Editorial: Reconcile State Parks’ Conceal-Carry Policy

State law doesn’t prohibit carrying a concealed handgun in New Mexico’s nearly three dozen state parks.

State Parks policy does.

That contradiction sets law-abiding gun owners up to violate a regulation that’s out of step not only with state statute but national practice. So it makes sense for Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration to reconcile the discrepancy.

New Mexico law provides licenses to U.S. citizens 21 and older who have taken and passed a firearms course and a background check, allowing them to carry concealed handguns except in certain places such as courts, schools and bars. National parks have allowed visitors with a valid state permit to carry a concealed handgun since 2010. Toby Velasquez, the Parks Division’s chief of law enforcement and boating safety, says “it was very evident to us that our rule was outdated.”

The proposed regulation respects the training every conceal-carry license holder receives, prohibiting discharge of a concealed handgun except in “self-defense, defense of another person or defense of a dwelling or habitation.”

The state is gathering public comment and will have a public hearing on the change Oct. 17 in Santa Fe. Reconciling state policy with state law and national practice will make it easier for law-abiding gun owners to follow the rules.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.