Best move for a gunny: WA, OR or CO? Why?
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Machine154
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Thanks for all of the enlightening replies. These states are a little worse than I originally thought. Pretty much anywhere is better than IL, though, so I guess I should be happy for any upgrade. My wife is trying to get me to consider Alaska, but I was looking last week and the temps were still highs in the 30s in Anchorage, which is one of the warmest places in the state. I really think that is a deal breaker.
I think Washington is probably the most logical place we will end up, just because there may be higher opportunities for jobs for me there. Unfortunately, that means also living near Seattle. I just inquired about a position in Everett, but it didn't go through. It looks like the saving grace would be preemption and I am not going to get a break from contacting my legislators in any of these.
Other states are lower possibilities. I don't do very well in high heat. Really don't like it. CA probably has the best combined weather and job opportunities, but no way in freaking hell I would hang my hat there.
I think Washington is probably the most logical place we will end up, just because there may be higher opportunities for jobs for me there. Unfortunately, that means also living near Seattle. I just inquired about a position in Everett, but it didn't go through. It looks like the saving grace would be preemption and I am not going to get a break from contacting my legislators in any of these.
Other states are lower possibilities. I don't do very well in high heat. Really don't like it. CA probably has the best combined weather and job opportunities, but no way in freaking hell I would hang my hat there.
bikemutt
Member
You could do a lot worse than Renton, WA. Now that Boeing has committed to building the 737 Max here job opportunities should be good and growing. Real estate is more affordable right now than it has been for years.
I can drive to every gun store and range in a 25 mile radius using the back roads
I can drive to every gun store and range in a 25 mile radius using the back roads
Lincoln4
Member
NO.
Absolutely. Most everywhere is quite a bit different politically and socially from the immediate east side of Puget Sound (Everett to Seattle to Olympia).
What he said. Open Carry is lawful, except certain areas.
Legal in Washington.
Don't believe it. I've lived in Washington my entire life and am constantly amazed by the legal hoops and barriers that citizens in other states face when exercising their rights. About the only things WA comes up short on are SBRs and Full Auto. YMMV.
Mainsail
Member
Kitsap County is right across the water from Seattle, about a 30 minute ferry ride. It's very rural and lacks the silly liberals of the city.
Eastern WA might as well be another state. Same with eastern OR. I drove up through OR bottom to top on the eastern side of the state last weekend and it is amazing, empty country. Totally irrelevant; sorry.
Anyway, when I read on here I think that, in the eastern part of WA anyway, the 2nd amendment is less restricted than in many other places. I don't know if there are more restrictions locally on the West Side.
Anyway, when I read on here I think that, in the eastern part of WA anyway, the 2nd amendment is less restricted than in many other places. I don't know if there are more restrictions locally on the West Side.
hermannr
Member
Eastern WA is warmer and dryer in summer, colder and wetter in the winter. We have lots of fruit trees and wineries though.
Generally speaking, Eastern WA is conservitive to libertarian, west side is liberal. Ron Paul won 9 counties in WA, 8 of them east of the mountains.
OC without a license is very liberal, including into the state house in Oly...and our CPL is very easy to obtain.
Normal places you may frequent that are restricted are all marked "over 21 only" (true bars) You may go, eat and drink at a retaurant that serves, you just can't take your carry into the "over 21 only" bar area.
With a CPL you can carry on school grounds, but not in the building, and you cannot carry into a court, but they are required to have metal detectors and a lock box for your weapon at the entrence to the prohibited area. RCW 9.41 is the WA law.
ORS 166 is the Oregon firearms law. OR isn't too bad, especially anwhere away from Portland, with Eastern OR being much more free. With an OR CHL you can OC or CC most anywhere including public buildings. Oh yes, WA has a partial restriction on full auto, OR does not. If you are into full auto OR would be better, if you do not care about full auto...I think WA is better.
BTW: I calculated it awhile back, maybe a bit different now,,,,but when I did the calculation for myself, somewhere between $25k and $30k: if you make less than that, OR with their no sales tax is better, if you make more, WA is generally better. (I would never transfer a weapon through an FFL in Seattle, ever, their sales tax is a full 2% more than ours over here in Okanogan Co.)
Generally speaking, Eastern WA is conservitive to libertarian, west side is liberal. Ron Paul won 9 counties in WA, 8 of them east of the mountains.
OC without a license is very liberal, including into the state house in Oly...and our CPL is very easy to obtain.
Normal places you may frequent that are restricted are all marked "over 21 only" (true bars) You may go, eat and drink at a retaurant that serves, you just can't take your carry into the "over 21 only" bar area.
With a CPL you can carry on school grounds, but not in the building, and you cannot carry into a court, but they are required to have metal detectors and a lock box for your weapon at the entrence to the prohibited area. RCW 9.41 is the WA law.
ORS 166 is the Oregon firearms law. OR isn't too bad, especially anwhere away from Portland, with Eastern OR being much more free. With an OR CHL you can OC or CC most anywhere including public buildings. Oh yes, WA has a partial restriction on full auto, OR does not. If you are into full auto OR would be better, if you do not care about full auto...I think WA is better.
BTW: I calculated it awhile back, maybe a bit different now,,,,but when I did the calculation for myself, somewhere between $25k and $30k: if you make less than that, OR with their no sales tax is better, if you make more, WA is generally better. (I would never transfer a weapon through an FFL in Seattle, ever, their sales tax is a full 2% more than ours over here in Okanogan Co.)
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ObsidianOne
Member
What is high heat to you and what is high heat to me are two different things.
I imagine you're talking about heat you'd experience out in IL, correct? Which more than likely is quite humid. Arizona's heat, while it can take a bit of adapting (though we do have cooler areas, such as Flagstaff), the adaptation is fairly quick.
I moved here from Oregon 12 years ago and love it. The area I live in is notorious for being quite warm (120F in the summer) the winters cool down to around 50F.
Arizona is very underestimated, as most assume it's just a vast desert of nothing, but the wildlife (only real threat to worry about is rattlesnakes, and they are usually seasonal) is beautiful.
If you can handle Southern California heat, you'll do fine.
Don't discount it simply because you might think it's too hot, I've known many that have come from the east coast thinking that 120 would be miserable, but found it to be much better than ~90F with high humidity out there.
Guy B. Meredith
Member
Here are my observations as a recent California transplant.
First, I would not be surprised if more of the future immigrants from California (feels like moving to another country) may be pro-gun as they will be running away from the god awful California regs.
Second, I-5 is like a pretty beaded bracelet as the wide places in the road seem to alternate between blue and red with Eugene, Salem and Portland being the largest blue spots.
On the firearms side, I had an instant "oh, oh, the police are going to be taking this one down" California born reaction when I made my first visit to a gun shop here and saw walls lined with EBRs.
Also you will find full auto firearms on sale at the Albany gun shows (Willamette Valley, just south of Salem) as well as suppressors. The Albany Rifle and Pistol Club has regular machine gun shoots and the members can use full auto on most of the ranges there. There are also other ranges around including an indoor range outside Cottage Grove (south of Eugene) which permit full auto.
The CHL application may vary from county to county as I get the impression the sheriffs in some counties--like Salem's Marion County--may relate to the metro politics and drag their feet as much as possible even though the state requires them to issue within 45 days. Marion county's application asks for two local, non related references, but the state laws does not require the references. In place of safety training I believe you can use proof of competition experience.
The CHL overrides most local laws so a holder can carry open or concealed in most state locations. This does not include places under Federal control like Federal court and administration sites, airports, etc. or Oregon court houses.
If you want economic relief living in Washington in Vancouver or some other place where you can make an easy trip into Oregon for shopping is workable. No sales tax in Oregon and Washington has lower or no taxes of other types.
First, I would not be surprised if more of the future immigrants from California (feels like moving to another country) may be pro-gun as they will be running away from the god awful California regs.
Second, I-5 is like a pretty beaded bracelet as the wide places in the road seem to alternate between blue and red with Eugene, Salem and Portland being the largest blue spots.
On the firearms side, I had an instant "oh, oh, the police are going to be taking this one down" California born reaction when I made my first visit to a gun shop here and saw walls lined with EBRs.
Also you will find full auto firearms on sale at the Albany gun shows (Willamette Valley, just south of Salem) as well as suppressors. The Albany Rifle and Pistol Club has regular machine gun shoots and the members can use full auto on most of the ranges there. There are also other ranges around including an indoor range outside Cottage Grove (south of Eugene) which permit full auto.
The CHL application may vary from county to county as I get the impression the sheriffs in some counties--like Salem's Marion County--may relate to the metro politics and drag their feet as much as possible even though the state requires them to issue within 45 days. Marion county's application asks for two local, non related references, but the state laws does not require the references. In place of safety training I believe you can use proof of competition experience.
The CHL overrides most local laws so a holder can carry open or concealed in most state locations. This does not include places under Federal control like Federal court and administration sites, airports, etc. or Oregon court houses.
If you want economic relief living in Washington in Vancouver or some other place where you can make an easy trip into Oregon for shopping is workable. No sales tax in Oregon and Washington has lower or no taxes of other types.
Dnaltrop
Member
I'm just throwing this out because it was a perfect explanation for the NW weather, last night's graphic from the local news here in Stumptown.
It's not that we get more Volume of rain than anywhere else...
it's that what we get runs for 9 months straight at a time.
It never gets old seeing someone from <insert any sunny state> move into a house in the summer, (it IS magnificent when it dries out here) and sell it 2 years later because they can't cope with most of the year being slate-grey.
Good luck with the move though!
It's not that we get more Volume of rain than anywhere else...
it's that what we get runs for 9 months straight at a time.
It never gets old seeing someone from <insert any sunny state> move into a house in the summer, (it IS magnificent when it dries out here) and sell it 2 years later because they can't cope with most of the year being slate-grey.
Good luck with the move though!
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TMann
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I'm not an expert on the various state 2nd Amendment laws, but in general I've found Washington to be surprisingly gun friendly (as long as you don't live in Seattle proper.) I live on the "eastside" of King County and there are at least three shooting ranges (two indoor and one outdoor) within easy driving distance of my house. There are a number of decent gun stores in this area, including a couple of that carry a pretty good selection of used firearms. (DJ's in Woodinville is great.)
The climate in the Northwest is a bit damp for many people's tastes, but if you can deal with that Washington state has a lot of good stuff to offer.
Good luck with your decision!
TMann
The climate in the Northwest is a bit damp for many people's tastes, but if you can deal with that Washington state has a lot of good stuff to offer.
Good luck with your decision!
TMann
Guy B. Meredith
Member
I dunno. I think the rain thing is just to scare off Californians. We (I now consider myself an Oregonian) may have rain more days of the year, but so far it looks to me that it is a case of 15 minutes a day so you just need to prepare for that and enjoy the rest of the day.
Of course my perception may be colored due to the fact that we moved out of the SF Bay area during one of the wettest years it's known.
Too, the greatest feeling of joy of living here may depend on where one comes from. All things are relative.
Of course my perception may be colored due to the fact that we moved out of the SF Bay area during one of the wettest years it's known.
Too, the greatest feeling of joy of living here may depend on where one comes from. All things are relative.
Mainsail
Member
Whenever I take people for hikes in the Olympics they all comment on how clean and fresh the air is out in the forests. If you haven't experienced it you will have no appreciation for it, but it's very noticeable. The rain is largely responsible for that, so I don't complain about it, I just wait a half an hour or so for the sun break.
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Dnaltrop
Member
Shhh!!!!!! Not so loud, they'll ALL want to live here!!!
And yes, we have a lot of High Desert too.
Pick a direction a drive, eventually you'll find something you like.
And yes, we have a lot of High Desert too.
Pick a direction a drive, eventually you'll find something you like.
Mainsail
Member
Dnaltrop said:
That's why I only post the ugly pictures. Can you imagine what would happen if put up the good ones?
Diamondback6
Member
The other thing to beware of is, I don't know about OR, but WA pre-tax prices are usually like 1/3 to 1/2 again market-price for the rest of the country. And when you pay tax on a transfer, as I understand it it's on the LOCAL price...
ORS 166.291 does not list the references in the list of requirements, but also contains the form of the application which does ask for 2 character references.
ORS 166.295 which discusses renewals says that the procedures are the same as for the initial license except for the fingerprints and character references.
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