best armed city

[Revolver Ocelot]

NYC
Atlanta
Chicago
Miami
District of Columbia

I think good ol st. louis may need to be on that list, it is the crime capital for a reason

 

[ArmedBear]

A few things...

The government of California may be anti-gun, but you should see the gun shops and ranges there. It can be hard to get to the counter, and you can wait a couple hours for a lane at some ranges.

The more anti-gun the government gets, the more people seem to have the urge to get guns. And that's in the city. Everyone outside town has firearms, and unpermitted concealed carry is more common than anyone thinks.

That said, as far as metropolitan areas where guns are just no big deal, I have to vote for this area (Boise). The gym where I work out has a pile of magazines that people grab when using cardio machines. They include magazines on cooking, gardening, parenting, news, motor vehicles, business, along with Muzzleloader, Guns and Ammo, Handgunner, American Rifleman, the Midway and Brownell's Catalogs, etc. Nobody seems to think any differently about someone reading about the SCAR than a recipe for healthy lasagne.

I have no idea how many people are armed when I walk down the street, but I do know that I've walked across a parking lot in town with a shiny stainless handgun I'd bought, in my hand not in a case or box, and people walked by me with their little kids like I had a bag of groceries. I've seen people OC'ing downtown in front of the state legislature buildings and nobody seemed to pay a bit of attention.

The State of Idaho has various license plates to raise money for things like parks, wildlife conservation, cancer research, historical preservation, college foundations etc. They also have one that raises money for the NRA.



So I don't know about per capita gun ownership, but as far as per capita acceptance of guns as nothing unusual, this place has got to be way up there.

 

[rscalzo]

Newark

Have you ever been there? You are basing that comment on what?

 

[CoRoMo]

I can't believe nobody has posted the town of,

Kennesaw, Georgia... where everyone is required by law to own a gun.

Okay, okay. I know that it's population isn't quite 40,000 so it doesn't qualify, and there is an allowance for conscientious objectors too. I just thought this thread should definitely have this town listed somewhere.

 

[JWF III]

You beat me to it about Kennesaw. But yeah, it doesn't meet the 100k stipulation of the thread. I would agree that Atlanta is near the top if all firearms (legal and illegal) are considered. Just legal i'd consider Nashville pretty high on the list.

If it was per capita, Columbus, GA would rate up there (lots of military households). As would anywhere else that had a large military population.

Wyman

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Maine has no cities over 100,000 (Portland comes close, but we shall speak no more of that place).

However, Maine as a state reportedly has the highest rate of civilian firearms ownership in the nation. We literally have many more guns than people. Having been invaded, raided and burned many times in our bizarre history, don't you know.

 

[atvalaska]

I'D GO FOR any town in alaska...

every buddy and his brother, 8 to 80 seems to armed not much black rifle stuff ...but a butt load large caliber/pistols and .22's..."DOUBLE up "as they have the house stach , then theres the cabin stach, a boat gun ,and a beater that goes in the trk/car...(the gun on the 4 wheeler/snow go is mobile)

 

[Hungry Seagull]

Philadelphia comes to mind along with Baltimore.

Little Rock is pretty armed. Legally and unlegally.

I will say Idaho and Alaska are fully armed. (Thank god.)

Oh and a small place called Gary Indiana. Alot of shootings there back in the day.

 

[Cyclimus]

Kennesaw, Georgia - it's required that every head of household own at least 1 gun.

 

[kyo]

ugh I used to work i Kennesaw I didn't know it was law to have one there...and I still live in Atlanta. I don't think GA is that bad on crime because everyone here has guns, multiple guns. GA pretty much polices itself cause people know they will get shot if they do something stupid. Wish all states were like this.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Cyclimus: "Kennesaw, Georgia - it's required that every head of household own at least 1 gun."

More unfunded mandates?

Do the town fathers at least give you a coupon?

 

[JImbothefiveth]

Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, New York , and DC prohibit open carry, so you're required to conceal.

What's D.C.'s CCW law? I'm guessing it's like New York's "politicians only",

 

[FlyinBryan]

i would say texas cities are at the top of the list.

but hey, im a born texan, lol.

i would also say most of the western states would trump most of the eastern states (save for California)

texas requires concealment, as stated already, but truth be told, if it were and option i would still conceal.

i feel like if i were not hiding it, i would be gaurding it.

 

[mljdeckard]

Several years ago on some historical documentary, I heard it quoted that Tombstone Arizona has more people carrying guns than any other city in America, although I have no idea how one would arrive at such a claim.

My hometown of Virgin, Utah (yes, it's a real place,) has a mandatory ownership law, but seeing people open carry is mostly out in the desert, not in town.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I'd bet it's some city in Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana, if you're only counting longguns.

If you're counting all guns, and counting law-abiding and criminals alike, then it'd probably go to some southern city like Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Miami, Oklahoma City, etc, or possibly Phoenix or Las Vegas.

If you're counting all guns but excluding criminals, then I'd take a look at Salt Lake City or Colorado Springs.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Dr. Tad: "If you're counting all guns, and counting law-abiding and criminals alike, then it'd probably go to some southern city like Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Miami, etc."

Nah. Not a chance. Think how many yuppie lawyers, accountants and realtors, plus emo-nurses and egomaniacal doctors there are in a place like Miami, to say nothing of all the Marielitos, seasonals and JAPs. I don't think so. Think mountain states.

 

[Ed Ames]

Y'all knock California but when I moved from CA to TX two of the biggest shocks were the lousy shooting environment (In CA I could buy a case of surplus ball and head into the desert for whatever sort of shooting tickled me, in DFW most ranges forbid FMJ rifle and there are no open areas you can just go shooting) and how many "gun owners" considered a rusty ol' 12ga and 30/30 a collection. I've gone shooting with people in both places and brought what in CA seems a normal assortment - a few pistols, a few rifles, maybe a shotgun or two - and TXans go buggeyed. At one indoor range the counterman wanted to check my pistol and when I opened my range bag he gave me a dirty look and made some comment about "too much work" ... and there were only 5 pistols!

Texas is nice if you want to buy guns, CA is nicer if you want to use them.

As for the original question, the answer would be even more interesting if you could exclude the Fuds. There are a lot of places where many people own hunting tools that happen to be guns but they aren't really interested in shooting or owning guns.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Interesting, Ed. Maryland, where I used to live, was horrible about selling or shooting guns, but great when it came to buying them, too. Great gun shows, low prices, great selection. Wierd.

 

[BhmBill]

What's D.C.'s CCW law? I'm guessing it's like New York's "politicians only"

Pretty much.

§ 22-4506. Issue of licenses to carry pistol.
The Chief of Police of the District of Columbia may, upon the application of any person having a bona fide
residence or place of business within the District of Columbia or of any person having a bona fide residence
or place of business within the United States and a license to carry a pistol concealed upon his or her person
issued by the lawful authorities of any State or subdivision of the United States, issue a license to such
person to carry a pistol within the District of Columbia for not more than 1 year from date of issue, if it
appears that the applicant has good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property or has any other
proper reason for carrying a pistol and that he or she is a suitable person to be so licensed. The license shall
be in duplicate, in form to be prescribed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia and shall bear the name,
address, description, photograph, and signature of the licensee and the reason given for desiring a license.
The original thereof shall be delivered to the licensee, and the duplicate shall be retained by the Chief of
Police of the District of Columbia and preserved in his or her office for 6 years.

If I read that right.... if you're a DC resident, you must possess a CCW in another state (while being a resident of DC) in order to receive a DC CCW. You have to give a "good reason" barf:) too.

All in all, it appears that you must jump through hoops and be able to give 'em the ol' Feinstein pull in order to receive a CCW.

 

[memphisjim]

memphis would definately beat nashville

 

[ShadyScott999]

I think I read somewhere that Indiana has the highest per capita rate of permits to carry.

Were I live in Lexington, SC, you are the exception if you don't own a gun.

 

[PinoyInFL]

I think Miami would be high on the list. There's a good number of both law-abiding gun owners and gang-bangers.

 

[Pack]

"Were I live in Lexington, SC, you are the exception if you don't own a gun."

- I'm presently plotting a relocation from Richland to Lexington County for this, among other, reason(s).

 

[KBintheSLC]

Definitely not Salt Lake City... we suffered massive floods of migrating CA leftists over the past decade. They all forgot to leave their Marxist politics behind too. SLC used to be pretty good... now I call it little Chicago. Aside from SLC, the rest of UT is still pretty good, with the majority of guns being owned by decent people.

 

[bratch]

I have been told that Memphis has a CCW rate twice the average; 14 vs 7% if I remember correctly.