Most gun friendly, beautiful state?

[doubleh]

Well, I'm a transplant New Mexican. Came over the line from Texas over 50 years ago. When I left TX you could carry a pistol on your hip in your home county. No one had even thought of a CCW. Now the only way you can carry a pistol is with a CCW and there a lot of places that deny that right, read the signs on the doors. You can carry a pistol in your vehicle if you are traveling now, finally. There are very few places to hunt without paying for the privilage. Property taxes are high compared to NM. Sales tax is higher too. Lots of lakes and rivers though and some pretty country. Drop off the caprock and the humidity get high the farther east you go.

NM has very friendly gun laws, carry a pistol on you hip almost anywhere but there are a few restrictions. Carry them in your vehicle under the seat, on the dash, in the glove box, loaded. We have CCW. Lots of state and federal land to hunt and shoot on. Water is scarce, especially in the southern part of the state. Lots of pretty country in the northern part, pretty blah in the south. Hardly any humidity except a couple of weeks in August. Gets hot in the south. And I have to admit a lot of the residents north of I-40 could use a brain implant.

 

[Guitargod1985]

Would you Guitar(Floridian)god?-30 in Kalispell on a good day in January.My best friend tried it for one winter.

Actually, I could take it. I used to live in north Idaho (Sandpoint area), just west of Montana. I've even been through Billings, Missoula, and Kalispell and took a trip to the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana.

I miss the snow and the small town environment.

 

[whuffines]

1) Texas
2) Texas
3) Texas

 

[Ironballs]

after 31 years in the California (SFV, and Marina Del Ray), I am on month 7 in Vegas... I love it. Wife and kids are happier here then anywhere... as am I.

 

[phonesysphonesys]

Do not come to Colorado. It sucks. We are over run with Texacans and Calaforicans. The weather is lousy. There is no scenery past Denver. They tell me the beaches and mountians are beautiful in Florida. A million snow birds can"t be worng.

Semper Fi

 

[sachmo]

Well there is a little scenery west of Denver, problem is you cant get to it because I 70 is clogged with traffic - ski traffic in the winter and tourists in the summer, construction and gambling all year. Once you do make it up there expect lots of Walmarts, ski run and condo development, land being gutted by the latest so called energy boom and high prices and bad attitudes from the locals who are very territorial and clannish. A lot of this is fueled by the City and County of Denver who likes to tell the rest of the state how to live and how to spend their money so I cant really blame them. If you want to take advantage of the big game hunting opportunities expect multiple short seasons 5-7 days on average of which you will qualify for one, crowded conditions and a ten to one ratio of out of state hunters to residents. DOW is driven by money and they want those out of state dollars so screw the resident. As far as places to shoot in the Denver Metro area there aren't any but one. They were closed down years ago to make way for housing developments and golf courses. We have a new democratic governor who never saw a piece of firearms legislation he didn't like and a democratic majority in the house to help cram new restrictive laws down our throats. Governor Tax Ritter was a former Denver DA who was around for the local assault weapons ban. Naturally that worked out well for Denver. No more crime, a true utopia indeed.
I think I am going to take the prevailing advice of this board sell off most my guns related to big game hunting and move to Florida or somewhere on the gulf buy a boat and take up fishing. Just got to convince the wife she not too big on hurricanes.

 

[Winchester 73]

I think I am going to take the prevailing advice of this board sell off most my guns related to big game hunting and move to Florida or somewhere on the gulf buy a boat and take up fishing. Just got to convince the wife she not too big on hurricanes

sachmo,you are correct(And you survived Wellington Webb, so hurricanes will not be a problem.).Florida is the hands down winner.Even though a little crowded in some areas, we will welcome you and all the other THR members to our wonderful state.
Guitargod1985,you will stay in the Sunshine State.That is a direct order!

 

[spaceCADETzoom]

I seriously recommend staying in CA. I'm current;y in Texas...it's no comparison. If you like any of the things i like, you'd best stay in CA...or at the very least stay away from TX. SCUBA diving, the beach, skiing, CARS, riding motorcycles, and even shooting--yes, shooting. THe first three are nonexistent (freshwater diving don't count---whats the point of staring empty mud?). They have a retarded car culture--only pickups and camaros here...my porsche was treated as some "exotic." The roads suck...so you can't carve canyons on sportsbikes or sportscars...it's all saved for stoplight drag racing for 16 year olds (it's like I'm stuck in time). As far as shooting? Its a great place to buy guns...but theres no BLM land here...TX is apparently far enough East that it doesn't have the Western/mountain state sensibility...the cowboy hats are for show here. I'd suggest FL...but truthfully, fight the good fight in CA.

If you have to move, stay West. It's a culture thing...we're more independent-minded. Guns in general aren't looked in the same way out east as they are in the cowboy states out west. It's in our blood, i guess.

People forget that CA is the way it is because of transplants from the otehr states. Look at whats happening to NV...it's changing into CA now too, becaus of its immigration boom. CA's boom in the last 40 years or so has really deteriorated the laws. Still the best state in the union...just wish others didn't think so. THat way, theyd quit moving in and native Californians can turn it all back.

 

[Guitargod1985]

Florida really isn't all that bad. But don't believe the "Sunshine state" garbage. It rains more often here than in most other parts of the country - except for Hawaii or Seattle maybe. You can surf, fish, hunt, and wakeboard all in the same day. It's really flat here, so no snowboarding or mountain climbing - but we have great radio reception and skydiving. The only problem I have with it is that it's so humid and the traffic is horrible if you live anywhere around Orlando or certain other metro areas. I'm moving to the desert regions or mountain country when I am done with college.

 

[conrad carter]

I forgot to add that in Western Washington one can not just go shooting on Forest Service or State land anymore. King County goes all the way to the top of the Passes. If they find you they'll take your guns away. The only places to shoot as I understand it is on your own property if you're rural or at a range.

 

[silverlance]

less than 20 years ago, CA was one of the best states in the union for gun owners. up until the 1994 northridge bank robbery where three idiots with FA AKs shot up a bunch of cops, californians had it GREAT. then the social engineers came in to "protect the children" and just fubar'ed it up.

ive been to alaska twice. i dream of alaska, but i know that i can't hack it up there (and I dont mean anchorage.. i mean the little towns where there are no supermarkets and no theaters and night life consists of hanging out every night at the same bar since there is only one) unless i marry an alaskan girl. so... as soon as i save up some money i plan to fly in hope a loney alaskan girl picks me up

someone please direct me to the nearest collection of cold lonely women....

 

[soccergod04]

Virginia, or North Carolina get my vote.

 

[geophysicishooter]

Texas.

 

[shooter429]

WA state is too full try Idaho or Wyoming

Jackson Hole is calling to ya

Shooter429

 

[Hanzerik]

Nope, Wyoming is cold, windy, and the least populated state in the Union. What fun is it to head into the mountains for a day of shooting and not see another person the whole day, or be the only truck on a deserted two lane road for mile upon mile? The weather can go from bright and sunny to torrential downpour or blizzard at a moments notice. The wind makes 500+ yard shooting a pain in the butt when you’re out in the National Forests, State Trust, or BLM lands. Or the fact that there are more gun dealers then gas stations should be another negative point. And knowing that almost any Wyomingite you may meet has some sort of weapon is kind of scary. Concealed carry and open carry are allowed throughout the state and nobody really bats an eye; oh the humanity. Also, the 1300 (Old Statistic from 2000) or so NFA registered machine guns might cause you to take a step back and rethink a choice of Wyoming.

Nope, Wyoming is not the place for you.

But seriously, if you can stand the weather when it turns cold and windy, and find suitable employment you might like the freedom of Wyoming.

 

[-terry]

In my MC trip last year, I spent time in both Utah and Wyoming. In my view, Wyoming is Utah with better clothes onl

 

[Khornet]

New Hampshire

took me two weeks and $25 to get a carry permit. Max two hours to city life, if that's your bag, or less to beaches. Same for mountains for skiing. Numerous excellent lakes, lovely streams for the fly fisherman.

I have stopped on the way home from work for 30 minutes and caught six landlocked salmon and home in time for supper.

Moose in my driveway and back yard are common. Wild turkeys in my back yard in the spring.

Probably this week I will make the rounds of my sugar maples and put taps in. Soon I will be in my sugarhouse, feeding the wood-fired evaporator, making my own maple syrup and enjoying a cigar and scotch. A few weeks after sugaring ends, the landlocked salmon come back in from the big lake (Winnipesaukee).

Not as cold and remote as the more romantic states like Wyoming, Montana, Alaska,etc. but we have real winter here. The cool thing is you can drive to a different setting in a day: mountain, seaside, river, city, pastoral countryside. No sales tax or income tax.

Think about it, my friend. When I left the Navy, I looked around a lot. New Hampshire met my needs.

 

[harrygunner]

MarcusWendt - I'm in a similar boat.

Not only are California legislators anti-gun, they are anti-business. California always ranks in the lowest three or four out of fifty states for "business friendliness". With all its beauty, overcrowding makes it very difficult to enjoy.

I've visited many prospective states for first hand impressions.

Beyond my usual business travels to just about every state everyone has mentioned, late last summer, I took a 5000 mile drive through the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada.

I have not made my final choice, but, I've concluded there is no place with most of California's positives and minus its negatives. You will have to compromise.

The good news is natural beauty is out there. You will likely need to replace the wonderful ocean with a lake.

As far as people are concerned, I was amazed at the number of people who would stand there with what appeared to be 50# potato sacks in their pants saying something like: "I know this ain't politically correct, but, ________" <- Insert something really stupid in the blank.

To me, that's going to be harder to deal with than the loss of the Pacific Ocean.

I'm posting this from South Dakota. I'm visiting the Black Hills as much as I can before the whole National Forest is sold off. The beautiful area is being converted to upscale housing.

Good luck with your search.

 

[geojap]

Hahaha, the one theme I see in this thread is that people are tired of refugees from California invading their state. Stay away!! California is basically broken and the rest of the country doesn't want the refugees to bring their poisoned thought processes to their home state.

Despite my misgiving about more people moving here, I would welcome you to Texas. You are probably the kind of person (Libertarian) that we like to see move here. As badly as Californians are prejudiced towards Texans, it's funny how many California license plates I see here in Austin.

Texas is a shall-issue CCW state. Our awesome attorney general, Greg Abbot, is always working for more rights for CHL holders and responsible firearms owners. Austin has a 4% economic growth rate currently while the US GDP growth rate is 1.3%, homes are still appreciating (we never saw the real estate hyper-inflation here). Austin is the second most educated city in the USA after Seattle, I believe? Austin has many lakes and rivers nearby, as well as the Texas Hill Country. Barton Creek, a wet season, small river, flows for 15 miles through the heart of Austin (the water shed is a city park preserve) and empties into Barton Springs, a spring-fed swimming pool in the city's central park, located downtown on the Colorado River. The Hill Country is a vast plateau of hills, live oaks and spring-fed streams that spans for 150 miles from Austin to Junction, TX. The restaurants in Austin are just awesome. If you like the nightlife or neighborhood parties like I did in my 20's, there isn't a much better place.

By all means, feel free to move somewhere else. Austin is so damned popular right now that it feels like the Midwest, West Coast and Northeast are being emptied into Austin. All the Austinoobs that are moving here by the thousands every day are diluting what made this city special in the first place, the mix of hippies and rednecks back in the '60s and the culture that grew from that mix of people. Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughn, for example.

I'm from Texas (my family has been in east Texas since the 1850s); I lived in Europe for 11 years in my teens and 20's, moved back to the USA to Los Angeles, traveled all around the USA, and wound up in Austin in 1994. I have never left. I haven't found anything even remotely better yet (where I could work and get a job).

 

[jeff-10]

As a life long Florida resident I really cannot recoomend moving here. Unlike the people on the board from the mountain states it is not that I don't want any Californians here it is just that it is doubtful you will like it here. Sure the gun laws are as good as they can be in the USA but everything else here you will find similar to California as far as the people. The scenery is horrendous other than the beaches and those are mainly full of tourists. Florida is basically a flat drained swamp.

I have lived from or spent considerable amount of time in almost every place in this state, from the Keys to Jacksonville. It is a drive by state with a lot of service based jobs and a lot of people from other places who were born miserable and figured moving to Florida would fix it. Gun laws are great. The people and the terrain not so much.

If I was looking for a gun friendly state and not want to live in an extremely rural area I would look into Texas, Nevada or Arizona.

 

[geojap]

I seriously recommend staying in CA. I'm current;y in Texas...it's no comparison.

This is exactly what I was talking about above. Cali folks be hatin' while in reality your kindred statesmen are moving here in droves to find jobs and escape the economic turmoil that is California. With no disrespect and an honest question, why are you here and why don't you leave? You do live in Belton, which isn't exactly the Garden of Eden as far as Texas is concerned. Why in the world did you get stuck there if you are so Cali-minded? The military?

 

[Scratchy]

I hope all the snow this year culls the herd.

 

[Pigspitter]

Move to Georgia. That way you don't have to deal with all the yankees on vacation(Colorado, Texas, Utah, pretty much the midwest) and you won't die because of the 15 hour rides to hospitals when you get anything worse than a cut shaving (Wyoming, Idaho, Kansas) and you get good old Southern hospitality.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

mule157, Walt622 and anybody else from MO, or northern AR you guys need to just be quite because our area sucks and nobody would want to live here. We have no water, no trees and no hills, high taxes and absolutely no guns(they scare us hillbillies)

We already have enough newcomers telling us how backwards we are and how they use to do it where they use to live. By newcomers I mean anyone who's family has not lived here for over a 100 years

 

[nerfsrule2]

I lived in Montana for 5 years. What a beautiful state. I used to live thirty minutes from Glacier National Park.... Ten acres of ground and Moose for neighbors... But the best of all... I used to keep my gun in my truck while I was in high school.