[Bulldozer]

It would seem that the Good Lord has seen fit to release me from the Perdition known as the Free State of Maryland this summer. I will be getting a promotion and a transfer. Odds on favorite are pointing to the Pacific Northwest area -- Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah wuld be likely stomping grounds. Any resources for shooting clubs, good gunstores, competent gunsmiths, or other firearms-related resources would be most welcome.

Thanks to you all for any contributions of insight, and thanks again to the Lord for answering my prayers.

[JoeSF]

Go to Utah...best of everything weather, outdoors. Check the NRA web site for gun laws. Utah is great.

[anchored]

Parts of Utah are great, depends on if you're Mormon or not. Especially if you're married, don't plan on your wife having a lot of friends unless she's a stay-at-home mom with 12 kids. There are pockets of non-mormons though, like Park City and around military bases, but pick your neighborhood carefully.

[jmbg29]

My personal favorite is Idaho.

[Mike Irwin]

In Idaho if you have a roll of barbed wire you have the border for your own nation! :p

[Tamara]

Probably Idaho, then Utah.

Idaho has the distinction of having, after Vermont, the shortest section of state gun laws in the little booklet the BATF sends out every year. IIRC, they don't take up quite a page. By comparison, even gun-friendly states like Texas can have as many as ten pages, and I'd wager that between them, CA, MA, NY, NJ and IL took up well over half the book.

[mercedesrules]

http://www.packing.org/

MR

[rick_reno]

I'd agree with Idaho, then Utah. Looking over Utah's CCW law, it's got some requirements we don't have here in Idaho (photo's, letters of reference, etc). You can check state firearm laws here - it's a very good source.

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws.asp?FormMode=state

Another good source for concealed carry info is here

http://www.packing.org/

[Bulldozer]

Have already dug through packing.org. Idaho looks really good. I like the brevity of their laws. Oregon seems alright, as does Washington. But anywhere is better than Maryland.

[Gray Peterson]

Utah, then Oregon, then Idaho, then Washington.

Why Oregon no. 2? Well, Oregon actually has LESS restrictions on permit holders than Utah does. The difference that gets Utah the number 1 is that there's an active effort by state government to get schools to comply with state law in terms of carrying of firearms by students.

[amprecon]

From which part of MD are you located? And what kind of work do you do?
I left the eastern shore of MD last April, I did not get transferred by anybody, I was so fed up with the morons in charge I packed up my family and moved to MT on my own.
I'd probably choose ID then UT for gun friendly states if those were your only choices.
I've bought a couple handguns since I've been out here and was thrilled about walking out the door the same day I piad for it. I know the clerks were wondering what the h*ll I was smiling so big about.

[modifiedbrowning]

amprecon, isn't Montana great?:)

[Schuey2002]

I have to say Oregon.. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm biased.

:D

[Bulldozer]

Are you serious? NO WAITING PERIODS!!!??? NO SHELL CASING LAWS!!!! NO HANDGUN APPROVAL ROSTER!!! NO TRAINING CLASS BEFORE YOU BUY A GUN!!??? NO ONE GUN A MONTH!!??? ALLOWED TO GET A CCW WITHOUT A HASSLE?? REAL GUN SHOWS WITH MORE GUN DEALERS THAN JERKY SELLERS!!!???


Good golly, free at last!!! Free at last!!! I'll be free at long last!!!!

amprecon -- I live along the border of Harford/Cecil County and the office is in Easton (Talbot County). But I travel a good bit, approx. 30K miles a year on the road, visiting field offices in the states of VA, WV, MD, DE, and NJ for a financial services firm that everybody knows and 1 in 6 Americans use once a year.: :D :D :D :D

[mrt]

Yeah you get away from all of that in OR. but ID and UT may be better??
Keith's Sporting Goods (http://www.concealco.com/keiths.html ) - most guns, best deals IMO
and the Albany Rifle and Pistol club...
Expo gun shows in Portland
One thing they did in the past 10 yrs is gate up many of my hunting spots

[Sodbuster]

Gun shows in Montana... where they make a point of advertising "Private Sales." :)

[Russ]

Utah. However, if you like snow for 8 months of the year, then go to Idaho.

[p35]

While Washington may be at the bottom of the list among these states, it's still a good place for gun owners- "shall issue" CCW, same day sales if you have a CCW, and no local laws allowed. Sometimes the Seattle politicians try to cause trouble, but their hands are tied by State law. Oregon allows Class 3 but Washington doesn't if you're into that. You have to consider quality of life too- Oregon can't afford to keep its public schools open, Idaho is beautiful but very rural, and Utah isn't much of a place for non-Mormons. Hard to go wrong among them from the firearms owner's point of view.

[rick_reno]

quote "Utah. However, if you like snow for 8 months of the year, then go to Idaho."

I'm in Idaho and we don't have snow 8 months of the year. I'm 40 mi. south of the border (Canada) and we're in the mid-60's this week. Last week we hit 72. I can see snow on the Cabinet mountains out my windows - but there isn't any at 3500 feet where I am. It usually melts off in Jan/Feb and then can snow some more but doesn't last long. Last year it snowed a few inches just before deer season (Nov. 1st) - I hunted in snow opening day which made it easier to drag my buck out. That melted off and then it didn't snow again til after Christmas. Last big year for snow I remember was '95.

[Al Norris]

Mike Irwin wrote:
In Idaho if you have a roll of barbed wire you have the border for your own nation! :p

Hey Mike, at least we don't need a permit to buy barbed wire! :neener: (Nobody even asks why you want the stuff, either.)

Buldozer, of the states you mentioned, Idaho has the least restrictive gun laws. Right now though, we are in the middle of a depression (we passed resession last November when we elected all the turn-coat republicans) and things aren't looking all that good at the moment.

Next would be Wyoming, but they are even more rural than we are and they have worse weather.

Utah is probaly next. Religion is a factor on where you might want to live. Economy isn't near as bad.

Washington State may be your best bet, considering where you are coming from. Less cultural shock.

Montana ain't bad, but Oregon is wierd. The rest of the Pacific Northwest refer to it as California North.

I'll let you in on a little secret. If you chose Idaho, Wyoming or Montana and even hint that you like the east coast (or even big cities), you will be an instant outcast. We just don't cotton to them kinda imports. :fire:

[jmbg29]

Oregon is wierdYou can say that again! Oregon?:confused: :barf:

[Schuey2002]

but Oregon is wierd
What exactly is so weird about it ?! :scrutiny:

Does the smell of pot smoking en masse put you off ?:p

[Bulldozer]

The ONLY reason I left the little island village I grew up in in Southern Georgia was to go to college on a scholarship. I miss the small town feeling. I'd love to be in a place where community actually meant something. It would be heaven to see grass, mountains, trees, and streams rather than asphalt, concrete, glass, strip malls, and rows of cookie-cutter houses.

Thanks for all the great information.

[T.Stahl]

Idaho has the distinction of having, after Vermont, the shortest section of state gun laws in the little booklet the BATF sends out every year. IIRC, they don't take up quite a page.

Our new gun (and weapon) law has more than a hundred pages!

Note to self: Ask Kaylee about automotive industry in Idaho.