New Mexico generally prohibits any person under age 19 from knowingly possessing or transporting a handgun.¹ Exceptions to this prohibition include:

• Attending a hunter’s safety course or handgun safety course;

• Target shooting at an authorized shooting range or an area where the discharge of a handgun without legal justification is not prohibited by law;

• Competing in an organized handgun shooting competition;

• Participating in or practicing for a performance by a 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) organization;

• Legally hunting or trapping;

• Traveling with an unloaded handgun to or from an activity listed above; or

• Possessing a handgun on real property under the control and supervision of the parent, grandparent or guardian of the underage individual.²

There is no minimum age to possess rifles and shotguns in New Mexico.

State law prohibits any person under age 18 from hunting with a firearm unless he or she is in possession of a certificate indicating successful completion of a state-approved hunter training course.³

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1. N. M. Stat. Ann. § 30-7-2.2.[↩]
2. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-7-2.2(A).[↩]
3. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 17-2-33.[↩]