TexasCHLforum.com

G.A. Heath wrote:I suspect that NM will claim that Texas issuing to under 21 military members, issuing to resident aliens, and no shooting requirement for some renewals is the bases for tossing aside our written agreement which had been in place since 2005. I am curious though, does our recognition of NM's license depend on the agreement being in place? If so I would hope that we unilaterally decide to recognize theirs.

For the record the NM DPS is not exactly Concealed Carry Friendly, they have a long history of doing everything they can to complicate things for licensees. The whole resident alien issue is something that has them tangled up in a recent lawsuit with the Second Amendment Foundation. When their license program started the NM DPS attempted to have training requirements that exceeded those of NM LEOs in some aspects, that got smacked down quickly, they have their "once concealed handgun" limit, and other backwards regulations designed to make it difficult for license holders.

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't Texas have a number of unilateral reciprocities with other states? My guess is that Gov. Perry would not engage in a tit-for-tat exchange of decertifications like that. Also, I agree that it would be wise not to decertify NM (or any other state that does this), because we want to be known as a respecter of the fundamental rights of man regardless of other states' refusal to do so.

Thomas wrote:First, do any of y'all know if there is a New Mexico gun forum? I can't find one.

When it comes to concealed carry, is there a difference between having a gun in a holster on my body and having it in a locked container in my possession? As far as I know, there is no difference in Texas, but is there in New Mexico? I will be flying into the Albuquerque airport, taking a shuttle, and checking the container into a safe.

I have been unable to find a New Mexico specific gun forum either, but I have found lots of references on various "national" level forums like at "concealedcarry.com" and so on.

I was actually (favorably) surprised that Texas' MPA permitted on-body concealed carry inside the vehicle for non-CHL-holders when it passed.....suprised simply because it is the natural inclination of all governments to hem in the rights of the governed, and allowing on-body concealed carry under MPA inside a vehicle seemed like a pretty liberal (as in "liberty," not "leftist") interpretation of the rights of man for a governmental entity.....compared to other states' governmental entities.

But exactly because of this distinction, I would make sure to clarify that issue with regard to New Mexico law. Traveling with a firearm in the car may be restricted to off-body, and it wouldn't surprise me—given NM's leftist tendencies—if that were the intent of the law. As with most legislatures, rightly or wrongly, there is seldom ever any profit in flirting with legislative intent. That's the road that usually leads to further restrictions, not further liberties.

Although I have no intentions (yet) of traveling through NM any time through the rest of this year, I'm going to call the governor's office anyway and register my intent to NEVER travel through NM again until the situation is rectified.

Thomas wrote:Well, darn. I am going to be spending three months there this summer. 99% of the time I won't be able to conceal carry anyway, but when I go into town, I would want to conceal carry.

Is open carry still legal without a license?

I might be wrong about this, but it seems to me that NM does not have state preemption, so consequently it is possible for a municipality to ban open carry.......but again, I'm not absolutely certain about this.

philip964 wrote:I guess New Mexico does not want to have reciprocity, because other states are not as strict as their state. So they say.

However, in looking at their requirements, Texas is as strict except for one requirement. New Mexico wants CHL's to be locally issued rather than by the state government.

Huh.

A locally issued CHL is some how better than one issued by a state government.

I suspect New Mexico just does not want receprocity. They have a Republican governor.

Time to pass that federal law.

They have a Republican governor who courted the Tea Party vote during her campaign. She is actually a friend of a friend of mine.

Composition of NM Legislature: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/polcomp.aspx

Political Composition

There are currently 36 Democrats, 33 Republicans and one unaffiliated member in the House of Representatives.

There are currently 28 Democrats and 14 Republicans in the Senate.

Check out this PDF: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/lcsdocs/Poli ... ontrol.pdf. New Mexico's legislature has been dominated by Democrats going almost all the way back to statehood. There is your answer. New Mexico is a Democrat stronghold, and manifestly, the Democrat party has been the party of liberalism; and liberalism has manifestly been the philosophy of gun control and a diminished view of the Constitution. Governor Martinez is a former Democrat who switched party allegiance before running for District Attorney of New Mexico's 3rd Judicial District in 1996 when she realized that her personal beliefs were more Republican than Democrat. Her official positions can be seen HERE.

She and her Lt. Governor running mate John Sanchez (also Republican) were elected in heavily hispanic New Mexico most likely because they were hispanics running against Democrat incumbent Lt. Governor Diane Denish (not hispanic) and her running mate Brian Colon, a New York Puerto Rican transplant to New Mexico.

Actually, in retrospect, Martinez is in exactly the same position as another former Republican governor of an overwhelmingly liberal Democrat state: Mitt Romney. And like Romney, she will be ultimately criticized by unthinking conservatives who ignore context, for not having been as effective a practitioner of conservatism as she could have been had she been governor of a conservative state.

Anyway, look to NM's generally leftist population and legislature for the reason why Texas reciprocity has been dropped.