Move to where you're free or "stay and fight?"

[Evil Monkey]

You're right. There is as much to do in MS as NYC. The last time I was in MS, I must have missed the world class restaurants, museums, schools, Broadway shows, opera, sporting events and etc..

Your definition of money and mine are most likely different. You clearly don't know much about NYC.

I had to check my calendar and make sure it wasn't April fools day. NYC = MS. Haha

I didn't say the two states were the same. I'm just saying that if a state caters to your profession, and other things like politics are in line with what you believe in, then there is no loss in moving from where you currently are.

 

[Sam1911]

The answer, from a gun rights point of view, is a relative of the "Tragedy of the Commons" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons)

YOU should stay and fight. It is better for the country as a whole.

But I am going to go someplace where I can enjoy my freedoms now while you stay and fight the good fight.

I'm sure a political game theory expert would be able to give us an equation that explains where the critical balance is between having a loyal minority of a certain size remaining in urban population centers which tend to drive politics for everyone, and "abandoning" those centers to their own whim, which will then be free(er) to dictate terms to the more sparsely populated "free zones" outside the cities. Too complicated for me to decipher.

I can't cast stones. I've lived in MD and in MA. I live in PA. Those who've stayed to fight (...though let's be honest, no one stays just to keep up the gun rights battle) have my thanks ... and pity.

 

[Bubbles]

I moved out of MD into VA and then WV.

Even though I left, I have not stopped fighting for the rights of others in states besides mine. Heller I, McDonald, Heller II, and eventually Heller III are proof of that.

 

[2zulu1]

I'll remember to tell my millionaire rancher friends that NYC is where the money is at. lol

 

[Sav .250]

That being said, there are laws for just about everything. Do you pick up and move just because of issues/laws you don`t agree with ? J s/n.

 

[bikerdoc]

Retired from a PD in Mass in 88. Left not because of 2A but because it was too, crowded, and expensive.

 

[parsimonious_instead]

You're right. There is as much to do in MS as NYC. The last time I was in MS, I must have missed the world class restaurants, museums, schools, Broadway shows, opera, sporting events and etc..

Your definition of money and mine are most likely different. You clearly don't know much about NYC.

I had to check my calendar and make sure it wasn't April fools day. NYC = MS. Haha.

Hat tip to you, Mr. Blue. All my life, I've lived a short train ride from NYC, and didn't even like the place at first. Then as I got a bit older (and smart, aggressive policing helped make the city safer), I started going in more often, both for social and business reasons.

I hear a lot of slamming of NYC and even the state as a whole on gun forums and blogs. Most of that view seems to be filtered through the lens of the denial of RKBA, and perhaps tinted darkly by a brief visit or two.

In no way do I support the gun laws of my state, and those of the City, but I don't think it's the bloody awful place people make it out to be.
NYS has tremendous natural assets and great people.
NYC is cleaner and safer than it's reputed to be. Friendlier, too - and you can even find patches of surprising quiet if you know where to look.

There's tremendous diversity in people, scenery, architecture and culture in the city. The public transportation gets you anywhere, fairly quickly and the place is surprisingly walkable. There's a palpable sense of energy when you step off the train in Grand Central, and an "anything can happen" vibe as you walk the streets.

Do I wish I didn't need a permit just to buy a handgun? Yup. Do I wish that I could carry in NYC without risking arrest and serious jail time? Yup. Do I wish that the elected officials of my State and NYC would stop treating gun owners as pariahs? Yup.

But I also wish that people would ease up on the place a bit, every bit as much as the I wish the "sophisticated urbanites" that I know would stop turning up their nose at places like Kentucky, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona...etc...

 

[lizziedog1]

I was born in and lived most of my life in California. I was convinced I was going to be buried there.

A little over five years ago a job came up in Nevada.

I did not move because of gun laws. It was purely work-related. But I knew that the culture in the Silver State was more gun-friendly.

I have but one regret. I didn't move sooner.

After I established official residency here, I went to a gun shop. I made my first Nevada purchase of a firearm. When I was handed the gun and the employee wished me luck it felt strange. I didn't have to wait ten days. Heck, I barely had to wait ten minutes.

At that moment I felt more free then I had in a long time.

I do make my fair shares of anti-California posts. I hope you guys there don't take to personally. Actually I do wish you guys well and hope you put up a good pro-2A fight.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Not exactly 2A but also excessive taxes and regulations---MOVE!!!!

Let the Commies collapse on themselves when there is no longer other peoples money to spend and to control like children.

How will they pay for the excessive govt workers--pensions--those living off the govt teet and just spending in general?

Move--let it collaspe--come back after the reset to normal if you so choose.

 

[armoredman]

If you make good money in NYC, you have more at your fingertips than anywhere else in the world. To many people, this is more important than firearm freedoms.

If that is all you love, money over freedom, then by all means, I wish you luck in what you want.
I wouldn't visit NYC on a bet, and I've been in big cities like Hong Kong and Singapore over the years. I'm glad you love your Big Apple, but the way you're posting about it is pretty insulting to the rest of us who live elsewhere. I'll stay here in Free AZ, you stay in Bloomers glittering cage.

 

[floorit76]

I've never been to New York, can't think of why I'd want to. Trips to St Louis, and Chicago are all I can handle. Here in IL I may not be able to legally carry a handgun, but other than that it's far from restrictive. I can step out my back door right now and shoot for the rest of the day, noone would even look up. We shoot Tannerite in the back yard, noone notices. Heck a few weeks ago I took a shot at a coyote at 6 in the morning and the only reason anybody cared is because the neighbor called to see if I got him. I do have to keep my FOID (Firearm owner ID) card current, and show it when purchasing ammo/firearms. But other than that and a 3 day waiting period it's pretty easy going. The local PD's don't make much fuss about anything. Weapons stored in vehicles with reasonable care are largely ignored. As far as oppresive gun states go, we have it pretty good.

 

[valnar]

When I was a teen, my parents moved to Cleveland. I wasn't a gun owner, nor interested in guns for another 10 years. My parents are not gun people.

I hated Cleveland, the snow and Ohio in general. Now that I am older and wiser, I am finding out it has a great cross-selection of opportunity. Cleveland has decent employment, cost of living is low, gun rights are good in Ohio and some schools are the best in the nation. But yah, it's cold. It can be urban enough for Sports and entertainment, yet rural enough for shooting sports (Camp Perry). The only thing missing is mountains and hills for shooting against.

I make no illusions that my freedoms come from the cities of Cleveland, Columbus, Akron and Cincinnati though. I know full well I have to thank all the rural towns, farmers and other gun aficionados for my rights. I feel bad that my friends in Illinois, California and New York do not have enough numbers to tip the scales in their favor over their largest respective cities.

 

[2ifbyC]

I believe everyone should fight for whatever constitutional freedoms that they are lawfully denied; it’s your right and civic duty to do so. State/city restrictions on RKBA is but one of many persistent fights occurring due primary to the different ideologies of mankind. But to move because one’s freedom/right is restricted or denied, well, that answer is much more complex; as others have stated, you may not have a choice or it may not be your biggest priority.

Now that I am retired, I had much more latitude in deciding where I wanted to more. Having lived in the East the majority of my life, I wanted to live out West. I loved visiting California and hoped to move there one day. Did RKBA enter the equation? You bet; I chose Arizona!

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Making a good living is usually the first consideration.

I do not like California's mind boggling assault on firearms ownership and I don't like big cities or freeways. However I worked in Los Angeles and the SF Bay area for over 30 years with a daily commute of up to 4 hours. That's where the jobs were and where I could raise my family.

As one previous poster noted these areas are expensive as the people living there can (sort of) afford it. When I was laid off this year and headed for a retirement income we could no longer afford areas of California agreeable to my wife so we moved to Oregon.

There are some areas of California I would have loved to be able to move to and continue the good fight if we could have afforded it, but for right now I am content to find the room politically to stretch out and enjoy not carrying the burdens of California.

 

[LemmyCaution]

I moved back to VT after 15 years in Chicago and NYC. When I moved back, my cost of living was halved, but my income was quartered.

Firearms were a part of my decision, but not in the way one might expect.

After 9/11, the mood of NYC changed radically, and not for the better. The police became even more unaccountable than they had already been, and the public was willing to give a free pass to the authorities over anything, so long as one played the 9/11 card. And it got played every day. And it still does.

The tipping point came one day in Pennsylvania Station. I was waiting for a train to a job in DC. The central waiting area was crowded with hundreds, if not thousands of people. And walking among them, in body armor and carrying an M4, was an NYPD cop. I thought to myself "I feel decidedly less safe here with this gentleman than I would if he were not here."

And I started seeing more of these cops everywhere I went- the subway, the street corner, the post office- crowded places, where the likelihood of a clean rifle shot was near zero.

And it dawned on me- a clean shot didn't matter, because if the SHTF, a collateral damage assessment had been made that said any one citizen didn't matter, so long as the police were seen to be doing something about a terrorism threat that had been colossally exaggerated to justify the expansion of executive power.

The one place I never saw these cops, or really any cops at all, was in the crap neighborhood where I lived, where violence was a demonstrable reality.

So I decided to get out. And once I was out, I started thinking about active self defense and taking responsibility for myself, and I retrieved my firearms from my folks.

And living in a very remote location, where police response times are measured in hours, there's no electricity, and no running water, I've been forced to address my own care and feeding in ways I'd never imagined in NYC. And I'm happier and feel more alive than I ever have.

 

[TT]

If you want to stay and fight, good on you and have at it- but don’t ask others to give up their rights to aid you in what they perceive as a futile battle.

 

[lizziedog1]

The one thing that really upsets me is when folks from California move here and then try to replicate California laws.

If you like California laws why did you move?

I was out in the desert shooting a 22 into a hill side. I was trying to hit dirt clods. Some old dude walks up to me and asks if I am concerned about putting lead into the environment.

I asked him if he knew where lead came from in the first place.

He mumbled something and walked away.

Guess where he had recently moved from.

I'll give you a hint...California.

 

[Vonderek]

The original intent of the founders of the "United States" was to foster competition amongst the states which would encourage excellence. If a state underperformed folks could "vote with their feet" and migrate to a state more to their liking. The same holds true today. I wouldn't waste my time trying to force change in a place that was already a basketcase. Pack your things and move to a free state. As far as economic opportunity goes, I think just about everyone is in the same boat now. If jobs in your field don't exist where you want to live then you'll have to reinvent yourself. That's part of the American story as well.

 

[throdgrain]

In England there's a thing in London called "white flight". The government don't accept it occurs of course

But in the 50's and 60's they moved in thousands of foreign people into the city, and the English people moved out, they "voted with thier feet".

Now in some areas there's hardly any native English people left.

I suggest to you that if you don't change the place you're in, and go to another place, then the original problem may well follow you there. Gun legislation is creeping in everywhere, even in your country, and I hope you fight and win against it.

 

[87jeep]

Retire, Arizona, enough said!

 

[ZeSpectre]

I really don't think very many people move from one state to another with the RKBA as the primary motivating factor.

Well, speaking only for myself, I know that there are a few states that were out of the question when I was moving.

 

[Deanimator]

Well, speaking only for myself, I know that there are a few states that were out of the question when I was moving.

I was unemployed for two years. I didn't bother to even apply for any job in:

California
Illinois
New York
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Maryland

I'm looking for a better job now. Those same states are still out of the question. I won't even consider them. No job is worth what I'd be giving up to live in any of those states.

 

[ball3006]

I spend the summers in the UP of MI and the winters in east Texas. Both areas are 2A friendly. I was at my camp in east Texas for new year's eve and it sounded like the western front. Cool....I did my part.....chris3

 

[DataMonkey]

How about the corollary to this?

I have personally not entertained interviews with firms in NYC and CT because I would have to liquidate certain firearms. Those areas cater to the industry I'm in - finance. I'll stay here in TX and help fight for open carry.

 

[BeerSleeper]

I won't leave for a better paying job, I won;t leave because it snows here, and I won't leave because my states govornment has it's head up it's a$$. Last year we helped elect a new Senator, and I have been to his office to discuss how important the 2A is. He agrees. We have marched, and lobbied going on 5 years I believe. My wife and I are only 35, we have plenty of time to fight. We will win, 49 other states can't be wrong. IL is going to have concealed carry.

I find your optimism, your drive to fight, and your determination impressive. My hat is off to you, sir, and I wish you the best of luck.