Decision point. Which state to live in? CO, UT, WA, NH

I've been single since 1975 and moved around a lot. For me, Texas is the best place I've ever lived. I know what restrictive gun laws are like since I was born in Chicago and lived in Illinois for years. Texas is home!

Utah............ Been there, traveled there and loved the land! I absolutely HATE winter so it would never work for me. They have some brutal winters.

I loved Montana and Wyoming, too but left in a hurry when I found out about their winters!

Utah....a real concern and I'll get some flack for this. If you aren't in the LDS (Morman) church, then you aren't. Aren't what? answer......ANYTHING! LDS members take care of other LDS members. I've encountered that on several jobs here in Texas and the favoritism is blatant. Since you are in a profession that deals with the public, you ought to consider that. Just get ready to be at the back of the line for everything if you aren't LDS material. If you are in the church, then you have it made.

When Donnie Osmond did a sexy dance in Dancing With The Stars, he joked that they may not let him back into Utah. It was funny but was pretty truthful, too. Just a point to ponder.............

Flash
 
Keeping it strictly gun related, as has been said - UT gets the coveted Zero rating from the Brady Bunch.

We aspire to such an accolade here, and are working towards it.
 
Arizona is not all desert. we have two excellent ski resort within 4 hours of Phoenix. Three outstanding shooting ranges in the Phoenix Valley I prefer Usrey which is just north of Mesa.

Gun Laws are excellent with most Law Enforcement Agency's gun friendly. Avoid Tucson The Sheriff is definitely anti gun and works very hard to circumvent the laws.

Hunting opportunities range from varmints and Javilinia to Antelope, Elk, Big horn, some buffalo Cougars and bear.

Unfortunately, we are over run with attorneys.
 
Getting the carry permit is cheap and easy. Background check and a fee and it's available quickly by mail.
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Regarding Washington State, the above is simply not true. I just got mine renewed and even the renewal required in-person form signing. The original application requires the taking of fingerprints and the wait for a background clearance, after you have filled out the forms in person.

But all else mentioned about WA in this thread is accurate. I've lived in WA all my adult life, not that I really know when that actually started. 21? First child is born? First gray hair? Or maybe it hasn't started yet.

I cannot say anything about the legal business but the Joint Base Lewis McChord near Tacoma is where the bulk of military-oriented legal practice will happen. And you already know that area so I'll shut up.

Now that WA is legalizing pot there must be a truly bad joke using the term "joint base"....:D

Bart Noir
 
I don't know why you would go East Coast when you can go West. I'd be narrowing my search to the West (Minus Commiefornia.)
 
I can't speak about WA because I have never lived there and it would only be the stereotypes that probably annoy some...always raining, high suicide rate due to always being cloudy/rainy, bigfoot, high domestic abuse rate andor that being considered ok, etc, etc(again, I am not saying this...these are common stereotypes I learned/heard growing up on the eastcoast - I do enjoy some of the reality TV for the tree cutters but some seem to need anger mngmnt LOL but I guess there is no human resources near). I did have some buddies from WA that were very good friends and people. I also have a 'girlfriend' from my highschool days who moved to OR with her sister(separately), and they both love it. Maybe phasing in OR with WA is a stereotype of its own? not sure... I thought it was interesting that an officer from king county on COPS many times during the nineties is now on AK police shows...I guess some gravitate to and from WA to AK andor to and from the 'lower 48'. If one is stationed at ft lewis(at least for the army), he/she is almost definitely going to be deployed(same goes for Ft Hood TX)

all the best
gunz
 
I'm real big on AZ, NV, & NM but border issues amongst other things are at least things to consider these days. I know with CO, one does need to realize that if you are in Navajo Nation as one example, you are dealing with different firearm laws/restrictions + are on federal property. These 'Nations' are complicated and zigzag off and on among the map...
 
I know with CO, one does need to realize that if you are in Navajo Nation as one example, you are dealing with different firearm laws/restrictions + are on federal property.

That is an excellent point! Having traveled extensively, I learned about the Native American nations. When you're on their turf, you do things their way and you DON'T want to get caught speeding on the reservations! There are many wide open highway areas with 35 mph speed limits. Only a damned fool would violate those regulations because the consequences are extreme!

If you are going to live in one of the places mentioned in the OP, you need to deal with the way things are. This thread has been a real eye opener!

Flash
 
WA is a mix between environmentally friendly folks (which I agree with) and pro-gun folks
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If you're going to be a lawyer, I suggest you consider the implications of that statement. There are a lot of us who are pro-gun AND environmentally friendly. We just aren't fanatically wedded to the hands off (no use) concept as the best / only way to "preserve" our environment the way many anti-gun "environmentally friendly" folks are.

WA is essentially two states, divided by the mountains and attitudes. The wet side has as high a concentration of "environmentally friendly" gun hating socialist leaning liberal wackjobs as any of the worst places in the country.

The "dry" side is much more conservative in general, and quite gun friendly.

Getting your concealed carry license is easy, but does require you to show up in person to get the application and be fingerprinted (a one time thing). Renewels also require you to show up at a sherrif's office to get the paperwork,(and pay the fee) every 5 years. Turn in the paperwork and you get your permit in the mail in about two weeks or so.

Yes, WA does have a waiting period for handguns, and had one before the Brady law. Having a CPL waives the waiting period requirement. Have a WA permit, go to the shop (or the gun show) pay the man, (pass the Fed phone call check) and go home with your pistol. That's the main reason I have a permit.

WA does allow silencers (and thanks to a recent bill, you can now even legally put them on guns), but does NOT allow machineguns. There are no mag capacity laws (other than for hunting), nor any of the other "Assault weapon" (note the specific term) crap.

WA does have a sales tax, but no income tax. OR doesn't have a sales tax, but they do have an income tax.

The I-5 corridor (Seattle/Tacoma, etc) is a heavily populated metro area, where liberal politics dominate. Even so, there are a lot of nice people over there. The rest of the state is not as "progressive", politically speaking.

I've lived on the dry side since 1979. It's a good place, with many good people. To me, the worst thing is the number of people who don't/can't/won't speak English or get a driver's license and auto insurance.

There is a bit of a gang problem (again, mostly in the meto areas, and centered around the drug trade), but that is true in a lot of the country.
 
I don't know how you feel about the Northern areas. But western ND may very well be a great place right now for your aspirations. A good friend of mine used to be a LEO in the area, but has now turned to selling firearms and self defense training. The oil boom expansion out there has created a plethora of issues that has caused several things to be re-evaluated.

The oil industry attracts hard working heavy duty individuals in addition to those that are willing to go wherever the work is, to those who have no other choice. Unfortunatley, there is a criminal aspect that has been exploding along with the population.

ND in general is very firearm friendly, and generally most of the state (with the exception of Fargo) is mostly conservative politically.

With regards to the Boom-Bust typical of oil and natural resource industries, I can shed some light on this as well. Several family members and friends also work in the industry. The oil formation there has a number of years of life in it. A family member works in the resource development and test well research division. According to him, there's 20 years of work out there just with the technology we have now, and typically there's a breakthrough in recovery tech every 20 years. The recoverable assets as of current surveys will outlast my lifetime, and they're still drilling. Recent information suggests that with the current technology - there's more oil in the ground out there than the middle east started with.
 
It is important to note I've lived in MI, PA, CO, VA, GA, TN/KY, and WA. I've also lived overseas in Scotland and Iraq, and traveled many places in the world. I have a pretty good idea what I like. I like summer and winter. I like the outdoors.

Ms. Boston is tied to the Boston area and cannot move further than say NH or Vermont.

Please no more recommendations that don't have mountains/snowboarding available. In addition to guns, that is an important hobby...

I appreciate all of the input so far. Keep it coming!
 
Washington is probably going to have the most opportunities for work in the law.

If you like shooting ducks and geese or other birds then it's probably the best of the places you mention. Good for larger game but not as good as Utah and maybe Colorado. It's the only state on the list for deep sea fishing and it's pretty darn good for fresh water.

There are some parts of Washington with some particularly nasty red necks. For them the Centralia Massacre is something to celebrate. But mostly the folks are ok.
 
A Postcard From Southern NH

Hello,

I was wandering by and saw this discussion. As a resident of southern NH, and almost within commuting distance from Boston, I thought that I would offer some info on the local landscape and gun attitudes.

As background, my town borders the Peoples Republic of Taxachusetts. And I am myself a Massachusetts refugee. As most folks who post here might guess, the attitudes about life and firearms are very different across the border. Day and night.

The only "license" issued for firearms in NH is the $10 Pistol/Revolver License. Allows the concealed carry of a loaded firearm. NH is shall issue by statute. Many PD's encourage the residents to get the license and some will waive the $10 for older residents. The fee is set by state statute and appears to be optional.

NH allows open carry, and some of the more aggressive advocates made a fuss at the Manchester PD a couple of years ago that I understand got that department up to speed on what they must respect as legal. There are some video's on the internet of that group visiting Manchester PD and the desk staff being very professional.

The Gun Owners of NH and Pro Gun NH organizations don't always agree, but they are very active. The legislature hears from them a lot.

Mass is entirely different and depends on what town we are talking about. The Chief of Police gets to decide who gets a permit and what type. If you want to move to a Mass town, check out this aspect. But if you are a NH resident looking for a Mass non-resident permit you deal with the Col of the State Police and the permit will be a Class A (highest) and shall issue. The down side is that a non-resident permit is $100 per year and you must interview at the Criminal Records facility in Chelsea, next to Boston, every year. My wife goes through this drill every spring.

The state of NH encourages land owners to be open to hunting, hiking, snowmobiles, and ATV's. I have a neighbor who encourages all of his friends to shoot on his 200 acre parcel. Not uncommon. But part of his motivation is to make sure that the recent immigrants from the People's Republic get acclimated to the full "New Hampshire experience." Some of the new folks don't embrace the sound of the full range of woods activities, but the locals who have been in town for 3 generations or so view that as the new folks problem, not theirs.

That said, there are some good fish and game clubs across southern NH. Nashua Fish & Game has the NH 600yd range as well as smaller ranges for rifle, shotgun, action pistol, BB gun, and archery. Pelham F&G has ranges for all of the shotgun games. I hear that there might be a 1000yd range over in Vermont.

My town is a couple of towns west of the Merrimack River. I have neighbors that commute to the I95/RT128 circumferential highway just outside Boston. Not an easy commute, but some of them have done it for years. If the young lady in questions actually works in the suburbs of Boston then a commute from southern NH is very do-able.

The main commuter routes from NH to the jobs around Boston are Rt3 and I93. Both get slow if there is bad weather or an accident. If you are in high tech though you can telecommute some or most of the time. Mass has an income tax of 6+% while NH has no income or sales tax. Since folks who live in NH and work in MA have to pay MA tax for the days that they sit in MA, many ask their employer to work from home a couple of days a week to avoid the tax.

The further east along the MA-NH border you go the closer you are to Boston, but the more populated and expensive it is.

Back to firearms, there are a number of gun shows during the year in Manchester, Concord, and West Lebanon. The exhibitors are evenly split between actual firearms and other stuff like militaria. The MA gun shops even get tables and work out a deal with a NH FFL at the shows to do the transfers. Oh, in NH, the State Police does the "instant" check.

If it is relevant for the Boston woman, the NH Fish & Game dept is an active sponsor of the Becoming an Outdoor Woman program. My wife participated and the Sig Academy folks donate their time to teach shooting fundamentals. She also did a game tracking class and maybe kayaking. She came home with a bunch of flash cards for the scat of various critters that live in the woods.

From my place I can be at the beach surfing in a hour, skiing or snowboarding in maybe 1 1/2 hours. Or walk 5 minutes out into the woods to the spot where we all do our weekly handgun exercises.

Considering the movement of population into southern NH, the wildlife has adapted very well. We have flocks of wild turkeys that wander across the property, deer that trim the flower beds, and the occasional near sighted moose that wanders through. And if you put out sun flower seed in your bird feeders, you may get to have a nose-to-nose conversation with a local bear about their place in the grand scheme of things. We have eastern Black Bears, so as long as you respect that they are wild animals, you can explain that you are higher on the food chain and point them (literally) back into the woods.

All of the above may be hunted at different times of the year. And the cluster of houses are far enough apart that lots of hunting goes on. But then there is the bear that decided to visit the porch of the guy who had a permit and it was bear season. Opened the window, drew his bow, and his hunt was done. Not to far from what passes from downtown.

Anyway, if you really really are interested in Ms Boston, southern NH might have enough of everything you want. Even if Ms Boston doesn't work out.

Best of luck,

Wes
 
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44 AMP, it must be a county decision:

Renewals also require you to show up at a sheriff's office to get the paperwork, (and pay the fee) every 5 years. Turn in the paperwork and you get your permit in the mail in about two weeks or so.
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I just renewed mine at the King Co. courthouse in Seattle, and walked out with the new permit. Cool!

Not sure about what it would be for Pierce Co which is where the OP would likely move, if he is to work in the Fort Lewis area.

Bart Noir
 
I live in Washington State and it is an excellent State to live.

Regarding gun laws; open carry is allowed (nevertheless not recommended in Seattle), Class 3 items are prohibited for civilians except suppressors. We don't have a waiting time to purchase a gun if we have a CCL. No assault rifle nor hi cap mags restriction. Washington is a shall-issue state regarding CCL. We have Castle Doctrine however you can't use lethal force against someone only because he trespassed. An imminent risk of deadly attack or severe bodily damage is required. I think it differs from other Castle Doctrine states with this perspective.

In terms of outdoor sports, IMHO Washington one of the most beautiful states in USA, with forests, mountains, and ocean. You can hike, bike, ski, snowboard, sail, mountain climb (Mt Rainier one of the highest summits in country). I think only a few states would have this combination.

In terms of rain, I can agree with some comments disagree with other. In Seattle, it doesn't rain too much. Maybe as much as Miami or New York. But the problem here, it is frequently cloudy if even there is no rain, except summer. In summer we have a good number of sunny days. This summer we had almost 3 months of sunny days. But yes, sometimes, specially during autumn and winter we miss the sunlight.

Other big pro for Washington is, we have no state tax which is an excellent thing. Also Washington is second well educated state in USA following Massachusetts, also with not so elevated crime rate.

After last election, gay marriage and recreational use of marijuana have been legalized as well, but I can't comment on these as I am not gay nor I smoke pot :)

Housing prices in Tacoma are relatively cheaper than Seattle. Tacoma is a quiet and beautiful neighborhood. If I wouldn't work in downtown, I would consider to live there.
 
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While GlockieWA makes many good points, there are a couple "howevers" that should be attached.

1) Washington does not have an income tax, which is good. OTOH Washington has an almost 10% sales tax, plus expensive vehicle registration fees, high real estate costs, and pricey utilities (at least in the Seattle and Tacoma areas).

Note also that a lack of an income tax is only one factor. For example, a friend moved from the Dallas area to Pagosa Springs, CO a couple years ago. Texas had no income tax, but had higher property taxes. My friend's net tax picture, due to Colorado having an income tax, but lower property taxes, remained the same.

States have to generate revenue in some fashion or another; the more services voters demand, the more revenue has to be generated.

2) Real estate in Washington, particularly in the Puget Sound area, isn't cheap. In 2001, the lowest starter homes in the area were $250K, in Kent and Issaquah (IE, the outer suburbs). New condos on the sound itself were going for $750k - $1M in Seattle. The old (1890) house I rented on Queen Anne Hill was appraised at $750K, and it was nothing special.

Prices will have fallen, due to the real estate bubble, but in 2001 Puget Sound prices were almost double Atlanta prices.

All that said, Washington is gorgeous, and one of my favorite parts of the US.
 
I totally agree with pricey housing. It's common in almost all west cost states. But I think we need to take into consideration average income per individual as well.

For example I work in IT business which is widespread in region. If a Seattle company pay me better than a Chicago company (where I was living previously) honestly I don't care about pricey housing. And in general the companies count on costs of living in a specific state.

But adversely if you make same money in relative to a state with a lower cost of living and housing, obviously it wouldn't be a good deal. So all depends to the terms of your employment (income).

Hope you make a best choice for yourself.
 
GlockieWA, the OP is active military, so his pay is (mostly) fixed. He'll get a higher variable housing allowance for Washington, but it will only partially offset actual costs.
 
I've lived in NY, NC, MD, ME, NJ and am currently in WA. Yeah, it was an out of character move.

If you love the outdoors and can tolerate the damp eight months and the liberals on the west side of the Cascades, with 4-6 months of skiing for the best in the world four months of summer with some of the best hiking on the planet right in youir backyard, stay here.

I still remember moving here from NJ and having a local appologize for the amost invisible smog haze you could see between us and Mt. Rainier, citing the weather inversion. <Ha!>
 
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