Why do you still live there?

[michiglocker]

Just as I choose to shop or not to shop in places that do or do not allow guns, So do I choose where to live. I would never live in a place that does not think I have the right to carry a weapon for self protection. I have lost count on how many threads I have read here and elsewhere from people that want to carry but can't. Moving sucks but............................................... ...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[C9H13NO3]

Only been in Cali the past 5 years because that's where the military stuck me :( Back to WA in a few months though!

[archer51]

While it would be nice to be financially independent enough to just pick up and move whenever you wanted, I doubt there are many on this site who fall into that category. Military members have no choice in where they are stationed, single parents may be restricted by the courts as to moving out of state with children, jobs may not be available where you would like to go. There are many things that tie someone to someplace they would rather not be.

[Kerbouchard]

Same here, I lived in Cali, but the military didn't give me much of a choice. I asked them to put an Aircraft Carrier out of the Gulf of Mexico, but they said no.

[Gideon]

I'm in a carry friendly state but for personal reasons, really want to move out of the town I'm in, yet I have a house I probably couldn't give away, I'm in a job that is hard to find in most towns, (purchasing) and I have 8 people in my family with a lot of young children and money is very very tight so my options and opportunities are VERY limited. And if I do make a move I can't afford to make the wrong one so I have to be very very careful. I would imagine there are a lot of folks in a situation like that.

Me, I want to move (in part) to be in a good church, others probably want to move to be in a carry friendly state.

So if any of you hear of any kind of Purchasing Managager position in a gun friendly state, PM me!!

[NCHornet]

I grew up in S Cal, took me 28 years to get out of that country!! This was before they went totally anti gun as they are now, but still a time when CC was not allowed unless you knew someone. I tried and was rejected twice. They wanted you to prove you were a target for a criminal attack. Heck if you're breathing air that should be enough proof!! We still have friends there and when we tell them what the cost of living is where we live and how people still leave their keys in their ignition at WalMart ( yes stupid, but folks do it) and when I tell them about our gun laws and the ability to carry for personal protection they think I am leaving on another planet. They all dream of leaving but I am convinced that few people are able to pick up and leave everything and everyone they have known their entire life and move to a unknown place. For me it was the single best decision that I have made for my family. My kids have never seen a gang, never seen graffiti , besides " John loves Sue", never seen two men holding hands, etc..... I never knew what FREEDOM was until I moved here. In a way I am glad that everyone is programmed to make such a move, because if they were places where I live may not exist much longer. Not that they will anyway. Times are getting bad everywhere!! But I have a hard time feeling sorry for folks who " voluntarily" stay in places like this and then whine about. Do I make as much money as I did in S Ca? NO !!! Do I live in a new house like I did in S CA? NO? But I have learned there are things worth far more than money and material possessions in life!!

[AllAmerican]

I moved to SC from Florida for several reasons. Guns wasnt one of them. The main reason is that Florida has become a yankee state. They cleared most of the groves and built McMansions. No one wants to wear a cowboy hat anymore cept me and I made a huge amount of money when I sold my place there.

Land is expensive in Florida but not too bad in SC. So I bought 25 acres and a house for cash.

You live where you want to. I aint living in any state that aint down with my being a redneck (which isnt a bad thing).

[carver]

I got out of the military back in 75. I was stationed in Central CA, Castle AFB. When I got my discharge, I continued to live there for 2 yrs. I loved the Valley, and found the rest of the state had a lot to offer in the scenic department. When I decided to move back here, I sold everthing I didn't need, loaded the rest in a U-Haul trailer, and headed home. Not much left after the move, but it was the price I would pay for getting back here, where I belonged! Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

[TN_Mike]

I have often wondered the same thig.

Every time I see someone here who has their home listed as Illinois, I wonder, why would you live in a state that illegally denies your right to self defense with a gun if you are so interested in carrying? I would work very hard to find a job in a free state and move myself and my family out of there.

But, I am sure there are valid reasons that people are forced or choose to live in places like that.

[Horsetrader]

Moving is no light decision. Over my life I have moved out of SoCal so many times it hurts to think about it. There was the time to Michigan (small town, great for my daughter, but the job dried up and there were no other jobs in town, so moved back to Socal). Then there was the time I moved as a single man to upper Arkansaw (loved it ! Never wanted to leave. Job dried up and there were no other jobs. Struggled for a year and then I moved back to SoCal). Then there was the time I moved to Prescott, Arizona (well, this one was my fault: girl friend in SoCal wanted to get married...so moved back to SoCal after 2 years. She was a keeper. ) But really there is a pattern to this and one I recognize. I had a financial safety net in SoCal AND can find a job pretty fast in Socal. But the small towns in gun-friendly states are well....small towns. I love them, have always been willing to take ANY job to stay in them, but they are SMALL with few jobs. Small towns in RURAL America are also a different breed when you are the NEW guy in town. YOU are NEW and on the outside looking in. For a SoCal guy this is a DIFFERENT situation. Some places the jobs are found in THE bar and others towns in THE church, but rarely in both places (made that mistake more than once). Neighbors who see you going fishing on Sunday morning can spred the word about THAT also in some towns. And every small town is DIFFERENT, lessons learned here don't work over there. ( Obviously the RURAL small towns I like are not, NOT the bloated size of Benton Harbor, Michigan or Bentonville, Arkansaw or even Lexington, Mo. Even though I'm from SoCal, I grew up on a ranch backed up to the Mexico line so used to SPACE NOT NEIGHBORS. ) I could write a book about leaving SoCal, but it wouldn't apply to your town or even this year, it would span a changing America for 40 years, 8 states and 12 small towns.

Am I giving up ? Look left to "Location" : in process of moving again ! This time with a small retirement and a wife, going to need a job again though. But this time I'm NEVER going back to SOCAL !!!

[bonehead]

So many considerations when deciding where to live that it's unfortunately not as easy as only considering a state's respective firearm's laws. I've been faced with the terrible possibility of moving from one of the most 2A-friendly states to the LEAST unfriendly. Still anguishing over the decision, one of the reasons being the RKBA. But at the end of the day, a job to pay the bills and support the family trumps the 2A.

[pcon]

While it would be nice to be financially independent enough to just pick up and move whenever you wanted, I doubt there are many on this site who fall into that category. Military members have no choice in where they are stationed, single parents may be restricted by the courts as to moving out of state with children, jobs may not be available where you would like to go. There are many things that tie someone to someplace they would rather not be.

+1...it's not always as easy (or as prudent) as just getting up and moving whenever you felt like your state had wronged you...

[jbone]

If I no longer had the right to carry concealed I still dont think Id just pick up and leave. I love my guns, and everything, but I love my family and friends much more than I'll ever love a gun. And besides home is home. If my family and friends arent coming with me than I take my chances being unarmed.

[DrLewall]

uh, cause I love it here??

[KG4ZRC]

The reasons my wife and I are looking to move out of Florida has nothing to do with guns...

We just don't like it here. Florida has some of the best gun laws around, but it just doesn't work for us. We don't care for it.

And the place we deicieded to go just works out for us... Not too far north (I am from ND) and not too far south (her hometown is in Florida)...

Found out after we purchased 32 acres that the state we are going to move to is also friendly to guns.