Santa Fe —Younger, longer and more.  The age limit for license holders has been lowered from twenty five to twenty one years old.  Licenses will be valid for four years instead of two.  License holders will need to re-qualify on the range every two years.  They will be able to carry any weapon, of the same type, of the same or smaller caliber than that with which they qualified.  Most law enforcement officers, currently employed and retired will be able to obtain a license with departmental training instead of the private training required for all others. They will also be exempt for paying the application fee. 

New Mexico will recognize licenses issued by 20 other states, they are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware,   Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.    

The Department of Public Safety Special Investigations Division has completed the approval process adopting the rules which were mandated by the amended law.  The bill making changes to the statute governing the concealed carrying of weapons was passed during the last regular legislative session and took effect this summer.  SID held a public hearing and drafted the new rules as a result of public comment and statutory requirements.  DPS Cabinet Secretary John Denko Jr. has signed the rules and the letters recognizing licenses from these other states.  The State will recognize these states because they have similar concealed carry training requirements as New Mexico.                     

The new rules governing concealed carry licenses and reciprocal agreements can be found at the DPS website (Concealed Weapons).  These new rules will take effect November 30^th, 2005.