States To Consider, States To Rule Out?

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Plan2Live

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I have the flexibility to live anywhere I want as long as i have a high speed internet connection and telephone service. I currently live in South Carolina. I'm searching for rural land (acreage) to build my forever house on. I prefer hilly terrain and would like to be at the upper end of the watershed. I don't like really cold weather so states like Montana and Utah are out. I've ruled out North Carolina due to their silly Pistol Purchase Permits, I shouldn't have to ask the local sheriff's permission to buy a gun. I was looking at eastern Tennessee and had even looked at a couple of properties in southern Virginia but I ruled out Virginia after yesterday's election results. Ditto for Kentucky. The last gubernatorial election in Georgia makes me look at them cautiously.

So given my desire for a gun friendly, not so cold, somewhat mountainous area, which states should I be considering?
 
Keep in mind the gubernatorial race in Ky was nothing more than a very unpopular governor. Every other seat went red in the state. Bevin barely won the primary as the incumbent, and I look for next election cycle to put Beshear out, especially if he lets his Democrat desires come to the front as Governor. That said, Eastern Ky has some of the most beautiful hill country in the nation and the cost of living is pretty low.
 
Since you want mountainous, that rules out Florida (no state income tax) - we have some nice rolling terrain up near the GA border though. Otherwise, WV, TN, AL and I wouldn't rule out GA.

Start with the Natchez Trace and then the Blue Ridge Parkway to see what you like
 
You're making a mistake if you rule out Kentucky. Beshear knows better than to try to pass any sort of gun control measure, and even if he tried it would die a quick death in the legislature. Kentucky is as reliably pro-gun as any other state could be.
 
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I pulled the "grade" map from the Giffords site so the "F" scores are where we would be happiest with the firearms laws. You'll find hill country in most of the F states shown depending upon where you look and how you define "hill country". Consider the Cumberland Plateau area of TN and not just the east.
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family, education, kids, taxes, culture, local economy, housing prices, crime, medical care, accepting population or nasty, ethnic tension, weather.
I know this is a gun forum but a location move is more than the kind of permit you get.
 
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...what really makes this tough is there are few locations that don't have COLD, and I hate cold. There are parts of Arizona and Texas that are warm most of the year along with parts of Tennessee and Kentucky that aren't too frosty. And in Arizona you really don't have to go as far north as Flag, though I like it there in the warmer seasons.

A major concern today would be accidentally moving right into the face of escaping hordes, residents of failed states like California, Washington, and even New Mexico who are dying to leave their fouled nests. A huge population shift is now taking place ...it's so damn pathetic even poor immigrants are fleeing. A day doesn't go by when elements of this exodus fails to make the news in this part of the country.
 
Sounds like you would like southern Missouri. No real extremes in temps, but still has four seasons. Beautiful forested Ozark Mountains and Table Rock and Bull Shoals lakes. Low Income and property Taxes, relatively low cost of living and good school systems. Missouri is a permitless carry state as well as a shall-issue state. Permits are issued at the local level by county sheriffs. ... Open carry and concealed carry are legal in Missouri for anyone 19 years or older who can legally possess a firearm, with or without a concealed carry permit .
 
I think eastern TN may be the answer. My dad retired there (though not for gun rights reasons - he's got a few hunting guns, but isn't really a "gun guy" as such) after spending most of his career in GA and VA/DC. Good mountain terrain and no state income tax. Pretty reasonable (i.e., light) gun laws. North Georgia would be viable as well, but land is generally more expensive on the GA side of the border - lots of my fellow Atlantans want mountain houses for the weekend, so pretty property gets priced up a bit. Nothing crazy, but if you don't need to be near Atlanta, TN will generally be cheaper than GA all considered, and GA has a state income tax.
 
In addition to worrying about how rules and laws might effect your gun ownership I would check two other things as well. Crime and CAFOs. Rural crime in the form of burglary and property damage is worse in some places than others. You also don’t want to build or buy someplace where you find yourself living next to thousands of pigs or cattle a few years later so the person who owns the operation doesn’t have to live next to it.
 
Sounds like you would like southern Missouri. No real extremes in temps, but still has four seasons. Beautiful forested Ozark Mountains and Table Rock and Bull Shoals lakes. Low Income and property Taxes, relatively low cost of living and good school systems. Missouri is a permitless carry state as well as a shall-issue state. Permits are issued at the local level by county sheriffs. ... Open carry and concealed carry are legal in Missouri for anyone 19 years or older who can legally possess a firearm, with or without a concealed carry permit .

Something I learned working there. I love the state.
 
I had to delete one of my own posts because I fell prey to the temptation to get outside the firearms scope of THR. That temptation is so hard to resist and the OP now has a map showing the most firearms friendly states at the latitude bounding his temp desires so we'll just close this one and let him pick.
 
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