Did the Martinez administration just tighten concealed carry laws?

The progressive group ProgressNow New Mexico says that the state Department of Public Safety “quietly” signed a new rule that limited concealed carry reciprocity. This is the rule that allows New Mexico to recognize other state’s concealed carry licenses.

ProgressNow NM says the new rule reduces the amount of states which New Mexico will recognize their concealed carry licenses to five — Oklahoma, North Dakota, North Carolina, Nebraska and Missouri.

Notably absent are New Mexico’s neighbors of Arizona, Colorado and Texas.

“We don’t often agree with the actions of this administration, but when the governor decides to buck the influence of the NRA and responsibly stand up for the public safety of New Mexicans, we can’t help but extend our thanks,” said Pat Davis, Executive Director of ProgressNow New Mexico in a statement.

A post on the group’s blog reads, in part:

I know. We have our disagreements with the governor and her policies, but this one is different. Under old rules, people like George Zimmerman in Florida who had a history of violence and domestic protection orders, could have legally carried his gun concealed into New Mexico.

We’ll see if there is any fallout nationally on this.

Martinez has been named as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney (something she has adamantly denied even considering). Something like this, with Romney’s fractured history with the NRA and other gun rights groups, could take her out of the running.

Update: 5/1/12 2:25 pm

From the DPS website:

New Mexico statute 29-19-12E requires that in order for a state to be recognized by NM, their provisions have to be “at least as stringent or substantially similar” to New Mexico. NMDPS has generally found six things that make a state substantially different from New Mexico, and therefore would disqualify that state from being recognized:

Permits issued locally rather than by the state;

1. No fingerprint-based background check;
2. Permits issued to persons under 21 years of age;
3. Permits issued to resident aliens;
4. No classroom (static) training required;
5. No live-fire (dynamic) training required.

Update: 5/1/12 8:39 pm
The Associated Press weighs in.

Eden said the Department of Public Safety is reviewing the reciprocal agreements to ensure they reflect any changes in law by other states.

So far, at least six states have been found to fully meet New Mexico’s requirements: Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Eden said the department will try to update agreements with the 13 other states.

So that’s one more state added. Still no sign of Arizona, Colorado or Texas, though.

Update: 5/2/12 10:30 am

The Martinez administration is working towards agreements with all the states, including Arizona, Colorado and Texas. The agreements are still in effect, just being reworked.

Photo by kcdsTM, Flickr