[Skunkabilly]

Let's say I get a job in Warshington, DC.

Maryland is absolutely out of the question. I'm not running away from California to end up THERE.

I know I won't be able to CCW to work, but is the Virginia state and county which I will be communiting from be gun-friendly?

I don't know much about east-coast geography or politics. Any help would be 'preciated.

TIA.

[Sir Galahad]

Why would you move to DC??? Been to DC one time and it looked like dookey then and probably looks worse now. Going from California to DC is like going from eating, well, I won't say it. When are you going to take the plunge and move here to Arizona, Skunk? Been telling ya this place is free man's country.

[Skunkabilly]

I will be applying to WORK in DC but commuting from outside. So I'm asking if the bordering Virginia communities are gun friendly ;)

[Sir Galahad]

Working and commuting there can still get you in deep doo-doo with the not-very-nices. You are aware that DC has one of the highest murder rates in the country? One of the places you REALLY REALLY need a gun on your person at all times and you can't carry one. A gun at home in Virginia doesn't help you when you're in deep dookey in DC with some goblin holding a gun to your head and him wondering whether or not he ought to just "do" you. DC= District of Co-slum-bia.

[Cliff]

Skunk,

While VA does have CCW,it seems the prevailing mood in northern VA bordering the district is anti-gun.But the law is on your side,and the anti's in VA just have to grit and bear it. There's no getting around it,your gonna be P.O. after you move here,simply because of the restrictions of having a wider area to circumnavigate and only one are to carry,and also coming from the west coast to the east coast will shock just about anyone. BUT keep in mind the pro-gun community here in general,(DC,MD,VA,) is very strong,and vocal about RKBA issues. If its not a done deal,you might want to consider coming here for a visit. By all means,if you do visit,or decide to move,contact me,It'd be my pleasure to help out anyway possible.

Cliff

[El Tejon]

If you move to Ol' Virginny, you'll only be able to purchase one tactical skunk per month.

[Leatherneck]

Skunk,
Let me put in a good word for the Old Dominion. While it's true that the more metropolitan areas of Arlington and Fairfax counties harbor an element of anti-gun thought (especially in local elected officials), a majority of citizens of even those close-in suburbs are fairly conservative. Farther out from the beltway (Prince William, Stafford, Fauquier and Loudon counties) are much more conservative and almost totally gun-friendly. And we have a strong Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates that is right now hammering away at a dozen or more gun-friendly bills that will stuff the local blissninnies back into their boxes via state-level preemption laws.

Close-in living is not for me; I live 40 miles from work at the Pentagon, and thanks to van-pooling, make it door-to-door in 55 minutes in the morning and about the same most evenings. Housing is more affordable out in the farther 'burbs, open space more prevalaent, and firearm ownership is taken for granted.

PM me if you'd like any particular info. See also the VCDL site at vcdl.org/ (http://)

TC
TFL Survivor

[jrhines]

Skunk- Md is clearly not where you want to be, but other than that there is little downside to the area. Why work in DC? What/who are you looking to work for, or can you say? If you do come this way, give us a heads up & we can reveal some of the haunts.

J. Rhines
"Ex-spook, Calif Native"
Seneca, Md.

[Joe Demko]

I lived and worked in the DC area several times in the 80's and 90's. "Inner city" DC has been an open sewer for years. The suburbs, however, are quite nice. I spent the bulk of my time in northern Virginia and liked it very much. For a younger fellow like you, the night life in those areas will be very appealing.

[Roadrunner]

I live in Fairfax County (about 22 miles from D.C.) and commute to work in Downtown D.C. via Metro's Orange Line from Vienna. As luck would have it, we were able to buy a townhouse about 1/4 mile away from the NRA HQ and their indoor range. What troubles me more about D.C. is the awful traffic situation we have here.

D.C. has its problems with crime like any other city. I went to school at George Washington University (campus is in Downton DC, Foggy Bottom area), live here after that for awhile before realizing Virginia was the place to be.

Don't fret about commuting to work in D.C. unarmed. However, you may not want to go trooling around certain areas in N.E., S.E., and S.W. Most businesses and government offices are located in N.W., the "NW District of D.C." Even those that are not, tend to be in decent areas.

Myself and other locals here on THR that can give you better information once you know where you will be working and living. If you decide to move here, keep an eye out for our Northern Virginia THR (formally TFL) Shoots.

I've had a CCW permit for 8+ years in Northern Virginia with no problems. There are many "closet 2nd Amendment supporters" in the area. Even in my law firm, people quietly ask me if they could go to the range sometime. I always say "of course."

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

[mtnbkr]

What Leatherneck and Roadrunner said is true. I have lived in Fairfax Co, Reston, Ashburn, and now Manassas. I never had any problems with the Antis here. Being within driving distance of the NRA range is a big plus. Also, you'll be a mere 1 1/2 hours from the GW National Forest, the Blue Ridge Mtns, etc. If you like the outdoors, there's lot of that (surprisingly enough) not far from here. There's lots of good mountain biking in NoVa as well. Have you considered West "By God" Virginia? It's within commuting distance, especially so if you take the train (I know of people who commute from Harpers Ferry to DC via the train). Overall, this is a nice area other than the increasing congestion.

You'd be surprised at the number of Pro 2nd types you run into.

Edited to add: Cabelas is putting a store in Hamburg, Pa, it opens this fall. It should be within day-tripping distance of NoVa :D

Edit #2: If you come out here, let me know, I'll try to get you out to a bluegrass concert/BBQ some friends have out in the country each July. You spend all day eating pork bbq, green beans 'n' taters cooked in a big iron pot over coals, and whatever people bring. Lots of beer and liquor are flowing freely as well. After it gets dark, the musicians show up and play excellent bluegrass until everyone passes out or gets bored (usually runs until 2-3am). We all spend the night camped out in tents.

Here's a pic from 3 years ago. It looks small, but that's because the other 100 or so people were milling around the field visitin'. After it got dark and the music really got started, the crowd was around the musicians (others joined in, others left, it was a fluid "band")

http://home.mindspring.com/~mtnbkr/bluegrass.jpg

Chris

[Skunkabilly]

I was looking to see if SOCOM was hiring fashion designers, but no go :D

El Tejon, you mean one gun per month, or are skunks legal in VA?

Night life? Never been to a club before, my nights out are spent at the indoor range.

Some of the jobs I am looking at would be working in DC, but I'm hoping the commute out won't be bad.

[gun-fucious]

you CANNOT get anywhere in DC at exactly 9AM
you are always 15 to 45 minutes late

and the traffic grows

my 25 mile drive in commute takes 45 minutes on a good day

and 2.5 hours on a bad day

the Metro parking lots are full up by 7:30

its a rat race

[Viking6]

"I was looking to see if SOCOM was hiring fashion designers, but no go "
Skunk, you need to go to Tampa for SOCOM. Now Natick Labs might be interested in a designer or two.

[Roadrunner]

mtnbkr,

Are you the same "mtnbkr" from Yotatech.com? (http://www.yotatech.com) I recently joined that forum under the same "Roadrunner" id to help with my purchase of a used 4Runner. Cheers.

[mtnbkr]

Are you the same "mtnbkr" from Yotatech.com?

Yup. I'm also the "mtnbkr" on bladeforums.com, thefiringline.com, hardcoretalk.com (haven't been there in a long time though), and slashdot.org.

Did you find a 4Runner? I don't spend as much time at Yotatech as I used to.

Chris

[roscoe]

Here's a vote for working in DC. Yeah, you can't carry a gun (legally), but if you like cities, it has great bars, restaurants, museums, book stores, public transportation, etc. You are young (at least from your photo) and I think it is a good place for young people - there is a great scene. These are all the great things about a city. It is true that the murder rate is frighteningly high, but it is almost exclusively gang on gang violence. You stay out of the wrong neighborhoods and you will not see it.

You could live in Alexandria (VA), which is a cool town just across the river, and have all the firearms you wanted. If I lived in DC, I would probably carry If I had to go somewhere sketchy, just to be safe, but I am confident that I could probably live my whole life there and never use it.

[Waitone]

I break out in a bad rash every time I go to the DC area. Just too many preoccupied people in a small area.

Consider West Virginia. I would think all you need to do is stand still and wait because Sen. Bob (KKK) Byrd is hijacking the federal government and moving it to WV.

[Poodleshooter]

All I know is that everyone who comes to our Virginia office from our corporate headquarters in San Jose complains about how conservative Virginia is :D
They're usually flabbergasted at the relative inaccessability of liquor and "gentlemen's clubs" and the relative accessibility of firearms.
Expect all to see prices on almost everything except fruit and veggies plunge when you leave CA. Well, maybe not in NOVA ;)

[Smurfslayer]

In the Commonwealth. I moved here from Maryland a few years back. NIGHT and DAY difference. Remember, that in VA, the localities can no longer enact ANY legislation remotely pertaining to guns UNLESS the state General Assembly authorizes it. The likelihood of that happening are 1: slim. 2: none. Slim just left.

It ain't cheap here either, and traffic in the DC Metro area sucks huge. Nevertheless, compared to CA, VA is a gunowner's paradise.

[The Reaper]

I've lived in VA since 1985. I spent a lot of those years working in the District of Communism(aka DC).

Politics: The counties bordering DC are leftest for the most part. Those same counties are about as anti-gun as you get in Virginia. However that still is on the low end of the scale compared to the People's Republic of Maryland (aka The Free State :snicker: ). If you can move out one layer of counties from DC you are getting to more gun friendly counties.

Gun laws: Shall issue CHP (that would be for handguns only). You need a training class or proof of training, pretty loose really.

No carry allowed in establishments that serve alcohol on the premisis.

It'll take 30 days to get your residency established so no CHP application before then. VA allows then 45 days to issue you permit and the close to DC counties take all of it and then some.

CHP details at this link: http://www.vsp.state.va.us/cjis_ftc.htm

Open carry is allowed, although in some cities it is prohibited, so check first. Also freaks out people until you get far enough west or south and then people don't care.:evil:

You are required to buy one handgun a month in Virginia, it's the law. You however may not buy more than one handgun a month unless you wish to be treated like a criminal by the state police for asking to buy more than one handgun a month.

Stuff to do: If you can't find stuff you to you're a moron of the highest caliber. Between sight seeing, outdoor activities, and ranges you can stay as busy as you like.

Cost of Living: The closer to DC the more it will cost. You may not find it bad after CA.

Traffic: the closer you are to DC the worse it will suck, any questions?:banghead:

Taxes: the closer you are to DC the higher they are, again CA may be worse.

If you are a single skunk you will most likely want to live in Arlington/Alexandria. That is where most of the singles live.;)

It is legal to hunt skunks year round in Virginia, any questions?:what:

You could do worse than living in VA and commuting into DC. You could live in MD and commute to DC. :D

If you are considering WVA there are trains from up that way into DC. Called MARC trains and they drop you at Union Station downtown DC. Not sure about cost, but time wise they take about an hour from the end of the line to downtown. Not many single skunks in that are of WVA though. From well south of the city there are trains also. So you could live reasonably far out and still commute if you wanted.

Good luck.

[El Tejon]

roscoe, "have all the firearms you wanted", did they repeal that one-gun-a-month law you have out there? Did I miss that?:confused: On the phone no doubt.

[moa]

Before you move anywhere, if you have not done so already, I suggest you look at the State Firearms Laws found at www.nra.ila.org.

Virginia has quite an extensive conditions for possessing, etc., firearms. Not near as bad as Maryland, where I live, but still quite extensive.

One thing to bear in mind is housing costs in the Washington Metro area are quite high. The area is also been flooded with hordes of Latinos. I imagine most are illegals.

The Washington Metro area has something like the 2nd worst traffic congestion in the nation.

The last I looked, Virginia ranks 14th highest in all taxes. Maryland is 47th. West Virginia is something like 36th. This is according to Forbes magazine. This includes Sales, Income, Property, etc., taxes.

Generally speaking, the job market in the Metro is generally pretty good, and usually recession proof.

Washington DC. is a beautiful city, with lots to do and see, and much of it free. Just stay out of the war zones. Washington has a large police department for city its size (about 3600 for about 500,000 residents). Last I heard, Washington is the home of 21 law enforcement agencies.

One other thing about Washington. If anything in the city works very efficiently is the parking enforcement. They must have a contest to see who can write the most tickets the fastest.

[mtnbkr]

BTW, if you get offered a job by any company willing to put you through the security clearance process, take it. Having your clearance, just about any clearance, means you probably won't have to worry about employment in the NoVa/DC/MD area. Hell, if you have a TS clearance, you could have recruiters and companies beating down your door. Govt and Govt related jobs aren't sexy, but they're stable and pay decently.

Chris

[JohnBT]

I left Rockville Maryland in 1968 because the traffic was bad :)

There is not a one gun a month law in Virginia. It is one handgun a month and you can apply for a permit to buy more than one handgun a month if you just can't wait and have enough money to buy more than one. Long guns are unlimited and private sales of both are legal.

All in all, pretty good compared to D.C. and Maryland...and a lot of other places.

It's not Virginia's fault the Feds own the whole country.

John

[4v50 Gary]

Work in DC, live in Virginia. If you have to run around DC, stick to the tourist spots. They're safe (all sorts of police).

[twoblink]

Skunk, save your money, and move to a freer state man. I'll be your neighbor...

[anchored]

A lot of DCers are moving to the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, and I've been thinking of the same thing because the job market in DC looks good for my line of work. W.Va. is about as gun-friendly as you can get, and despite what you hear, it's not full of dumb hillbillies.