Tell me about Tucson, AZ....

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Bruddah_Al

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Finally Free in AZ
Well it looks like I get to escape the PRK. :D

I have a job offer there and would like to know where some of the better ranges (indoor & outdoor) are. In particular, are there ranges that allow shooting from the draw and retention type shooting? Yeah, the job offered will require I maintain these particular skill sets.

I know Arizona is a shall issue state but what's the climate like in Tucson itself. The G2 I've gleened from packing.org sounds like that Tucson is a Kaliban enclave.:barf:

I appreciate any info. Thanks.

Al
 
Not a Kaliban enclave at all.

All of Az is very pro gun and the ranges/places to shoot are o'plenty.


The weather, in the summer sucks compared to sourthern CA, 110 plus.
 
Where to start............

Weather; Great from Nov to April. Hot in between. The heat is like opening an oven at 350 degrees. Actually its not that bad. I play golf in the middle of the day during the summer with no problems. Sure its hot but you get used to it pretty quick. Monsoons are pretty cool in the fall. Wind out of no where and rain, lighning and thunder thats impressive.

What to do; Alot of camping in mountains. Plenty of area in the desert to shoot. Bird hunting is great. Lots of Dove and Quail. Deer and javalina are around. Plenty of gun shops and gunshows about every month. Between Phoenix and Tucson there is a gunshow going on somewhere.

Ranges; Indoor ranges are Marksman on 29th and Jensens on Prince. Outdoor ranges include 3 points or Tucson Shooting club on 86, lets say 15 miles outside of Tucson (west) and the other one out northeast of Tucson. Khor shoots matches out that way. Sure he will let you know where that is. There are so many open areas out in the desert to shoot round here. We just had a big shoot a couple of weekends ago. You should see the pics on the rallypoint area.

Gun friendly; Yes it is. Not uncommon to see folks walking into Wal-Mart with a .45 or revolver on the hip open carry. You will see that around here form time to time. Plenty of places to take the class for the CCW permit. CCW is not allowed in the usual places like Schools, Gov buildings and Restraunts that serves alcohol for onsite consumption.(stupid one I know).

Gunshops from best to worst; West of Pecos, Murphy's, Jensens (for ammo, guns are pricey but you can find deals from time to time)Cashbox pawn, Frontier Guns, Broadway Guns, and the worst is Jerry's gun exchange.

Crime; it exists here for sure. No hiding that. We usually have at least 1 shooting a week of some sort. Just gotta be aware of your surroundings and where to live so to speak. Also, car thefts are up here due to being so close to Mexico.

If I think of anything else I'll throw it in. If you want to come on down Im sure we could hook up so I can show you the ropes down this way. Might help in your decision to make Tucson your next home.

By the way, congrats on getting paroled from Cali;)

(edited the Restraunt part;) )
 
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...but it's a dry heat... :D

Well, you can only not bring a firearm into a restaurant that has a liquor-serving licence -- or any business with that licence. Taco shops, burger shops and such that don't serve alchohol are kosher.

Jensens has decent prices on Glocks on a walk-in basis, cheapest I've seen new, retail in town. Every once in a while Discount Pawn on 1st will have a good deal. I've seen great-condition Bersa .380s go for $120 while, on the other hand, their FireStorm .380s will go for $279!! I got mine new at West of the Pecos for $239 plus a free box of ammo, plus a free brush.

Tucson is a very gun-friendly town as long as you're a law-abiding citizen. A couple months ago, I was a witness to a car accident. The officer asked for my ID and I handed him my driver's licence and CCW.

"Hm, ya carrying right now?"
"Yup."
[hands cards back]
"Oh, well which lane were you in?"

If you go to Nogy, carry a sharp pen.

-Colin
 
Tucson

Well, I open carry just about everywhere except for places listed above. As far as gun shops, don't forget JJ's place "1880's Cowboy Mercantile & Gun Shop" down on Oracle across from the Tucson Mall. JJ is a really cool type. Shooting is good out at Riks Desert Trails on Valencia. You can practice drawing there as well. Yeah, it gets hot here but, as it is a desert, in the evening it cools off really fast. Plus, this is one of the only places I know of where you can go to early brunch in the snow (Iron Door resturant on Mt. Lemon) in the morning and then come home and go swimming after lunch.

I moved here for all of the things it does NOT have like; Floods, Hurricanes, Typhoons, Forest Fires (I don't live on Mt. Lemon), Tornados, Earthquakes, etc, etc.

Anyway, welcome! :D
 
I've visited Tucson a couple a times over the past couple of years - nice place . . . anywhere Safari Club International is headquartered can't be all bad. ;)

Each time I've gone there I've been on business, so I really didn't get to see the local "gun culture."

Despite much being made of AZ being an "open carry" state, not once did I see anyone carrying openly.

And I was looking.

Maybe I just needed to look harder.

As far as the heat . . . it was typically in the low 100s when I've been there. But it didn't feel bad at all, since dewpoints were in the 20s and 30s. A welcome relief from Austin with 100-ish temperatures and dewpoints in the 60s and 70s.
 
Thanks all for the info. Please keep it coming.

I should have quantified my question about climate. I met to ask about gun climate but anyway...

Old Partner, its good to know the landscape is varied. :D

LennyJoe & cidirkona, thanks for the intel on where to go "toy" shopping. :D :D

As for the heat, BTDT got the T-shirt.

Thanks again to all.
 
As far as gun shops, don't forget JJ's place "1880's Cowboy Mercantile & Gun Shop" down on Oracle
Click to expand...

You know, everytime I have tried to go there, it is closed. :confused: And I have called multiple times and never had an answer, I have given up on that place, it's just a sign to me now for a closed store.

I don't remember seeing any rules about drawing and firing from retention at the ranges at Marksman or the place on Valencia. And I have see it at Marksman, but it is indoor and nothing over or including .44 Mag is allowed there.

Welcome to Tucson when you get here, hope you get used to the heat quickly. Though the weather did say we will be dropping to highs of the upper 60's again next week, weird.
 
I retired from Tucson. I left too. There were good CAS clubs and shooting competition. Tucson is VERY anti territory. Private security jobs are easy to get, the crime IS that bad. Tucson is FULL of liberals, artistic folks and a large homeless/illegal population. EMS/fire jobs are mostly privatized in Pima county. Kord's/Rural Metro. Nursing homes have full staff security with foot and vehicle patrols. Tucson Mall is a NO GUNS mall. The security chief is a big anti. The city centre has a statue of Pancho Villa if that tells you anything. Grocery stores are patrolled by armed Wackenhut security. The weather is nice. I couldn't take watching illegal aliens raking the gravel for landscaping services. You can't have a yard, plants and trees must be approved. The Kaliban IS well established in Tucson and is taking Phoenix over. Everything is regulated, inspected, taxed and licensed. Fees, fees and fees. Murders, drive-bys, assaults and rapes are common in broad daylight. There are some areas that you just don't go. The better places to look for housing are up in Sabino Canyon.
 
Tucson Mall is a NO GUNS mall.
Click to expand...

Where did you get this from? I always check entrances of any business I enter and have never seen "no weapons" signs (as well as beer signs) on any of the entrances, maps or anything there. Maybe I've always entered doors that were unmarked?

-Colin
 
any of the entrances, maps or anything there
Click to expand...

I think it is on one of those information "Kiosks" with the maps and stuff, one has like rules for the mall or something... I thought I remember reading it but I am not sure. But that was at Park (Place) Mall.
 
JJ's place

JJ's place is closed on Sunday and Monday. If you drive by, just look to see if the windmill is turning, if it is, they are open. Phone number is (520) 325-8990. I have never had a problem contacting them so I guess I don't understand why you have...:confused:
 
Wow -- that's gotta be inconvenient to be open only when the wind's blowing! :p :rolleyes:

I've heard good things about that place though, haven't stopped by yet though.

-Colin
 
Being on the east coast, I really miss Tucson.

Tucson Rifle club west of town is a great range. Pima Pistol club is a nice shorter range and I have never tried the one on Valencia.

Slash K is a great place to by reloading stuff and BS with Phil.

tt
 
Beautiful city. My aunt and uncle have a house on one of the hills above the city, looking at the lights from their balcony at night was an awesome sight. Given the chance, I'd move there in a heartbeat.

Kharn
 
I have lived here all my life. Tucson is a growing town, both good and bad. Gun laws in AZ are great - only better is probably Vermont and Alaska.
All the malls, Tucson, Foothills, Park Place and El Con, have signs up, usually on little sign stands at the main entrances, but if you enetr through one of the big stores, you won't see them. Oddly enough, Macys at Park Place has a sign saying No Handguns - someone walk in with a AR and see what happens!
Jensens' indoor range is nice - I worked ther for 1 year+, but it's old, and I got bounceback many times there.
Tucson rifle Club is awesome - worked there 4 months. Range is over a mile across, with a 500 meter range, a 100 yard sight in range, a 100 yard only, a 22 range, pistol range, DPS,(Department of Public Safety, highway patrol), a big cowboy action range with 5 bays, and the granddaddy of them all, a 1000 yard rifle range.
It's hot in the summer, no arguing that, but the winters are good.
We have three seasons - hot dry, hot wet, and cool.
West O The Pecos is great, as is Murphys, but like they said, stay away from Jerry's - ripoff city.
Come on down!
 
armoredman said:

All the malls, Tucson, Foothills, Park Place and El Con, have signs up, usually on little sign stands at the main entrances, but if you enetr through one of the big stores, you won't see them.
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I have never seen a sign in Park Mall on any of the kiosks or main entrances. If it is there, they did a very poor job of posting because I sure missed it.

But then I never see a sign at Tucson Mall either since I always enter through one of the big stores and not the main entrance ;)
 
The foothills mall definately has "no weapons allowed inside" signs on the doors on little blue stickers on the inside of the glass doors, on the other side of the tinting... in 2mm white skinny font on dark blue backing. Hard to read, but it's there.

We should start making a Tucson gun-friendly or criminal-friendly business list.

Criminal Friendly: Zia's Record shops. A bight yellow "NO WEAPONS" sign adorns the front door, a foot and a half high and two and a half feet wide... CAN'T miss it. Good thing a 3.9" knife isn't a weapon in Az!!

-Colin
 
Also ElCon

The El Con mall also has a list of rules posted that forbid guns inside, BUT, who goes to El Con anyway???

As far as Park Mall, does anyone carry there openly? Never saw anyone doing so.

Gun friendly places
KFC
McDonalds
Burger King
Wal-Mart
Walgreens
Circle K
1880's Cowboy Mercantile and Gun Shop
Radio Shack
Chevron gas stations
Safeway

:D
 
Hahah yeah, Wal-Mart is DEFINATELY gun-friendly. No where else you can buy a semi auto 12 guage, some alchohol and clean undies all in the same stop! I had a guy at the ammo counter see my CCW in my wallet when I pulled out my licence and say "CCW, huh? Can I see what you've got??"

"Um... no."

I had friend of a friend (who I don't really know well) see the CCW in my wallet and say, "...you carry a gun?"

"No, I carry a knife or two, the guns stay at home."


There are alot of places here that are gun-friendly, but the criminal-friendly places are the ones I'm more concerned about

-Colin
 
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