Finally left CA. Surprised to feel so relieved...

[phoglund]

There are indeed some invaders with silly ideas up here in Montana but there are also many who move up here because of the more conservative laws regarding guns etc. Then there is Section 12 of the Montana Constitution:

Section 12. Right to bear arms. The right of any person to keep or bear arms in defense of his own home, person, and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons.

If that last statement worries you, Montana is a shall issue state. I recieved my CWP less than two weeks after I applied and I live in what many Montanan's would consider one of the more liberal counties. Of course "liberal" in Montana is different than other places. There was a recent discussion on a local forum advocating gun control (Started by an immigrant from Croatia oddly enough). Several opposing posts later somebody piped up saying handguns should be illegal. One of the replies was as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:37 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote: Outlaw handguns?

The old saying "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns" is the truth.

And I am a wacko liberal!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The way I figure it, when you have the local "wacko liberals" on the side of the 2nd Ammendment, you are living in the right place!!

 

[Bobarino]

welcome to WA! in another 45 days, you can get your shall issue CCW too! the fishing is indeed great, just not right now. for info on that, sign up at www.gamefishin.com (no 'g') its WA's best fishing forum. i live right near the Puyallup River and fish it all the time durring the season. nothing better than fresh caught salmon. mmmmmmmmm.

i hear Wade's is a nice shop but i haven't been there yet. anything but full auto and SBR's is fair game. do your best to ignore the governess and you'll be set! glad to see some more good people in WA.

Bobby

 

[Steve F]

Iv'e been here (so.Calif) for 47 of 50 years and my wife and daughter are 4th & 5th generation native's.My house will be paid for this year and I can start concentrating on our 11 acres near Virginia City,Nevada Can hardley wait Did I mention how much my house is worth now ,got to love it Good post Buckskinner!

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Well - the exact same thing is happening to the USA. We are expected to welcome all those immigrating here (legal or illegal). They are having a huge impact on our economy and our culture.

Californians still have a place to run to if they get fed up but the day will come when there is no place left for Americans to run to.

Yeppers, I totally agree. I've been in the process of moving away from CA for several years. In my search for a new place to live I checked out several states. I eliminated most of the states subject to a substantial number of ex-CA residents. Oregon has liberal problems, so does Washington State & Montana. Idaho has gang problems now. BTW, if it were a scenic choice I'd pick either western Montana or northern Idaho. It's eye candy for the visually oriented. I checked out Wyoming and found the nicer areas pretty well picked over before I looked there 3-4 years ago.

So off I went for Texas Hill country. I like the state, I like the people, but the property tax situation for rural land owners is wierd, to say the least. Regardless, I found the situation similar to Wyoming where the good properties were already gone and $2000 an acre for an overgrown cactus ranch was more than I wanted to spend. Anyway, I ended up sitting in the motorhome parked in a Fredericksburg, TX RV park and drew a 500 mile radius circle on the map. I was looking for good twisty road motorcycle country and that's how I ended up in the Ozarks of Arkansas.

So here I am, I still have the house in CA which I'll sell this spring (I'm hoping the property values keep going up, BTW). But, guess what? It's growing really fast here, too fast. Just a warning, if you are moving away from the city, do be aware that it will follow you.

 

[Buckskinner]

Well, I'm glad to have the welcome and the links to the fishing forum. Thanks!

I know some folks will be grumpy about "outsiders" moving in. That's exactly how I feel about CA, specifically the Bay Area. For awhile there, I was dating a girl from PA, who had worked in NY City, and lived in Hoboken NJ. She had many friends out in SF, and they usually were surprised to meet a native. They looked at me like a museum exhibit, especially when they came over and saw my guns, knives and buckskins displayed like they were in an Old West time warp. They just didn't get it. They were the latest generation of absolute urbanites from a long line of urbanites probably from Europe down through the ages. I on the other hand can trace my American ancestry to a combination of 1763 North Carolina farmers who slowly migrated through GA, AL and OK, ending up in CA during the dustbowl, or who lived in CA from the 1860's as loggers and mule skinners. Just a completely different mind set and background.

I don't consider King Co. WA as any kind of paradise. That's why I chose to live in Snohomish Co. In fact much of WA politics is very worrisome. But the schools are good, and I'll stay here until I can move to Idaho, and fight off the Sun Valley crowd. Now that's a place that should be grumpy about who's moving in! Those are Kalifornian's not Californio's...

Keep your powder dry!

 

[Dain Bramage]

I don't consider King Co. WA as any kind of paradise. That's why I chose to live in Snohomish Co.

SNRRRRK! Sorry, I had to suppress a laugh there. I live in Snohomish county, and it's not all that better than King county. The county council just went Democrat-majority and their first action was to go to all-mail voting. Hmmm, I wonder why?

At least you are going to enjoy the commute. I've commuted from Everett to south of Seattle for nine years now. If only my ninja-roadwarrior skills were transferable to firearms.

My company is finally transferring me to Everett next month, so my blood pressure will subside, I'll find peace and happiness, and become some kind of freaky hippy that loves everybody and votes for McDermott (local joke, and it's pronounced "gooey-duck")

If you live in Snohomish county, the best range is Kenmore, although you need to be a member to use the full facilities. Sam's Gun Shop is also good in Everett. They have a 25yd rifle/pistol range and don't ban ammo except AP. They also have a selection of rental guns.

And amen on retiring to Idaho (or Arizona, Wyoming, etc..). Only 21 more years to go. *sigh*

 

[Shane333]

Buckskinner,

I empathize with your comments too. I was born and raised in the Bay Area. The Concord/Clayton area to be exact. I loved growing up at the base of Mount Diablo and being surrounded by rolling hills and oak trees (I really miss the oak trees). As a boy I remember going into the hills and catching blue-bellied lizards, fishing in creeks for little stickle-back fish, hearing the cows moo on nearby hillsides, etc.

Then, in Boy Scouts, I was exposed to rifles and it changed my life forever. I realized that I loved the sport of shooting! Problem was the fact that in general, guns were already "taboo" at that time. I remember being at the State Capitol (for my social studies class) the day California's "Assault Weapons Ban" was passed. At the time it didn't worry me very much because nobody had ever really taught me about the 2nd Amendment and why it exists.

In Highschool I started getting some negative feedback for having conservative values. Being an honest, upstanding person wasn't popular. Taking a moral stance on any issue was very unpopular. Believing in family values made me an outcast in most social circles. I felt like a stranger in my own hometown.

Well, at age 18 I moved away for a work opportunity in Utah. At age 19 I served God and my fellow man as a missionary for two years. After I returned from serving a mission, I felt like even more of a stranger in my hometown. The highschool was changed. Gates and bars covered everything. To buy a softdrink you had to reach through one little opening in a gate to put your money in, reach through another little opening to make your selection, and through another opening in a gate to retrieve your soda.

A widow I personally knew, who was a teacher, was robbed of her grocery food vouchers in the very class where she taught(she has since left CA too). It simply wasn't the same highschool I knew from just a few years earlier. Crime was skyrocketing.


Much like Buckskinner and others, it's taken a few years for the layers of indoctrination to peel off of me. My first time at a gunshow in Utah I felt discust at all the AK and other EBR-related merchandise. Now, a few years later, I own one AK variant and I'm building another. I've had to learn that the 2nd Amendment isn't just about what rifle is "politically correct" for hunting.

I miss California. I miss the oak trees, the hills, the Sierra Nevada mountains, the wonderful weather, etc. I just can't stomach the political environment, the taxes, the sky-high cost of living, the ever present anti-gun influence, the influence of groups attacking the traditional family, etc.

 

[Standing Wolf]

A very interesting thing about this is the absolute feeling of relief I have.

I still feel relieved three and a half years later. I still miss the temperate climate and beaches now and then, but even summer all year round and going to the beach every day wouldn't be sufficient compenation for my civil rights.

 

[p35]

Welcome! A couple words about fitting in:

NEVER tell people how things/people were better or done better in California.

Figure out how to do things for yourself- I see a lot of ex-Californians with no practical skills. You may not fit the stereotype, but be aware of it.

Remember that there's no "r" in "Washington". Many place names around here aren't pronounced the way they're spelled, so work on learning the right pronunciation.

I'm sure there's more that I haven't thought of but that's a start. Welcome!

 

[Polishrifleman]

P35 you sound like a big bank commercial.

Welcome Buckskinner, and look to the other side of the state.

 

[p35]

Polish Rifleman:

I don't watch enough TV to know whether I do or not. My creativity and my idiocies are my own.

Hey, I grew up on the Dry Side, and I still love it. Puget Sound isn't the Dry Side, though, as the last couple weeks have shown all too well. What's your point?

 

[marklbucla]

I've only got a temporary visa into Free America from La La Land because of Grad School. I have a feeling that I'll throw away a HIGHER salary out here in the South, not to mention my EBR to go back to get married and settle in Orange County. She's got a lot of family in the immediate area in Los Angeles, as do I, but it would tear her up to cut herself off and be alone with me in Alabama.

Los Angeles is too expensive and the cost of living adjustment isn't fair, the traffic is the worst in the country, even the good neighborhoods have break-ins and carjackings, and of course most important to this forum is the stupidity when it comes to the (gun) laws.

I'm much happier where I am now.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I drove 120 miles to Merced the other weekend. It was almost endless mall to mall along Hwy 99. After the Altamont Pass (580) to the foot of the Coastal Mountains, same endless mall to mall. Overdeveloped, overpriced, polluted, elitist and leftist, CA sucks and I can't wait to get out.

 

[R.W.Dale]

What ever you do don't start spouting off to the locals about how great a place California is to live, especally if you no longer live there. I absouletely hate it when Californ-icans do that... and they ALL do it.

 

[fjolnirsson]

What ever you do don't start spouting off to the locals about how great a place California is to live, especally if you no longer live there. I absouletely hate it when Californ-icans do that... and they ALL do it.

I tell everyone how awful it is, and how we should put up a wall to keep the Californians out of Oregon.

Shane333, I grew up in Antioch/Oakley, and worked in Concord for almost 10 years. The changes in that time are simply beyond words.

Buckskinner, I know exactly what you mean. It does feel like paradise in a lot of ways, even though some things aren't perfect, and we still have to fight the legislature. People who haven't lived in CA in recent years can never hope to understand the absolute soul-wrenching awful reality of day to day life in many areas of CA. It's like a different planet.

P-35, In CA, I was thought a fairly handy fellow. Now that I live in Oregon, I'm constantly reading up on stuff the locals do for themselves, that I never learned to do. It's great!

 

[Mauserguy]

I am a fourth generation Californian, and I am saddenned by this gut feeling that I need to get out. It is not just the gun laws, but the people too. A fourth of the people are illiterate in any language. When you go to the store, the store manager will often have to translate your question to the clerks, because wage earners, more and more, don't speak English.

The freeways, or tollroads, are so crowded that you just can't go anywhere. A couple of weeks ago, I went camping out in the desert, miles from anywhere, and the traffic back home was bumper to bumper. Maybe some soccer mom rolled her SUV, I don't know, because I never saw the end of the crush.

In California, we have a socialist legislature and governor who wants to increase spending, assuring that taxes will go even higher. There is just no relief in sight. I feel oppressed here. I am not of a priviledged ethnicity. I am not gay. I am a Christian. I am the enemy. Yep, I need to escape. As soon as my folks are dead, I will leave.
Mauserguy

 

[Gordon]

Hey guys it is an INTERNATIONAL socialist conspiricy
The only thing I see different in my area of Kali is the Mexican population going from 15% to 60% in 40 years!Pretty darn few conservative Mexicans!Or ex hippies!
I escaped from New Jersey gun laws in middle 60s to come here.:banghead:
While I can't own supressors or full auto weapons I got plenty of everything else, as I bought them instead of new BMWs ect. during the 80s.
I was smart enough to go LEO reserve, and I can carry but won't(along with all my 'friends') be harrasing any upstanding citizens
I own property in southern Oregon(next to the Umpqua) and go up there every few months and it is nicer than here in the summer. The State laws are also better.But Portland,Eugene and Ashland want to squeeze your gonads into a socialist source of revenue,and that means no guns! Washington, in my experience is only one step above Kali. Watch out my friend what the next 10 years might bring!
Although I MIGHT move to Oregon when I retire in 5 years or so, the hot place (double entender!) for now is definately Az.! Besides a good climate for old bones , it is far and away the most gunfriendly place I've been to, including VT. Maine and New Hampshire. Tenn seems a close second along with Al. Utah is good too!(if your Mormon)

 

[kevin7]

I tell everyone how awful it is, and how we should put up a wall to keep the Californians out of Oregon.

Actually that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

 

[Buckskinner]

snnnrk? Gesundheit!

I am under no illusions as to where I'm at now, but compared to where I come from, its better and I like it. Will I stay? Probably. Do I want to preserve what we have now? No, I want to make it better, not status quo.

Will other Californians move to OR, WA, NV, ID, MT etc.? You bet.

Some of 'em are cool folks. They can sharpen a knife, and smoke meat, and make good business decisions. They're good neighbors and guys you'd probably like to go fishing with. Some others are not so cool. They can't think critically or act for themselves. They don't understand what it means to live a constitutional based representative republic with a protected Bill of Rights.

But I do, and hopefully you'll get to know others displaced from their home state before "building a wall" or keying a car with CA license plates...We all gotta do what we gotta do.

Something tells me no matter what state or country you were born in, you may fit either of these bills.

One good thing about KA is the constant opportunity to engage in conversation and challenge people's preconceptions, especially about guns.

 

[444]

I didn't read any post after reading your original.
I feel for you. I really do.
I am a very vocal person and I am the first to put down California at every opportunity. I hate the place. I won't go there unless I have to. And I live right by it.

But, I know where you are coming from. California is one of the most beautiful places on earth. If there was no one else living there, or if it was 1945, California would be the best place to live that I have ever been. Back in the day, California was everything you could dream of.
That was then, this is now. I applaud your inititive. You saw a lost cause and bailed out. Good for you. It is a heavy price to pay, but that just shows what kind of a man you really are. You paid the price. Now enjoy your prize. No pain, no gain. Everyone knows that. They just don't want to face that reality.
Some people go on with life and ignore the disaster that they helped create. Other people realize that the cause is lost but continue to fool themselves that they are fighting the good fight. But a small group of people will do the hard work. They will actually do something for themselves and their families. You did that.
You have my respect.
You didn't leave for a job opportunity. You didn't leave because you could cash out of the bloated California real estate maket.
You left because you knew it was the right thing to do.


California is what we are fighting for. Most people don't realize it yet. But the California of today is what the rest of America will become. We have been asleep at the switch. We let some fools take control. We were so fat and content that we let a crown jewel slip away from us. Our penelty is not just the fight that is before us, it is also what we have already lost because we were fat, dumb, and happy. As we sat in front of the idiot box watching re-runs of Happy Days, a small minority of people stole one of our most prized possessions. And we didn't lift a finger to stop them. We were too lazy, too stupid

I am sitting here feeling your joy. The first taste of feedom.
It's sweet.
I know you are enjoying it.
Don't be happy with what you have. Take it all.
Do all the dirty, filthy stuff that keeps pigs like feinswine awake at night. Become a master of the battle rifle. Make everything within 500 yards your domain.

 

[natedog]

I can't wait to leave. Honestly, I feel much more at home when I'm visiting Texas or Oregon.

 

[Crosshair]

Very good post. It is hard and sad, but sometimes we must leave a place behind with both good memories and bad, for a better place to live.

 

[Crosshair]

Of course, after I move away from Oregon to North Dakota later this year, there will be some wag saying the same things about me.

Where will you be moving to in ND? If you are going to be in the Grand Forks area give me a call.

 

[Werewolf]

California is what we are fighting for. Most people don't realize it yet. But the California of today is what the rest of America will become.

And where will we move to when the rest of the USA goes the way of CA?:banghead:

 

[STAGE 2]

And where will we move to when the rest of the USA goes the way of CA?:banghead:

A better question should be that when we turn this state around should we let back in all of those who cut and ran.