Any reason not to move to Missouri?

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griff383

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Might be moving to the St Louis area soon, any reason not to?

Are there places to shoot long distance or hunt easily?

Carry laws good?

Any input would be greatly appreciated
 
Rural folks are mostly conservative while larger cities have more than a fair share of liberal minded residents, about as one might expect these days. I grew up in SW Mo. but left for better employment decades ago. I like Missouri and visit family near Springfield every year. Missouri is a great place for hunting, fishing and raising a family. Guns laws are far better than they were fifty years ago. Winters can be a bit harsh, especially compared to Texas. If you do move to St. Louis, try to stay out of Illinois. It's an unfriendly police state that's best avoided.
 
There was a recent news story (you'll have to googlefu it) where a sheriff's department employee gave the DHS a comprehensive list of ALL Missouri conceal carry license holders. He started at the DHS the next day. Go figure.

There is however some excellent barbecue to be had.
 
Lot of crime in St. Louis. Like most big cities one must learn where NOT to go. I am lucky cause I get to live in a rural area. I understand a lot of people need to live in cities for good jobs. I am thankful I still get to live in the rural area I grew up in. I understand people around here. Zeemu did you live close to Cassville? I'm going there next week to visit a friend. Love that area of MO.
 
Much better baseball there than where you're coming from.:D

Seriously, though, I really enjoy visiting St. Louis. Almost as much as visiting Dallas. (I'm about equidistant between the two). From what I've seen, though, I'd prefer living in Dallas.

If the decision was already made, as it sounds like yours could be close to, I could learn to like it. There are some really nice neighborhoods in the area. Good food, though the BBQ is...different. Just stay on the West side of the Mississippi.
 
It is a beautiful state. The Ozarks are some of the most gorgeous spots in the U.S. I loved my travels through there. The weather can be very muggy, with lots of thunderstorms. In general, the folks are very down to earth. I'd consider living there.
 
There's a bridge in Branson where you have to drive on the wrong side of the road! Plus traffic circles!!!
 
There's a bridge in Branson where you have to drive on the wrong side of the road! Plus traffic circles!!!
Click to expand...
Traffic circles/roundabouts are getting unreasonably common in Little Rock. Not a good thing with our drivers, either. I once saw someone back up in one because they missed their turn. There's no way they could handle that bridge in Branson.

Just a few miles north of that bridge is the big Bass Pro Shops, and there's a Cabela's west of St. Louis. I haven't been to any, but I'm sure there are some good local gun stores. The state, overall, is very gun friendly.
 
"did you live close to Cassville?"

I've been to Cassville. It's not far from Shell Knob, SW of Springfield. I was born at home in Mt. Vernon at the beginning of WWII. Spent my teenage years living just east of Springfield. Lots of great memories from my time there. Hunted, fished and camped the area. Drove the two lane Rt-66 to St. Louis in my 1949 Ford Coupe when I was 17 and saw I-44 being built. Joined the Air Force and returned to attend college. After all these years, crossing the Mississippi and driving past the arch always makes me feel that I've once again returned home. Now living in the east but my heart will always be in Missouri.
 
Im actually from much farther north than St Louis so the "cold" will be more than tolerable. The job would be west of St Louis proper about 10 miles so moving further out where some land could be had might not be such a big commute. Not sure Im looking forward to the humidity though...
 
I live in the stl area, firearm laws a pretty lenient here. My only real gripe is the ccw class is a tad expensive and long, but once you've taken it you're good to go. You mentioned it would be the st louis area as the possible location it goes without saying avoid living on the Illinois side of the river at all costs.

As far as shooting locations I like busch wildlife (state park) 3 bucks for an hr of range time, or 25 clays on the shotgun range is hard to beat. Theres a few private ranges in the area too, which are usually in the neighborhood of $10 per hr without a membership. I don't know of any range that has targets further than 100yds out, but I haven't really looked.

As far as hunting goes thats not really my thing but even if you live in the middle of downtown st louis you are less than an hour from the middle of nowhere, and as far as I know most public lands allow hunting.

PS There has been a recent controversy about the state sharing a list of ccw holders with the feds at this time people are still fighting over semantics and theres a question as to what if any federal agency actually received the list in a readable form. The director of the dept of revenue actually resigned over this so I would think whatever allowed for the sharing will be going away shortly.

edit: Oh, and destructive devices aren't legal here so leave the bazooka, before the move.
 
Advice, stay rural. I live in Northeast OK. But I travel to Missouri and Arkansas often. The farther away from the city you are, the less liberal it becomes. Country folks just seem to be more "neighborly" in my opinion. +1 for communities, not cities.

Missouri has some AMAZING turkey and deer hunting. Pretty decent fishing also.
 
Proximity to the People's Republik of Illinois is the primary drawback.

The further away from St. Louis you can get, the better it is.
 
I've been there five times... Stay away from St Louis (I don't like big cities in general) and as far southwest as you can. Away from the river, the weather seems better.
Rural Missouri is gorgeous. It's a lot like the Tyler area, nature wise.
 
I'll second what Texan Scott just said. I've been up and down MO, and for the most part, the state is beautiful with low crime and a relaxed lifestyle. In the metro Saint Louis area you better watch out where you're at. There are parts of the city that are VERY run down and extremely violent. Once again, 95% of MO isn't like that, so if you know where to avoid the hotspot warzones, it is a gorgeous state to live in and honestly, some of the most friendly folks I've ever met, and I've been to 34 states. :D
 
I'm from the Springfield area, Southwest Missouri born and raised. While I grew up here, and enjoyed all the country life a boy could ever want, I thought I needed to see the rest of the U.S. after college. After living in Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, I am glad to be back home. I don't think I will ever be leaving again. The southwest and central parts of the state are a natural paradise. We have great lake fishing, hunting and hiking.

The war on meth labs has cost our state something fierce. And Yes, the recent CCW scandal marred our otherwise respectable 2A record, but it spawned a backlash that we still haven't seen the end of yet. The Missouri legislature is currently trying to pass a law that says we will ignore all federal gun laws past, present and future. Any federal agency trying to enforce restrictions on Missouri citizens gun rights will be guilty of a misdemeanor and the state will defend the citizen. They are also passing new CCW rules. You still have to take the class (8 hours) but after that you just present your paperwork to the county Sheriff, and he signs off on your carry permit. No longer do you have to go to the license bureau and get a new driver's license. It ends with the Sheriff signing your certificate. And the MO Dept. of Revenue is being punished with an overhaul. No longer will they be permitted to keep copies of your private data. They are stripping the system down in favor of citizens of Missouri.

I hope in the coming elections we can get rid of our Democratic lawmakers who side with Obama. Our state is one of a few that need to send a message to Washington.

So over all, our state has it's pro's and con's. But we have way more pro's.
 
One more thing. A simple word of caution.

The people of rural Missouri are the nicest you will ever meet. They mind their own business, but if you need help they will gladly offer it. It's pretty much a requirement if you see someone with car trouble, to stop and ask if they need help. When someone opens a door, they stand and let a dozen people through before they enter themselves. Manners matter here. I can't believe how rude people are in other states like California. Ridiculous. Learn to say "thank you" because you are going to be saying it often.

But I know in my part of the state, you really shouldn't mistake kindness for stupidity or weakness. We don't put up with a whole lot of nonsense. In my neighborhood, if you don't belong there, you are asked to leave, nicely the first time. In the most rural parts of the Ozark Mountains, you better obey "No Trespassing" signs. I have hillbilly relatives who would gladly show you their gun collection muzzle end first.

I was joking with a woman in California one time. She asked where we were from and I said Missouri. She said she had never been there and asked me what it was like. I asked her if she had ever seen the movie Winter's Bone. She said she had, and I said that movie might as well have been a documentary about much of rural Missouri. Ha ha. The look on her face was priceless.
 
I lived there back in the 80's. There used to be a pretty good range over in or near the Busch Wildlife Area west of the county. I don't recall if it extends out beyond 100 yards or not though. Good fishing in the lakes of the middle part of the state and in Mark Twain resevoir up north towards Iowa. Also some good fishing in southern Illinois. I'm not much of a hunter, but saw some good deer up north by the state line as well and took a lot of squirrel (fox and grey) from many of the state run wilderness areas. St. Louis has a lot of problems and ammenities common to big cities, and if you're moving from Dallas your used to those things. Traffic can suck at times, especially if you'll need to cross a bridge in your commute. It is a state that has been inching closer to blue as St. Louis and Kansas City get more and more of the voting population. The winters are not that bad, but there will be winters when the snow may stick around for a few weeks and the ponds will freeze hard enough to skate on - too cold for me.
 
Missouri is a great state for firearms ownership and for hunting. I believe a shooting magazine just rated us #9 for quality of gun laws, much better than Texas. Our legislature is very conservative and is on mark for making our gun laws even better (significantly) this year.

I now live quite a bit west of the St. Louis area right now, but went to high school in suburban St. Louis area and have relatives that live there now. While St. Louis itself (actually very geographically small) has a high crime rate, most of suburban St. Louis has low crime and is often rated as one of the best places in the country to live. West St. Louis County and St. Charles County are top places to live.

The Ozarks have over 2 1/2 million acres of National Forest and the best float streams in the country. Our conservation department is arguably the best in the nation. Deer regulations are liberal with no limits on does (three bucks, two with a bow and one with a gun). Turkey hunting is great. Missouri has several huge reservoirs (Lake of the Ozarks, Truman, Mark Twain, etc.) for fishing, boating, and vacationing.

There are LOTS of gun stores in the St. Louis area and several indoor ranges. The conservation department operates several outdoor ranges, some manned and some unmanned. These usually go to 100 yards. There is a private range west of the St. Louis area (Benchrest Rifle Club of St. Louis) that has many ranges on its hundreds of acres that include multiple handgun ranges, a shotgun range, and three rifle ranges (one that goes to 600 yards).

I am now retired and have the freedom to move anywhere I want. I have considered Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, etc. In the end I have decided to spend lots of time VISITING those wonderful places and staying right here in good old Missouri. Good state!
 
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