Where do you live? And why?

[Pete D.]

Born in St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, NYC. Grew up on Long Island, NY. Lived and worked there until 1980. Then, for work related reasons, I moved with my family to Brooklyn, NY. I have lived there since.
In 1995, we purchased a few acres in rural PA and built a second home there. nowadays (I am retired) I divide my time between the two homes.
Despite the many criticisms of NYC, I much enjoy living in Brooklyn (fuggedaboudit!). It is very different than the woodsy, outdoor life a half mile from the Allegheny Front in PA.....a different set of satisfactions. In PA, anything I need to patronize is at least six miles away. In Brooklyn, within a five minute walk, there are at least thirty restaurants, two movie theaters, three supermarkets, a couple of very fine butchers, fresh fish, a brand new, clean, park along the East River, a hospital, and a pistol range in a gun club dating back to 1934. I have had no problem acquiring any gun that I wanted to own while living in NYC. Yes, it does take time and patience and it is expensive compared to PA. Fortunately, I have both of those.
Pete

[Nicky Santoro]

Born and raised in NJ. Never cared much for it but you build a life, a family, and a business and it's not so easy to move. Now that I'm semi-retired, I'd like to move but my daughter, son-in-law, and new granddaughter live less than a half mile away and I'm not about to move away from them. If my SIL's work moved them to a free state I'd be gone in an instant.

[FROGO207]

Born and raised here in rural Maine. Came from a family of shooters that are RKBA positive. I was shooting at squirrels in the back yard with a 30 M1 Carbine at age 4 (with a little help). Now I live about 60 miles from there on Mount Desert Island. This IS paradise--great weather with four seasons, lots of things to do and the summer is full of drop dead gorgeous females of all ages that seem to want to shoot my firearms with me. If I live through the wild, busy summer I will put some eye candy on here that I ended up out shooting with. Lots of foreign students here for waitress jobs and 20 something wanderers with well to do parents. I LOVE to get them going on the road to firearms ownership.

[303tom]

Been all over the world, always came back here ! Why, because it is the greatest state in the union.................

[Robert]

Edit:
After talking it over with Justin he reminded me that we have Rallying Point for topics just such as this. I apologize for not remembering that sooner and for not moving the thread rather than locking it.
Thanks,
Robert

[Athrok]

Virginia. Have been lucky to travel. When I find a place I (and my better half) want to be more I'll move.

Puerto Rico is a close second.

[Bobson]

I grew up in the PNW, but partly because of the military, and partly because law enforcement is ridiculously difficult to get into these days, I spent most of my adult life in the desert. Between Las Vegas and central Arizona, I could leave the Southwest tomorrow, never return, and die happy.

Working on employment in LE outside the lower 48, which will start in February if I make it. If I don't, I'm gonna have to figure something else out, because I would really prefer to not put up with another Summer here.

[Mr.357Sig]

Army brat, so I've been around. Ended up in Oklahoma when my dad went to the Reserves after Vietnam. Graduated HS and college here. Met my wife and had our kids here.

Have a great church home and dad lives within a few hours. If it weren't for the unbearable summers here, I'd probably never consider leaving.

[BullFrawg]

Illinois since I was 13, but next year I'm heading out west hopefully Wyoming.

[C0untZer0]

Born in Chicago.

My girlfriend - soon to be fiance lived in Chicago suburns and her job was at O'Hare airport. Illinois State Veteran's Scholarship, along with VEAP allowed me to go to Illinois state schools and completely covered my education. So those were two reasons I came back to Illinois after the Army.

I've worked for Chicago-based Fortune 500 companies since college.

I have heard diatribes from people who claim that people who live in Illinois value the rich restaraunt culture, sports teams, museums and entertainment more than they value their Second Amendment rights. And those people advocate an exodus out of Illinois as the only way to deal with the anti-2A politics.

Illinois is one of the most politicaly corrupt states (if not THE most politicaly corrupt), and the democratic process is completely subverted by the structure and rules of the Illinois General Assembly, which is controlled by the corrupt Chicago political machine. This is how 99% of the state is controlled by 1% of the state, this why Illinois is the only state not to have a CCW law despite the fact that a majority of citizens - even a majority of citizens in Chicago and Cook County - favor concealed carry. And this is why Chicago and Illinois is at the forefront of much of the 2A judiciary proceedings. The state is ruled by anti-gun demagogues who, because of the corrupt political system, have political immunity from their actions.

I have children now in the school system and aging parents who need my help, and I simply cannot move out of state.

On IllinoisCarry and TheFiring Line - I heard from a lot of people who would rant that leaving Illinois was the only way to teach the corrupt politicians a lesson. I've been fighting for gun rights in Illinois since 1987. For many years the battle was about stopping even stricter laws from being enacted. But slowly, the tide has turned and instead of simply being on the defensive - we were able to introduce pro-2A laws.

McDonald made a huge difference. We re-introduced a CCW bill this year but lost again when the Speaker of the House Michael Madigan tied the legislation up in rules committee and prevented it from coming to a vote.

The combined cases of Moore & Shepard are currently before the 7th Circuit and we are hoping for a favorable ruling before August 9th.

I really can't move out of Illinois, but I don't think I would anyway.

I don't know how many more guns I could have purchased with the amount of money I've given to political candidates running against the anti-gunners in this state, or how much more ammo I could have purchased. Besides McDonald, I've been on the losing side of this battle for 15 years but we are going to win this fight.

[JohnD13]

Born and raised in NY. Still here, I can't afford the exit tax!

[JoeMal]

I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could. Moved here for the stable economy, job opportunities, and the weather.

[Sky]

Only listing where I have stayed at least a year. TX, Okla., Alabama, S.E. Asia, Alabama, S.E Asia, Va., TX. Saudi, Okla., TX. and now split my time between S.TX. and S.E. Asia. If I ever sell my U.S. house I will stay at the farm in Asia sell all my guns in the states and probably be cremated with my ashes spread for fertilizer or fill dirt at the farm. Sounds good to me.

[bikerdoc]

Born in West Virginia. Raised in Mass. Went into the Army right after HS, came back after Viet Nam with the full intent of moving to Georgia, took the police exam and stayed for 22 more years. My second wife is from Virginia. I visited her family, fell in love with area and moved.
Very gun friendly, low cost of living, and good people.

[MtnCreek]

Nevermind.

[A strange person]

I live in northern New England because this is my perfect habitat.

First of all, it is the only type of physical environment I am capable of surviving in; it is cold for most of the year, and very dim due to forest cover. These are important to me because I have severe reverse seasonal depressive disorder (summer onset, supposedly very rare), agoraphobia, and am allergic to the sun.

Second, it is very sparsely populated. I hate crowds, and I ESPECIALLY hate cities. The greatest scene in film history was from the beginning of the recent "I am Legend", where there is presented a panoramic view of a future New York City, long devoid of human life, crumbling, and slowly being reclaimed by nature. If I cannot fill my enormous daily quota of silence and solitude in natural surroundings, I can literally have (and have had) psychotic episodes.

Third, the rugged, mountainous, densely forested terrain is the prefect place to employ my preferred close-range hunting style. I have ZERO tolerance for boredom, so I cannot sit and wait for game to walk in front of me, as many hunters today do. I would likely die of blood loss from nail biting if I did. I have to practice stalking and concealment, and the cover given to me by the forest is key to my success, as it is for other creature of a similar persuasion.
Also, the poor visibility here (on this whole side of the continent, actually), precludes the possibility of seeing any sort of game beyond 80 yards or so, meaning that I can use shotguns, handguns, and pistol-caliber carbines for ALL of my needs if I so choose (and I do), and enjoy their unique advantages. I take a kind of idiosyncratic pride in the fact that I couldn't care less about the entire genre of post WWI bottle-necked rifle cartridges that dominate the hunting and shooting world today.

Oh yeah, NH, VT, and ME also happen to be some of the gun-friendliest states in the country. It's true, and makes this post somewhat relevant to this site.

[tuj]

Moved to Houston, TX for work purposes. Energy capital of the US.

[Johnny Dollar]

Nevermind.

Great place,good gun country.

[Snag]

I was born in Weaverville California and raised up the road a bit in Coffee Creek. Sixth generation in a row to be born in Trinity County. I left right after high school and stayed away for almost two decades before returning. While I was away I lived in a few different states including Colorado, Virginia, and Washington.

I returned to Weaverville because it suits me. There are not many places that do, suit me that is.

Number one has to do with just the way I am. I don't care for people, concrete, swimming pools, flat land, stop lights, roads with more than two lanes, or giving my location by address. I like canyons, creeks, granite, trout, bald eagles, dirt and giving my location as just "up river".

Number two is the climate. I get four seasons, each one very different from the other and I love every single one. Winter I get to have a white Christmas, play in the snow, and try to catch a Steelhead before I freeze to death. Spring I get to see the snow melt, the rivers fill, the lake rise, and the animals come back out to play. Summer I get 105 and sometimes higher temp levels with 30% humidity. I love it. I swim, catch fish, camp, hike, shoot, nap, and as a bonus I get a nice tan. Fall rolls around and colors change, the tourist go home, things slow down, and that's about the time I just feel damn lucky to live where I do and love where I live.

I could of course do without the ridiculous gun laws California has chosen to employ, but I could absolutely not do without California.

[Jonah71]

Originally Posted by 303tom

Been all over the world, always came back here ! Why, because it is the greatest state in the union.................

I moved back to a small town in West Central Mo. (3000 pop) about 25 mi. from where I gradated from HS. (pop. 150) It's very peaceful and friendly with a lot of places to fish and way too many deer. I plan on being here until they plant me. The church is really like an extended family, so I'd be crazy to leave.

[floorit76]

Central IL. Both sides of my family have been here since the 1860s. I live in one of the original family homes. The main basement beams in the "old" part of the house are hand hewn. I have found places under the wallpaper that were signed and dated by family members from 80 years ago. We can document that we have owned the same farm ground back to the 1870s so both families have state issued "centenial farm" signs in the yard. Mine came in 1972. Gun laws down state are nowhere near as bad as you have heard.

[Yelovitz_503]

Born and raised in Portland Oregon, although I lived in southern VT for a year. In spite of how weird and 'hippy' this state is it has decent gun laws. I'm not wild about the political climate of Oregon (it's a bunch of bleeding heart liberals in Portland, and we have the most worthless city government in the whole country) but I do like the actual climate. I love the rain and our mild summers, plus my family and my wife's family both live in the greater Portland area. If I were to move to another state gun laws would be one of the first things I'd look at.

[BullFrawg]

Originally Posted by floorit76

Gun laws down state are nowhere near as bad as you have heard.

Except that my gun has to be unloaded and out of reach in my car, and I can't carry anywhere for any reason except my own property, and I have to get a permit to own anything

And coming soon: "assault weapons" and hi-cap mags ban, courtesy of Gov. Quinn.

Not as bad as Chicago down here, but still way, way worse than most of the country.

[chris in va]

I'm 15 minutes from Knob Creek. There's very little reason why I'm still here though.

[Walking Dead]

Born and raised in SoCal. Then Arkansas, Arizona and now Texas. I've been lucky to love all the areas I've lived in. However North West Arkansas and North Texas have been my favorite.