Which states are the most gun friendly?

[Bobothebigdog]

I'm looking for a place to live and start my own firearm manufacturing company. I was wondering which states are the most gun friendly. I'm also interested in figuring out how hard it is to get a license to produce and sell firearms in the US.

Thanks,
Bobo

 

[Brick]

SSSCCCCHHHHREEECCCHHHH.......BLam.



Vermont has the most lax of any last time I checked. No permits of any kind for carry, open or concealed.

Only students may not bring guns to campus, or anyone to government offices.

For producing arms? Not my area. Better hope you're the next JMB!!!

edit: whoops oh hey welcome to the high road

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Come to Florida, BUT


Don't even think of coming here if you don't bring your pro-gun vote.



We could use a little help in this swing state come election time. Nationally, we have 2 gun banners in our Senate.


Statewide, we have an ultra-pro gun legislature.


If you don't like it here, try Arizona - they are on par.

 

[Bobothebigdog]

Thanks Brick, Don't Tread On Me. I like dry hot areas. How is Nevada, New Mexico and Texas?

 

[Connecticut Yankee]

Try Utah, South Dakota, Nevada, ?Montana

I think South Dakota actually has a brochure and website telling you why it is a good idea to relocate there to manufacture firearms. I also seem to recall that Utah is very friendly to manufacturers, as is Montana and Nevada. Why don't you check the manufacturers list in the back of Gun Digest and see what companies are located in the Plains and Northwest states and call them up and see what their experiences have been.

 

[NC Shooter]

It is interesting to me that there seems to be a disproportionate number of gun manufacturers in strongly gun unfriendly states. Beretta in Maryland, Dan Wesson in New York, Smith & Wesson in Mass, etc.

Seems strange to me. I think if I was company management my stance would be if you don't want my product you don't need my jobs and move to a gun friendly area. It's not that easy and the number of jobs is probably not great, but geez louize how and why do they put up with the constant negative attitudes?

Just my $.02

 

[Tomac]

Idaho is very gun-friendly ("shall issue" CCW, Class 3 State, RKBA protected in the State Constitution) but a business may well set up shop in a state w/favorable tax laws and other perks designed to attract businesses.
Tomac

 

[armoredman]

Arizona - lots of room out here. Only states more progun are Vermont and Alaska....

 

[Linux&Gun Guy]

I would go to Alaska. With the combo of the new 4oz freedom and good gun laws its a cool place to live. However its cold and bugs are everywhere I think. Plus if an ice age comes they will be SOL

 

[readyfire]

1 for South carolina!

 

[schromf]

Idaho is very gun-friendly ("shall issue" CCW, Class 3 State, RKBA protected in the State Constitution) but a business may well set up shop in a state w/favorable tax laws and other perks designed to attract businesses.

Ditto on Idaho, good business friendly, pro gun state. You didn't say what kind of maufacturing so its a big dark area. I do know that Buck knives moved to Post Falls, from California, because of lower cost of business.
THe Boise area has a lot of business down there and I would think suppliers and etc would be very good there. In Northern Idaho Spokane Wa is the business hub, but Wa is not a tax friendly state.

Alaska do some homework on that or talk with Wild Alaska, shipping and transportation must be increased costs of doing business there, whether it offsets the tax benefits, I can't comment on.

 

[jacketch]

Virginia is for (Gun) Lovers!!!

Unfortunately, from your perspective, our unemployment is so low that it is difficult to hire good workers.

 

[parsec]

Take a look at Colorado. We have very friendly gun laws. We're shall issue and you can carry in any public building that doesn't have metal detectors. Also, no permit needed for car carry, and no restrictions on restaurant carry. Our real attraction though are our tax laws. Our Constitution includes a Tax Payer Bill Of Rights (TABOR for short) which states that ANY tax increase, state or local, must be approved by the voters. Also, if the State collects more taxes than it has budgeted to spend, it MUST return those taxes (unless the voters approve a measure allowing them to keep it). I've gotten a refund on my state taxes every year since this law was passed.

 

[Sistema1927]

New Mexico is fairly gun friendly, but our Gross Receipts tax situation is a loser for small business. As much as I hate to say it, any of our neighboring states would be better for a business start-up.

 

[jeff-10]

Florida is a good place for gun ownership and taxes but it would not be my top choice for a firearm manufacturer. We have a lot of importers here but if I was to become a manufacturer I would do it in one of the gun friendly mid-west/mountain states. Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Dakotas or Colorado.

 

[jnojr]

It is interesting to me that there seems to be a disproportionate number of gun manufacturers in strongly gun unfriendly states. Beretta in Maryland, Dan Wesson in New York, Smith & Wesson in Mass, etc.

Seems strange to me. I think if I was company management my stance would be if you don't want my product you don't need my jobs and move to a gun friendly area.

But that would require either uprooting hundreds of families, or having loyal employees lose their jobs because they can't or don't want to move for whatever reason. And it would cost millions to relocate that kind of manufacturing line.

As for the OP... I hear tell there's a lot of new and relocated manufacturing firms in Henderson, NV. A lot of CA companies have moved over there. You will want to consider things like state income tax (I think NV has none), the availability of labor, the cost of getting raw materials and machinery in, things like environmental permits, etc. All in all, CA is probably about your worst option...

 

[cajunboy2k]

Try Texas

Please come to the Beaumont area in southeast Texas. There are plenty of empty WAL_MART and K_MART stores to choose from., We have a great ecnomy, but still a lot of unemployment. Probably some of the lowest gasoline prices in the country (lots of refineries). Fresh water supply. Lots of hunting and fishing opprotunities. The temperature in the summer is around 95deg F during the day. The winters here are very mild. Snows about once every ten years and melts right away. If you need anymore info, contact me at [email protected] I will be happy to talk to you.

 

[ilcylic]

Bobo:

I have recently moved to Nevada from New Mexico, so I can offer some perspective on those two states.

Nevada doesn't have state income tax, which is good. New Mexico does, but it is fairly low. Both states are very gun friendly, though Nevada Highway Patrol requires gun stores to route background checks through them, and charges $25 for the priviledge, whereas New Mexico allows gun stores to call the FBI themselves.

New Mexico has a fairly poor economy, so there is generally pretty high unemployment, meaning lots of available workers, and the Albuquerque community college actually turns out very good welders and machinists.

Mr. Sistema mentioned the Gross Reciepts Tax in NM, but having worked as a contractor, all that has ever meant to me is that you have to collect sales tax. The rate is pretty low. Albuquerque only has 5.8% sales tax. It is possible that there is something he knows that I don't, however, as I hardly claim to be a tax expert.

Nevada (or at least Las Vegas / Clark County) just overall seems to have more laws, regulations, and restrictions than New Mexico does. Don't do this. You must do this. There is $X fee for this, that, and the other thing. Fill out this paperwork. Stand in that line. Blah blah blah.

Clark County requires handguns to be registered.

The climate in Las Vegas is both hotter and drier than Albuquerque. That's either a feature or a bug, depending on your perspective. Housing, and other property, are a lot more expensive in Las Vegas than Albuquerque. Personally, I feel the city is laid out atrociously, and the traffic is nuts.

(Ok, so this is turning into "Why I don't like having moved to Las Vegas" but I'm trying to give objective reasoning.)

In general I feel that New Mexico is freer than Nevada. Both states are straight across the board NFA states, but due to the generally poorer people in New Mexico, such firearms are less common than in Nevada.

Also, while Arizona has done well in spite of it, from a "regulatory" point of view, Nevada is just too darn close to California.

My girl and I are moving back to New Mexico as soon as we can.

-Ogre

 

[reagansquad]

Washington State is a perfect example of how gun owners can be successful in a liberal state.

 

[captain obvious]

West Virginia - except for Shall Issue, the only state gun law is the law banning gun control

 

[Bobothebigdog]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'm currently leaning towards Nevada because it’s a 2 hour drive from home and its hot but I am worried about political climate. The types of weapons I would manufacture would fit under the "Assault Weapon" category.

-Bobo

 

[parsec]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention weather in regards to Colorado. The mountains have the deserved reputation of getting lots of snow, but the front range is actually semiarid, just one step above desert. It's very common for it to snow 6 inches over night, then have a high in the 60's the next day, causing all that snow to melt by the time you drive home. We'll get storms that absolutely stop anyone from going to work about every two or three years. But then you get to send pictures back to the family of snow banks that are taller than you are, so it all balances out. In the summers 92-96 is considered pretty hot, and we have no humidity at all. Colorado does have two laws that are anti-gun, but really aren't that bad. 1) We closed the gun show "loop-hole" after Columbine, and 2) we have a requirement that a CBI background check be done before a sale. Neither has caused much of an inconvenience to me though.

 

[Jim March]

"Business climate" and "pro-gun climate" are NOT the same things.

You need to check the business climate out VERY carefully. Alaska is out due to shipping costs, unless the items in question are of very high value - that's why Wild West Guns (WildAlaska) does OK there.

Don't rule out some of the Southern states that are trying to attract new business of every sort - Georgia maybe, or one of the Virginias. There seem to be a LOT of small gun and gun-related shops in Arizona and Utah.

You want Class3/NFA compatibility in case you grow in that direction. That rules out WA state and a lot of others...there's only 37 Class3 states, right?

Vermont is an example of where NOT to go. Other than excellent gun laws, the state is overall very socialistic(!) - think long and hard before opening any business there, gun or otherwise.

You need to think about "infrastructure issues"...depending on what exactly you're doing, you may need other businesses nearby such as injection mold suppliers, heat-treat and plate shops, prototype small-job machine shops or God knows what - identify what you need, make sure it's there. If there's significant aerospace industry around, that's a good sign, a lot of the metalurgy/machining/plating issues are going to be similar I'd suspect...that affects both suppliers and workforce.

<Scratches head>

I'll bet you're going to find Utah a top contender.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Nevada does have a few more hoops to jump through, but once the permits/licenses are aquired, its no big deal. The city is exploding right now, with property values going through the roof. New home values have more than doubled in many areas of the Las Vegas valley. The growth in population is tremendous. While Sin City may sound kinda liberal for most, the state is actually fairly conservative.
The climate in Las Vegas is HOT in the summer and mildly cold in the winter (lows in the high 20's-low 30's are the most common) It's very dry here (some love it, some don't) Traffic is bad, but improvements are happenening.

We already have a decent sized gun manufacturer/importer in Las Vegas. http://www.arsenalinc.com.
You might want to call and speak to someone in the know there. Might get some ideas of what you'd be up against. I'm always pushing for more small and diverse businesses here. I'll support them in any way I can.

 

[dave3006]

California. The mullahs in Sacramento will let you have any rifle you want. Unless, of course, it is an evil FAL, AR-15, AK, AUG, UZI, ect... They don't fire friendly bullets like the M1A, Garand, and Mini-14.

The mullahs are especially friendly when they ask you to register all your handguns. That automatically makes your guns safe.

And, you can carry a concealed weapon anywhere you want without a permit if you don't mind worrying about getting caught. We call it a "shall deny" state.

Come on down to the home of Boxer, Fienstein, Bustamonte, and 4 million illegal aliens. We are so friendly we can't stand it.