[686+]

Hi Folks,
looks like by the end of the first quarter of 07 I will be a Colorado resident. The job I am looking at is in Boulder. I could use some help figuring out the local area as far as shooting sports, Countie attitudes on black rifles and such. Under serious considerations are the Lyons area, Boulder (if we can afford), the Lousiville area or something south of it. I heard that Denver and an adjacent county are have black rifle ordinances, and that will not do. (Since I am moving from **********stan, I want more freedoms, damit :cuss: )
I would love a gun range or club nearby, or an open area where I can go shoot. I will more then likely apply for a CHL so I can bloster the ranks. Other things are going to play into our decision too: Shools (1st one about to go to 1st grade!) home prices and the lot size associated with the house. We will probably end up in a neighborhood so kids can have friends, but if it were up to me I would like to live in the mountains.
Appreciate any and all advice, both for firearms and other issues as listed.
Thank you very much.
686+

[PaulCSomething]

I live in denver and yes they do have an "Assault Weapons" ban. Do yourself a favor and don't move to denver.
As for bolder I don't know if they have a ban or not.
Boulder is a collage town with a very VERY liberal outlook.
I would say out of boulder too. Find a nice place north or west of boulder city and county.
Boulder is right at the foothills to the mountains so recreation isn't far away.
There are some heavily trafficked areas that people do shoot but you don't want to be there when they are. A place called left hand canyon is very popular...But people shoot across the road! I went there jeeping and I was a little nervous going through there.
Other then denver and boulder Colorado is a decent place.
P.S. I HATE DENVER! They think they are the own little Fiefdom.

[mr_dove]

This post might be helpful to you.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=236763&highlight=boulder

It has some info about shooting and training around boulder. I'm in Denver but I don't own any rifles so their AWB hasn't affected me yet. Perhaps I should look it up to see how bad it is.

Boulder is a hippie town.

[cloudcroft]

How pathetic...sounds like Colorado is the Heartland's answer to the East Coast's Massachusetts!

-- John D.

[tuck2]

Take a look at Longmont ,its only 14 miles north east on Colo 119. My son lives there ,homes cost a bit less , Nice town.

[Zak Smith]

From the perspective of state law:
* shall-issue CCW
* affirmation open carry in the absence of local law (SB24/25 passed in the last 2 years)
* no registration
* no state gun bans
* NFA is OK
* we do have background checks for all gun-show sales (we lost this one a few years ago)

Denver is uppity and wants to ban stuff within its limits.

We have a very active USPSA/IPSC, IDPA, 3-Gun, and rifle community, with on average probably 10 matches per month within 90 minutes of Denver.

The Boulder Rifle Club has a super-long waiting list. Weld County (E. of Fort Collins) is relatively easy to get in to.

There is also a lot of public land you can shoot on if you are safe and follow the rules.

[Sindawe]

How pathetic...sounds like Colorado is the Heartland's answer to the East Coast's Massachusetts!Only parts of its, mostly Denver and Boulder, and even The People's Republic of Boulder is better than Denver with respect to firearm laws. Plus Boulder has better scenery. Oh, and the Flatirons are pretty as well. :evil:

Boulder ain't gonna be cheap to buy into. When I was looking back in '95, a 60s era ranch like my parents purchased in '78 for $39.5k in Brighton (15 miles east of Boulder) was running in excess of $250k in Martian Acres (lots of college student rentals). Lyons might be better price wise, as well as Louisville. Also look at Erie, Lafayette and Niwat for homes, all are about 20-30 min from Boulder over two lane roads. Firestone and Fredrick are further out on the plains, but still nice. If you're not dead set on a single family house, I know a sweet 2 bedroom Condo thats available for under $200k. Valted ceilings, ceiling fans, eastern and southern light, good HOA. Just gotta watch the neighbor, he can be a bit of a curmudgeon at times. :evil: PM me for the link to the listing.

For shooting, the National Forest is just a short drive up the canyons.

[PaulCSomething]

Where do you do IDPA?
I can't seem to find any events.
Do you have a website?

[Zak Smith]

http://www.coloradoshooting.org/FRIDPA/FRIDPA_MatchSchedule.htm

[rockstar.esq]

The unfair thing is that the City Of Boulder is a hugely unofficial voice for the County of Boulder. The tree huggin hippies of a relatively small college town get all the press for a county that is largely high tech industrial. That small group of commies aside, Boulder county is fairly middle of the road on most issues. Wages in Boulder compete with Denver fairly positively however home prices get lower as you work your way north on the Front Range. Given the <30 minute commute from smaller towns like Berthoud, and Loveland lower priced homes north of Boulder become attractive. As an added plus, your kid won't be taught by wealthy elitist hippies who pretend that only Liberal doctrine is appropriate for the classroom. As a Coloradoan for the last six years I can say that the front range seems to be very polarized on politics and religion. At CSU (Fort Collins) it's very rare not to have someone literally shouting old testament to you on your way to class. In the city of Boulder it's not unommon to hear someone shouting about how evil a Nativity scene is. So far, gun rights seem pretty good and most non-gun folk aren't anti gun folk.

[tanksoldier]

Denver and Boulder are the only signifigantly liberal areas... and they're only liberal compared to the rest of Colorado. Denver is more "big city" liberal in that much of what they do is aimed at crime reduction and that sort of thing. Boulder is more tree-hugger liberal with environmentalism and animal rights issues at the forefront. Boulder is expensive as hell for buying houses... they have a new build ban: pretty much in order to build something you have to tear something down.

Lots of nice little towns within commute range: Louisville, Lafyette, Erie, Gunbarrel, Niwot, Broomfield. I live in Longmont myself.

You'll hear locals compain about traffic, and I guess for what they're used to it's bad... but if you've ever been on the 5 or 405 during rush hour you'll laugh at them.

High today is supposed to hit 36 & it's a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, high a few days ago was 11 w/ 6" of snow... high by this weekend is supposed to be in the 50's. The saying "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes" really applies here, esp in the mountains and down in Colorado Springs. Seeing a Coloradan wearing flip flops, shorts and a parka walking thru ankle-deep snow isn't that unusual.

There are several shooting groups, everything from ICORE to IPSC to rifle stuff.

The two I've shot with are:

http://www.ncrgc.org/ They run their own format semi-IDPA Defensive Pistol once per month. Great folks and nice range.

http://www.coloradoshooting.org/fridpa.htm Also great folks who use a true IDPA format. Bit farther away so I've only shot with them a few times.

[Justin]

How pathetic...sounds like Colorado is the Heartland's answer to the East Coast's Massachusetts!

Just Denver and Boulder. Outside of that, I would have an extremely difficult time naming a state that has a more active and diverse shooting community.

In addition to the stuff that Zak listed, Colorado has active groups shooting High Power, Bullseye, and an entire gamut of International shooting sports, and Colorado Springs has a very active junior development program at the National Training Center.

Colorado is the only state where I've gone out on a Saturday to shoot an ISSF-sanctioned 10 meter air pistol match, follow it up with some ISSF Centerfire, and then get up on Sunday and roll out to an IPSC match.

[Zundfolge]

How pathetic...sounds like Colorado is the Heartland's answer to the East Coast's Massachusetts!
As has been stated before, just Denver and Boulder (and mostly Denver from a legal standpoint ... Boulder doesn't have as many bad laws as Denver, but the people there are, well, Boulderites).

And a Texan has NO PLACE complaining about Colorado Gun Laws ... at least I can CCW into a bar here and there are no "30.06" signs. :scrutiny:

Compared to Colorado, Texas is closer to Massachusetts in terms of heavy handed government regulation of us gunnies.

But we're talking to someone moving from Los Freakin' Angeles ... even Denver is a Libertarian stronghold compared to LA.



Anyway, aside from politics, Boulder itself is EXPENSIVE. So you won't likely be living IN the city of Boulder unless you want to continue spending as much as it costs to live in LA (Boulder and San Francisco keep swapping the title of "most expensive city in America to live in").

[mountainclmbr]

Boulder is a very beautiful town, but very left wing and expensive. The Pearl Street Mall in Boulder has the Left Hand Book Store which has more books on Marx than you could imagine. An elderly woman living in Boulder was recently arrested and taken to jail for replacing the rotten door on her garage without the proper city approvals. Don't live in Boulder unless you like lots of rules to follow. I live just outside Boulder county and pay about half the property taxes that I would pay if my house was moved a few hundred yards into Boulder county. Lyons is nice, as are Golden and Arvada which are not too far from Boulder.

[cbsbyte]

Sounds like CO is going to the liberals. The state is becoming more Democrat every year. I bet in a few elections it will be a pretty solid Democrat state, because of the growing cities of Boulder, Denver and their Burbs. Oh well.

[Cuda]

Welcome to the state..

Personnally, I would not move into Boulder or Denver proper, not cheap and to left for me.. But as mentioned there are alot of nice places near Boulder which will offer you a much better life style that California. Gun laws not to bad here but we have a democrat state senate/congress and a democrat governor to be (who is not gun friendly). We'll see, but welcome.


C

[BozemanMT]

Gotta stay out of longmont, gotta be careful of your neighbors
<<<<<<<

Anyway, it is significantly cheaper to live in Weld County (just east of Boulder), thru Property taxes, car registration, stupid building inspectors, etc

Boulder is hypocritical as all get out.
that's ti's biggest problem
People driving 12mpg Range Rovers preaching about the environment.
i don't care about the Range Rover, but don't go preaching.

City of Boulder is VERY compact, very little space. County of Boulder is real spread out. lots and lots of laws and busybodies.

Living in the county and not the city (in anyplace in Colo.) can save you significant amounts of money in sales tax.

[Jay Kominek]

I live outside the limits of Longmont, and heartily suggest doing something along those lines, but perhaps on the west side. You should be close to the nice new schools they built there. (I'm assuming that you're taking work in the city of Boulder itself, and want to keep the commute <=30 minutes.)
The unfair thing is that the City Of Boulder is a hugely unofficial voice for the County of Boulder. The problem, as near as I can tell, is that the three county commissioners have to live within their corresponding districts (only one of which contains the whacky city of Boulder), but everybody in the county gets to vote on each commissioner. Sooo, basically the city residents get to pick.
Lyons might be better price wise, as well as Louisville. Also look at Erie, Lafayette and Niwat for homes, all are about 20-30 min from Boulder over two lane roads. Lyons will be a bit rougher a commute. You've only got one choice of route (US36) and I'm under the impression it gets kind of nasty in bad weather. Niwot is pretty expensive. (As near as I can figure, it is for people who can't afford a giant house in Boulder, but don't want the stigma of living in Longmont.) Erie is kind of far. Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, and Longmont are the most popular choices. I suggest Longmont, as you're then that much further away from Denver and the surrounding high population density areas.

[cloudcroft]

Regardless of how the rest of the state of CO is, it's pretty unfortunate that one can't choose Boulder or Denver to live in. After all, some people DO like to live in big cities.

Maybe it has something to do with Denver being "diverse," i.e., a safe-haven city for Mexican immigrants, like here in El Paso...those people are overwhelmingly Democrats and vote liberal.

That bodes ill for the entire country as it becomes further Balkanized.

Say whatever you want about TX...no offense taken, partly because I'm not a Texan. I'm not even what passes for an "American" nowadays, either, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

-- John D.

[X-Rap]

You will feel right at home comming from Kalifonia. I live on the western slope and its like day and night. Maybe not so much big money but great quality of life.Just kidding the west slope sucks and someone told me its closed.

[MikeB]

I lived in Boulder for a year. I got tired of the "liberals" and was going to move, I ended up escaping to Nederland for 4 more years (before moving back to PA) and was very happy living up there and working in Boulder.

If you are a young partying college student or a "liberal nanny-state tree hugger". Boulder is a great place to live. Otherwise it's a great place to visit and even work, much better places to actually live with short distance of Boulder.

Up near Nederland we never even bothered with ranges, one of my friends was a caretaker for an old mine, we would sometimes shoot there. Also the are northwest of Boulder is surrounded by National Forest where you can just go shoot.

[Jon Coppenbarger]

Boulder rifle club is a very nice club. The wait for most folks will take over 10 years to get into it as a member.
but that does not stop you from going to any events like shoots they run.
The Boulder rifle club has produced many, many National champions in high power from their junior program. also the juniors their still hold a few national records. They run pistol matches, monthly highpower matches, Clinics and indoor winter small bore leagues. They also have junior practice nights once the weather turns better in the spring and many times it is taught by a wide range of coaches. all of them have fast experience in the sport of highpower. Sometimes you will get national champions, Olympic shooters, World record holders and many others who come to coach.

I have many friends who live their and man it is a expensive area. It always makes me feel I need to really watch what I do in that town when I have a truck full of shooting equipment. I just keep it out of site when I stop to eat at a place in that town.
I moved here from Ca in 98 and it was a shock to be able to walk in and just buy a rifle

[rockstar.esq]

Something that most Coloradoans won't admit is that Colorado wages suck as compared to California or Michigan. The buying power here isn't all that strong either. Most folks will carry on about how wonderfully beautiful the mountains are but VERY few do anything with them aside from skiing. There are tons of old communities that are in varying degrees of modernization and lots of new communities with 20 minute drives to the nearest gas station. Finding a job is more difficult here than anywhere I've ever lived. The weather is more constant here than CA or MI despite the "wait 5 minutes" comments. In point of fact, it doesn't rain very often at all and when it does it's short lived. CA in winter was more like 6-7 rain storms each lasting 45min - 1 hour. Michigan is 2 weeks of sunshine spread out on Wednessdays with no more than three nice days between clouds, rain or snow. I lived there for nearly 20 years I know, Michiganders lie about it all the time! Most Coloradoans complain about 10 minute drives whereas I've commuted 45 minutes minimum to most jobs I've held elsewhere. Traffic here isn't much to worry about if you've ever experienced CA rush hour.

[duck911]

Unless you make $100K a year or want to live in a 1 bedroom apt, forget Boulder, the property values are SO out of whack with reality that it's not even worth looking.

As someone mentioned, Boulder does have a range but it is private and the waiting list is YEARS.

Colorado is NOT a bad place to be. But you've got to move 90 miles north Denver/Boulder to be in an affordable spot that will support your hobbies.

I live in Loveland - great access to the mountains, the plains, Wyoming, hunting, the metro area, etc. We've got a big mall, all of the x-mart stores your wife can shake a stick at, minor league hockey, good fishing, etc. The average home for a family of 3 or 4 here will set you back $190k. Compare that to $400k in Boulder.

Greeley, if you can find the right area (there's some bad areas), may be your most affordable option AND it is even closer to shooting areas and hunting in the plains. The same $190K home in Loveland may be $175K in Greeley.

North of Denver there is a disturbing lack of shooting ranges though. I have to drive 60 miles to shoot (either in the National Grasslands or at Pawnee Sportsmans Center) but either way it costs in gas or shooting fees. I really wish there was a public place 20 minutes from my house where I could shoot any time I wanted - I'd probably start reloading if that was the case.

What industry do you work in?

[686+]

All,
thank you for all the replies so far. Our preference so far is to live in some sort of suburb of the Boulder area, or one of the adjacent towns. After living on the Westside of LA suburbia is looking good to me. The goal will be to pick up a house that will sustain the 5 of us and have room for the Grandparents who may need our care really soon. As my job falls into the "hitech" realm of packaging engineer, (think products not styrofoam), the Boulder area is a good place to aim for. I am purposefully staying out of Denver proper, due to the AW law and just plain having enough of the big city ratrace, er, life.
We will take a trip soon, maybee during the holidays, and check out some of the area. I hope the weather cooperates so we can get a good feel for it all.
I think we will target the area between Longmont and Louisville.

[duck911]

686,

Check out Advanaced Packing Technologies located in Longmont. No idea if they are hiring or not but sounds right up your alley.

--Duck911

[Intrepid Dad]

You might want to look at Superior, CO. It's a little stop on the way from Denver to Boulder, but it's relatively new with a lot of housing going up. However, it might be in the same county as Denver so you'll want to check that out.

[Jay Kominek]

You might want to look at Superior, CO. It's a little stop on the way from Denver to Boulder, but it's relatively new with a lot of housing going up. However, it might be in the same county as Denver so you'll want to check that out. I believe Superior is fully contained within Boulder county. However, it abuts the Boulder county/Broomfield city&county line. There are stores/houses on both sides of the street that forms the county line, and you don't realize you're on the edge. Superior also abuts Louisville (and maybe Lafayette?). Basically there is a gap between Boulder and Superior/Louisville. Once you make it to Superior/Louisville, it is solid city from there through the Denver metro area until you exit the other side.

I think you'd be able to find cheaper housing further north of Superior. Being right on the main road between Boulder and Denver, Superior is a popular place to be, especially for younger couples who don't have the sense to avoid shoddily constructed tract housing.

[686+]

Update,
moving day may occur first week of February!
Thanks for all the replies so far. Looks like Longmont to Louisville is the targeted area of residence. The wife would prefer a new custom house, but this may not play well with the logistics of the new kid due in April, so we will look for something already built.

Couple more questions:

Need to find a gun range to store some of my toys, any sugestions?
Need to find a kennel to keep my shep mix at, some place where I will be able to visit her late at night.
Suggestions on good schools (or schools to avoid) in above mentioned area. Need a first grade and a preschool place.


Please PM me if you want to take it off line.
Thanks!!!

[Bunkerbuster]

Good choice. I live in Longmont and use to live in Boulder. I also am from Los Angeles area.

Schools, you probably don't need to worry about it, if you live near Louisville, Boulder, Superior, Lafayette areas. Longmont is okay, as well.

Most of Colorado public edu are far advanced than blue ribbon Highschools in Southern California (ie Lacanada, walnut, etc from early 90s).

:)

[ReadyontheRight]

BTW - You cannot "own" a pet in Boulder. (http://www.nabr.org/AnimalLaw/Guardianship/index.htm) :confused:

Great part of the world though -- despite the current regime. You don't have to drive too far to find the "real" world.

If you like seafood, Jax Fishouse on Pearl Street is one of the best in the country IMHO. And outside of political quirks, most people are there because they love the outdoors.

[Claemore]

I just moved to Ft. Collins from Wyoming.

My thoughts on Colorado are these: I like it here; it is hard to find a job, but it sounds like you already have one. Wyoming has good gun laws, some of the best, but nobody seems to appreciate them. Here in Colorado, the pro-gun folks are more pro-gun than in Wyoming- from my experience. In Wy, we had almost no gun stores. Here, they are all over the place. I've got an indoor range right down the road, literally, from where I live.

I guess, as someone already mentioned, it is hard to find a place to go shoot. But, from what I understand, there are a lot of private places to shoot. You just gotta know the right people. I don't know them, yet.

[Ranger 40]

That has to be the most stupid comment ever posted. Wyomng is a very Pro-Gun state. We have never had a Anti Gun Government or Gov. The state law on Guns prevail. We do not have cities or Counties making up their own gun laws. The NRA and Wyoming State Shooting Assoc. are very powerful groups here in the state.
We have open carry any where in the state. You can get a concealed carry with very little effort. The folks in this state vote guns. You will note anyone runniing for public office will state they are pro 2nd A. As for guns stores no there are only a few. You must also note that Wyoming is a big place while we are ranked 50th in Pop. There are many things we don't have, with out traveling for miles to get it.
I think you were one of the transit population that never gets involved gun issues, but is a by standing expert. You will fit in liberal Colorado.:neener:

[686+]

Well it is official, my location has now been changed to COLORADO, and we are looking to close on a house in Longmont.
Any Longmontians, or is it Longmonters?, care to share where to get ammo, supplies, and which gun stores to visit or not to visit?

PM me if you want to get in touch offline, I could use some suggestions on other services too.

BTW the I-70 is a harsh road....

Yeahaaa!!!! Freedom.

[IMtheNRA]

Or was it SB24? I thought one of them pre-empted all local firearm restrictions. Denver sued the state, and that's the last I heard. Was the state law overturned in favor of Denver and Boulder?

[MachIVshooter]

Or was it SB24? I thought one of them pre-empted all local firearm restrictions. Denver sued the state, and that's the last I heard. Was the state law overturned in favor of Denver and Boulder?

That'd be C.R.S. 29-11.7-103, signed into law by Gov. Owens March 18, 2003. Denver did sue, and lost. However, they are still enforcing their unconstitutional AWB within city limits. Denver has also been know to immediately deck & cuff permit holders. Can't open carry in the city, either. I stay away from Denver whenever possible.

BTW the I-70 is a harsh road....

As are 95% of our roads. Just something you learn to live with. FYI, I-25 is Colorado's own autobahn. Non-Rush hour speeds in town are typically 75-80; outside of town 85-95. Do yourself and everyone else a favor: If you're going less than 20 over the posted limit, stay out of the left lane;).

Aslo, remember that turn signals are optional here. Seems that most vehicles were shipped to this state without the bulbs.

[The-Fly]

Welcome 686. Jensen arms in Loveland is an excellent resource for most firearm needs. Their prices are great too. For custom gunsmithing, Cullin Honeycutt at Colorado Gun Works in Fort Collins is excellent.

I'll shoot you a PM with some other info as well.

http://www.jensenarms.com/

http://www.coloradogunworks.com/

[SunRunner]

0

[RonC]

Even with the perverse behavior of Denver and guns, overall I have had no problem finding places to shoot or buddies to shoot with.
Welcome to the area 686+!

Regards,
Ron in Golden

[tanksoldier]

Best gun stores are Jensen Arms in Loveland and Rocky Mountain Shooter's Supply in Ft Collins. RMSS has an indoor range as well.

Actually IN Longmont the best gun place I've found is Grandpa's Pawn on 3rd & Main. Lots of used stuff and they'll order new stuff, and have some new on hand. Good people as well.

Best shooting club is Northern Colorado Rod & Gun Club. They run several types of shoots, including an IDPA-based Defensive Pistol. Sorta like IDPA, but a little more relaxed.

http://www.ncrgc.org/

Best true IDPA group is Front Range IDPA. Good folks, but a bit of a drive for me.

http://www.coloradoshooting.org/fridpa.htm

There are others around and IPSC types as well.

Best Mexican food we've found in Colorado thus far is Hacienda Colorado in Broomfield. Best in Longmont by far is Efrain's next to the fire station on the Ken Pratt Parkway. Stay away from La Mariposa and El Delicioso. You'd think there'd be all kinds of great Mexican food around here... sadly, no.

Best "pub grub" is The Pump House, at Main and 6th, supposedly really good microbrew beer too... don't drink beer myself.

Best Italian in Longmont is Pinoccio's, a little hole-in-the-wall on Main.

There's also a really good Indian place (Indian as in India) on Main, can't remember the name.

Best breakfasts, and lunch on weekdays, is Lucille's on Kimbark. Neo-Cajun type place.

Great sandwiches at the Bear Rock Cafe on Hover.

Good diner-style food from La Peep and The Egg and I, breakfasts and lunch. Both on Ken Pratt/ Hwy 119.

Lastly, best "general store"/ ranch & home type place is Murdoch's on the north end of Main just before Hwy 66.

Any Longmontians, or is it Longmonters?, care to share where to get ammo, supplies, and which gun stores to visit or not to visit?

[cheygriz]

Boulder, Colorado. the San Francisco of the Rockies.:( :(

[TimboKhan]

I third the sentiments to Jensens Arms in Loveland. Pretty good store, pretty good selection.

As far as all the comments on Boulder go, it is interesting to note that at one point, Boulder was a hotbed of renegade activity. Prior to the invasion of hippies, Boulder had one of the best surplus stores in the state, had several good gun stores, had plenty of places to shoot and even had cheap homes! Poor planning in terms of growth and zoning have made Boulder an extremely expensive town to live in. San Francisco of the Rockies is a pretty good way of putting it. Anyway, for all of it's current faults, it is still one of the prettiest cities in Colorado, at least IMHO.

[MBane666]

Hey, me and Col. Bob Brown, the editor of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE live here in Planet Boulder — 50 square miles surrounded by reality. as they say.

Great microbreweries, world-class beer, world-class bicycling & climbing, lots of shooting. Boulder Rifle has a 2 billion year waiting list, but it's a really nice facility. I'm a member at Clear Creek, which has a short waiting list and an aggressive set of activities.

Problems on shooting on Forest Service land...the local USFS head is EXTREMELY antigun, and it's open warfare between us and them. NRA's in it providing legal services.

You can always reach me here or on www.downrange.tv!

You'll love it...

Michael B