]

Good info, thanks.
SniperX, PM sent.
Looks like I'll be coming out for an on-site interview in the next few weeks. Will try to arrange it so I can spend a day looking around the area.

 

[History Prof]

Hey Joe, you'll be a lot better off than in CA. My wife is from LA, and I am from southern NM. Part of why we are in AZ is because we are in-between. The reason we are NOT in CA (where I might have had better job opportunities) is that freedom is that important to us.

If you ever get to southern NM, hit the big gunshop in Deming. I forget the name, but is is about 10 miles south of town, and is friggin AWSOME for a small town gunshop. Las Cruces is becoming less gun friendly, although they did just open a nice Sportsman's Wearhouse with a huge gun selection. When I lived in NM, and while living in AZ, I have never met an anti-RKBA police officer, so open carry goes a long way. In fact, when I was a student employee at the University PD, I worked with a cop who had a kitchen table FFL. This was before Clinton got his hands on ATF and put those FFLs out of business.

My wife's sister is a cop in CA. She's one of the FEW pro-rkba cops I've met there, and her attitude has changed for the worse in the 15 years I've known her. I guess CA cops just aren't exposed to too many law abiding gun owners in a state that is that restrictive. My wife didn't even want to tell her we were getting CCWs.

 

[joe4702]

I've been in CA for 10 years - all of my immediate family is here. Leaving won't be an easy decision. If I already owned a home, I'd stick it out, but I'm tired of renting and prices are really not falling all that much. If I did stretch and buy a place, I'd have little money for hobbies and other interests. Lack of CCW is also a big issue with me, as are the other inane gun laws. I don't think things will be getting better in that regard any time soon.

 

[Prince Yamato]

ooh! I forgot about Ron Peterson's! They have a good selection of guns as well.

One more reason to move to NM: probably the best weather of anywhere I've ever lived. You get four seasons, but the weather is always dry, except for the once every two months it rains.

 

[History Prof]

One more reason to move to NM: probably the best weather of anywhere I've ever lived. You get four seasons, but the weather is always dry, except for the once every two months it rains.

About every ten years or so, Albuquerque gets blizzards bad enough to close I-40, and someone usually dies. Typically, it is some poor elderly couple from somewhere where they would have been prepared at home, but thought "it never snows in the desert." It's sad really, to see people from Wisconsin die in a blizzard in NM, when they would have known to stay off the roads in WI.

To make this gun related: Owning heavy winter clothing in NM is like having a CCW. You may never need it, but the possibility of needing it at some point is there. Be prepared.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Albuquerque has four seasons, like I stated before. It's actually considered "high desert" and is mostly at 3-4 thousand feet. Yes, it snows there a couple times a year, especially at the base of the Sandia mountains where I used to live. "Blizzard" is an over-statement though. I grew up in upstate NY and I lived in Canada for 2 years. I know real winter weather. The reason there are deaths in snowstorms in ABQ or anywhere in the southern US for that matter is because people in these areas are not used to driving in hazzardous conditions. Also, there are now salt trucks or plows. So, do what I do/did in the case of bad weather... stay home. Traffic doesn't move anyway.

 

[SMLE]

We had a storm here a couple of weeks ago that dropped a foot of snow! So blizzareds DO happen in Albuquerque.

 

[Prince Yamato]

I can only imagine the driving conditions...

 

[NORTEXED]

My Sister and Brother-in-law lived in Alb. for several years, and I spent a lot of time while in college, out there visiting. I loved Alb., always thought it was a neat town, with nice people. My brother-in-laws business there, mobil phone and pager service, allowed me access to a snow cat and 2 ton to haul it. We used to take it out to the base of Mt. Taylor and go to the top in winter to check the towers. That was amazing, you would swear you were the only person to ever set foot on the mountain in the winter.