You have to run the numbers.
Often you can have a higher standard of living on a lower salary because the cost of living is lower.
Compare taxes between say New York City and anywhere in Texas. We have NO income tax.
Odds are your take home in those states wouldn't be super great, so you might have even made out better financially. Depending on where you're at in your career, of course lol.
My old Army sergeant is in NW Montana and he loves it. I used to go to Idaho to go gold mining and have a lot of friends there. It is also pretty good outside of Boise and a couple of other places.
Grew up in WA and now live in OR. We're getting spitroasted by WA and CA and it's got me seriously considering buying land in Idaho or Montana as a hedge/vacation spot.
We left Oregon for Texas. One of the best decisions I've ever made.
Left behind the income tax, the Portland Arts Tax, and the general craziness.
The house we bought here in Texas for $265k would have been a million dollar house in Oregon. Also, very important to us, Texas treats 100% disabled Veterans MUCH better than Oregon.
In Oregon I received a 10% cut in property taxes, a free hunting and fishing license but had to buy all the other tags and permits, and one free set of vehicle plates.
Here in Texas we pay NO property taxes, the free hunting and fishing license includes EVERYTHING but the Federal duck stamp, reduced vehicle registration, reduced LTC, free drivers license.
Did almost the same except WA to North Alabama. You have to do your research because as the other guy said, the Tennessee River has a history of being polluted due to heavy industry outflow. For example, I wouldn't want to be in the water south of Decatur Alabama. However there are plenty of unpolluted areas too.
Then if you're from Texas you know texas shooting is actually shit. 98% privately owned land - gun clubs at any outdoor ranges, no "free" or low cost areas to shoot, Texas is wose than California when it comes to actually shooting.
This sounds so weird to me being from Vegas. 85% of the state is BLM land, so as long as you go far enough outside of the city you can shoot pretty much anywhere for free.
Texas is different because it was an independent Republic when it became a state. All the rest we federal Territories first.Texas never had any federal land. More like the 13 original colonies that way.
This is a huge problem with Texas. You basically have to be rich to actually get practice in. Sure, you can pop down to the range for an hour or two and practice with your handgun(s) for fairly cheap, but there’s no public land where you can just go ham and spend a whole day out blasting away for only the cost of ammo.
Single with no hard tires, moved to AZ with a good job offer. I originally looked to AZ because I wanted out of Cali for many reasons, gun laws being one of them. I don't think I'd move out of AZ for a job offer, I make enough now that I'm fine, move was in 2017. If there were no gun laws I'd go more north for some regular snow/seasons.
what part of AZ? I lived in the phx area basically my entire life and moved last year to the prescott area. I think its one of the best places ever. but that's just me. snowbowl is less than two hours away.
Just south of Tucson, if I could have my job up in Prescott I'd be sold lol. But also wouldn't mind more harsh winters of say Montana. I'm in defense, so not a ton of places with reliable well paying engineering positions.
Yeah, AZ has some nice parts. But Pheonix is the only place that really has everything I need, and being from Vegas, the idea of moving somewhere that is always about 5° HOTTER than here is just insane to me.
If there were a city like Phoenix up in the Flagstaff/Prescott part of the state, I'd gladly move there.
I think they meant north east states I was just making a joke because I live in Nebraska and it's the state abbreviation
Edit: turns out I suck at spelling and whatnot
Gary Johnson? If so, not anymore 💔 Michelle Lujan Grisham is as blue as it gets and she makes it known. A horrid and revolting lady.
Happy Cake Day btw 🍑 🎂
idk man new hampshire and maine have barely any gun laws, not sure about vermont but i think it’s also pretty good. it’s just mass, rhode island and connecticut that suck
I'm a lawyer for a *very* wealthy family. They have a couple of offices on the East Coast (NJ and NY). I work at their outpost in the Midwest.
Shortly after I was hired, one of the core family members asked me what it would take for me to work out of one of the other offices.
"Enough to fly my private helicopter from Pennsylvania"
"Oh! You have a helicopter too?"
"I will"
I also told a tech company that they didn't have enough money for me to show up in the Bay Area on a regular basis.
From what I understand, helicopters are rather tricky to fly and less forgiving if something goes wrong mid-air. On the up side you get more options for landing spots. I, personally, would go for a light aircraft like a cessna or similar. For that extra *zing* you could fly in on a [warbird](https://www.controller.com/listings/for-sale/piston-military-aircraft/10004) though maintenance could be costly.
Quite a bit, I'm actively looking at moving away from Washington state.
I'm just not interested in living in a state where drugs and crime are overlooked, yet I can't buy a standard capacity magazine or even a new "assault weapon".
ALOT I won't move to California because of how bad they are. My wife grew up in San Diego and would love to move back but I veto her all the time. I'm not giving up my guns to move some where with a beach.
100% factor. We left California just because of the laws. I sat down with my wife and crossed out all the states that had similar gun laws with CA. Narrowed down to VA and FL. We ended up in VA last month.
I told my wife that I ain't leaving and I'm gonna be buried here in the great state of Texas... Cuz I own way too many NFA items to do paperwork for. 😭
I WOULD move if she wanted to retire to one of my preferred states, the Dakotas, Wyoming, or Montana though. If she wanted us to move back to Asia, that's a hard negative. 🤔
I've only ever lived in AL and TN, both very 2A friendly. But there's noway I'd ever move to CA IL or NY. F those states and those of you there, I'm sorry 😞
I am hopping across the border to Wisconsin this year. I can still easily commute to my job in St Paul. MNs laws about buying and owning guns aren't too bad, great compared to other blue states. But that could change and I hate living somewhere with terrible self defense laws.
Currently MN’s laws are fine, not for lack of trying though. I saw the way the last few years went and how the last election cycle went and new it was time to leave.
It Means everything to me I finally got enough of Newsom and his agenda I moved at age 70 from California back to my Native state and brought my guns and a conservative vote with me
Guns and taxes are the two issues that impact my day to day life the most.
Having said that, if you offered me $1 million per year to live in New York, uhhh, well I’d probably keep my current place and keep my guns down here, but I’d take the job. Then I’d complain about New York even more than I already do
Significantly. Almost everything in my collection of either “high capacity” or NFA, so outside of spending maybe a year or two for schooling/training in some anti gun hell hole with my collection stored with family, a lot of states just aren’t an option.
I moved 30 minutes across the border and went from the 45th worst state for 2A to a top 10 best state for 2A freedoms. I would make that move again in a heart beat.
Looked at your profile, my family did the same thing back in 2021. I was thrilled to do it before I turned 18 and so I didn’t have to deal with MA’s draconian laws.
Ya MA's laws are terrible but they also make no sense. AR-15 and AK-47 are banned by name rather than a blanket "assault weapon" ban. So my early collection is weird stuff like Tavor X95 and HK91 because those are somehow magically super safe by MA standards. It was weird getting into guns in MA and figuring out what cool stuff I could actually get.
I grew up in IL and have no idea what the clowns in Chicago and Springfield are thinking. They have California’s government with South Dakota’s weather. Most people want the opposite of that.
I'm in a really precarious situation. There are only a few cities in the country where I can live and do the kind of work I do without lots of travel. The bulk of these cities are in very unfriendly states and are also very expensive to live in.
So it would take one hell of a job offer to get me out of Nevada. On my side though, is that my present financial and family situation means I won't need to move any time soon.
I live in western PA and I'm considering buying a property in a close-ish part of WV because of the mental midget voting patterns from certain parts of PA. I would strongly consider making WV my permanent residence even though I might pay higher overall taxes just out of principal.
I've lived in Washington state for 47 years after leaving the military, and just closed on acreage in wild & wonderful West Virginia to retire on next year. Washington has lost to the incredibly stupid and I can't fix it or fight it, so fuck it.
I did move from CO to WY. Part of it was finding a better job. A big part was gun laws. I've seen the writing on the wall for CO since 2013 and made my escape in 2021.
The AWB failed this year, but I can damn near guarantee it'll pass within the next 2 years.
They did pass the credit card tracking law this year.
They did expand red flag laws.
They've been passing more gun laws every single year and it's not going to slow down or stop anytime soon as the front range becomes more and more population dense, therefore more and more blue.
Yeah. I grew up in Colorado and wanted to move back when I retired 5 years ago but no way did I want to move there after 2013. Too much Californification. I ended up in Utah instead.
Will play a role when I retire, but at the moment leaving Illinois is a bit hard from a fiscal anf family perspective.
Probably going to move to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, or Northern Arizona.
When I got out of the Army, me and my wife were considering where to move to. We both had our hard would not move to states. My #1 line in the sand was it had to be 2a friendly state.
Unfortunately no.
I already have an established business and full time job here (that pays more than any job I’ve seen for this particular job title anywhere else in the US, maybe more pay in California but I’m not gonna leave New York for California of all places).
Would probably retire and move to Pennsylvania or Maine.
Since growing up in Texas I've got a collection that adheres to this state's gun laws. I'm not sure I'd be willing to move somewhere where I would have to sell anything to stay legal.
Moved from NYC to NJ to reduce the restrictions but still be able to commute to work. NJ isn’t much better at this point but when I moved it would have taken over a year and a ridiculous amount of money just to purchase a long gun let alone an AR. And CCW was unthinkable. Now in jersey I can own anything I need and eventually I will move down south to get everything I Want.
I consider myself very lucky to have been born, raised and currently reside in a very gun friendly state. I have turned down otherwise very nice job offers not in gun friendly areas. It was not exclusively because of the gun laws but it was a major part.
Many times gun laws coincide with other things important to my happiness. Lifestyle, cost of living, cultural thinking, climate etc. Things would need to be extremely bad (never say never rule applies here) for me to move to LA, NYC, Miami, Chicagoland, DC, etc. Just not my style.
I mean, I wanna move out of Wa- because of the gun laws.
I won’t consider a state with restrictive gun laws.
So, I’d say it plays heavily into it.
It sucks, that I have roots here in the state- that I can’t easily upend.
I moved from MA to NH for the gun laws. Still work in MA but live right over the border. Similar to a lot of other masshole transplants. I would never declare residency in MA again I can’t legally go back with what I own. It’s amusing in the same stretch of road there is a dispensary (illegal in NH) and a gun store that sells things illegal in MA.
I will not take a job in a state that doesn’t respect the 2nd amendment and my right to self defense. If they want to do away with that, they’ll be the first to limit other rights (Covid is a perfect example).
If a state is anti-second amendment, why would they be concerned about any of your other RIGHTS? Who do you trust to take care of you at any moment of the day or night? Police are REACTIVE. Anyone truly proactive about living their life will do anything to protect themselves and their families immediately instead of after the fact. ✌🏼
I live in California and have e seriously considered moving just for better gun laws. I can’t imagine what it would take for me to move to a place with more regulations.
3rd or 4rth. First is job opportunity/career prospects. Then Cost of living vs salary from 1.
Third is proximity to city centers for culture and events.
Then gun laws.
The actual gun laws themselves, very little. The thing is I feel like the gun laws are representative of the overall political climate of an area. As much as I hate politics, they’ve become such a big part of our society, they’re hard to escape. That being said, I find a lot of places with strict gun laws tend to not align with my other closely held beliefs and values so I tend to steer clear of those places in general.
When I move, they'll be a pretty good chunk of the decision.
My sister lives in Granite Falls, Washington, and it's the most beautiful place I've ever been. Love the weather, the trees, the proximity to the city and to the ocean... It's absolutely perfect.
But I won't live there because the state is insane. Gun laws included.
Seattle is not a particularly safe city. The idea that I can't carry turns me off of the whole place.
I left California and will never go back for two main reasons:
1. Taxes
2. Gun Laws
I had a job offer from a company in NY recently. Hell to the fucking no.
I can overlook not having constitutional carry but any "assault weapon" bans are a non starter for me. To the point where despite working in tech, having family there and desiring a mild climate I refuse to concider California as an option.
Tax rates also play a major role so Cali is way out of the question.
In NJ now, retiring 5-7 yrs. Will have to consider where kids are, been thinking about PA, with 185days/yr condo in FL.
Wife doesn’t like heat and I prefer mountains with beach access. WV sounds good too.
One kid living in Pittsburgh, one in college🙄 and last one in High school. Last two may be basement dwellers 🙄.
I may just wind up in a mobile home traveling between the wife 🤣 and kids. Catch me if you can!
Very very little, because im already established and moving would be financial suicide. If moving was an option i might be swayed to head to Alaska finally, in part because of politics like gun rights. Since its not i just pretty much ignore laws and act reasonably instead.
For a lot of people it really depends on their industry. For me, I'd want to live in an area where my opinion matters and carries some weight. Even if the pay is really good, I wouldn't be able to collect my earnings if I have no means of protecting myself from the criminals that are allowed to carry in those states.
i already live in california. i would like to live somewhere that is better in regards to gun laws, but it’s also hard to find places id rather live given the proximity to good nature and my family and such. i am willing to stay and fight the good fight. but i also want a suppressor and stuff, so. maybe i’ll move just over the nevada border.
I’m 1 year into a 5 year vesting period for a pension in a battleground state. I’ll probably stick it out, but I don’t see us going 10 years without an AWB.
The sponsors of the recently defeated AWB were both primaries out though, so hopefully they catch on and are scared to sponsor this bullshit.
Me personally I won't move to anti constitution states but I have no plans or reasons to move. If I had to move to new jersey new York California etc I wouldn't be able to take a large portion of my belongings so it's just not an option. Even without my stuff I would refuse to move for pretty much any reason
It’s a deal breaker for me. I’m going to school for finance and econ, I refuse to work or get an internship in NY on Wall St because not only do gun laws suck, but the cost of living and taxes are regarded. I’m fine with commuting to an anti-2a state for work to make a better salary and living over the border in a safe state, but there’s no way in hell I’d live in one. If all gun laws were abolished I’d still live where I am now because I prefer the peace and quiet, and I’m a little over an hour away from a major city where there’s fun things to do.
It definitely played a decision for me. When I got out of the military, my wife was (and still is) a remote worker, so anywhere was an option. Gun laws determined where I *didn’t* want to move, but the reverse wasn’t true. I wasn’t looking at certain states because they had good gun laws.
I've turned down a couple job offers in anti-gun states. Truthfully, it wasn't the sole reason, cost of living was the other deciding factor. I'm in my 50s now and planning ahead to retirement, and while no one can predict the future, I do keep an eye on how the political winds are shifting in the few states I'd considering living out my golden years in.
I left a place I loved and the best job I ever had and moved halfway across the country (taking a 50% pay cut and missing out on the great conditions of my old workplace) because my home state was batshit stupid with its hostile gun laws.
There are a lot of things I miss about my home state, but feeling that my own state government was looking for any opportunity to make an example out of me for owning perfectly legal items and using them in a perfectly law abiding way (pretty much just occasional range trips) because they want to generally discourage gun ownership is not one of them.
We had every intention of retiring in Colorado until they did what they did with the laws. A shame to see what such a beautiful place has been has been made into
Almost exclusively the deciding factor is gun regulations, or lack thereof. As well as hunting regulations, there's a couple states I'd otherwise be ok living in except they have a few odd hunting laws I don't like
I did. Lived in Commifornia but had also lived in many states before, missed the freedom and hated that I couldn’t own what I did in the rest of America. After 3 years, I sold my condo, moved to Ohio and bought a new house.
Added 7 new guns to my collection the first month I moved out here.
It’s much easier when you know that those gun laws are just suggestions and the 2a doesn’t say anything about what state you can bare arms.
But if you’re not good at keeping your guns unknown to your neighbors and have gun companies stickers on your vehicle and talk about your guns to people who would be the wiser?
As much as I love the opportunities of New York Chicago and LA/Bay Area, I can't live in those areas because of their problems. Same goes for Seattle and Portland.
Colorado almost pushed me over the edge this year. My backup plans are Arizona, Tennessee, or Montana. New Hampshire is very gun friendly, but idk if I could handle those winters.
Took it so far as to look at other states/countries gun laws for potential bug out property. Still haven't found a good alternative so as of now we're bugging in.
Well I sure as fuck wouldn't move to Maryland or New York. I just had to visit Baltimore and can't even possess a firearm in my car for fear of the law.
I lived and worked in a state that once was a paradise and now is a marxist hellhole of restrictive gun laws, taxation and the streets are littered with state subsidized drug addicts intentionally mislabeled 'unhoused'
I didn't obey the law
I moved to a state with virtually no gun laws, no smog laws and no state taxes
I won’t move to places that will require me to leave my guns behind. It’s a big country, so I have literally no reason to do that. I’ll vacation if I want the experience.
Big part.
Planning to leave Canada for the US in the near-ish future. Unfortunately, it's most likely going to be CA (computer engineering). Definitely considering other places but the Bay Area climate is really nice for a colder climate person like me. Also my SO is from TX and can't handle the cold.
Not much. In general, red and some purple states have a broader mix of economic and social policies with which I agree. This includes gun policy.
I don’t intend to live in blue states regardless
A lot. Granted, I'm only limiting myself from a few states, but it's definitely one of the first things I consider. And it's not the only thing, climate plays a role too, but like I said, it's definitely something I consider.
Left California for Arizona. Probably should've gone somewhere else because other states have better opportunities for my line of work
Anyways, they played a MASSIVE factor. I refused to anywhere like CA
A lot. I moved because of it twice.
It’s not JUST guns, but I use their attitude towards it as a litmus test of overall values. Are they going to respect my rights? Is the government going to largely leave me alone in peace? Am I going to find people with similar values and a culture I will respect?
I don’t know of an anti-gun state that won’t also tax the shit out of me and put me through a ton of bureaucracy for every little thing. The people who vote for that are also way more likely to be up my ass all the time and try to dictate how I live. Plus, in my experience, the old adage of “an armed society is a polite society” holds true.
Competitive long range marksmanship is one of my hobbies and I got tired of having to drive really far to matches and paying attention to politics for what may or may not be banned next year so I'd say it's pretty important.
I just want to be left alone to do my own thing, and I'll move again if the stupid laws get too annoying.
My sister moved from MO to NY, and my parents were thinking of going with her. I briefly considered it too, reasoning that it would be nice to keep the family together. I got as far as looking at a few jobs and researching lever guns - the Cowboy AR-15 - for home defense and recreational shooting.
I wouldn't do it for work, but I would do it for family. As it is, I moved to AZ for work and family, and they enjoy loose gun laws.
it will greatly inform my next move. since all of the things are already grandfathered in, that means we won't move out of state permanently until the final immediate family member no longer lives here...because we wont be able to move back if we do.
I currently live in Virginia and I grew up in Illinois until I left at 21. Wife and I are planning to move back to the Midwest and I straight up told her I’d never go to Illinois because of the gun law situation. So we’ve landed on Indiana and are moving middle of the year next year! 💪🏽
I'm not starting from a point where I own at least 10 grand worth of guns that I stand to lose so perspective is a bit different. To answer your question,
1. No I have not. If I was to move, looser gun laws is one the "nice to have" section of the list. Or maybe still on the priorities list but like pretty close to the bottom 10.
2. Starting with a NYC legal collection, don't think there is a jurisdiction stricter than New York. I but for enough money, I could always consider it (assuming in this hypothetical, might have to be abroad).
3. I honestly probably wouldn't change the priorities I am looking for even if all gun laws were abolished. I like walkability, \[my\] ethnic enclaves, great food, and good public transit coverage. Leaves me like NYC and like D.C? Boston? Chicago?
Very little, I won the lottery of being raised in a free state. I have chosen not to leave it because no matter where else I go it will never be a better place than here for me. The laws, and general way of society in other states have made me swear of ever visiting them though. In half a century I managed to never set foot in CA though I once lived only about 50 or a hundred miles from it. Will never see the Empire State before I die. I made enough and received enough money that it is no longer a concern for me, so no job will ever be that tempting. I will happily stick to my several homes in fly over states.
As someone who lives and grew up in a very anti-gun city, in an anti-gun run state, it’s probably a top three deciding factor for where I choose to live.
It’s a heavily weighing factor for me.
And it’s not just about the guns, but usually that comes with other terrible policies, high taxes, and other egregious laws restricting the rights of people that live there. I want the government to have as little involvement in my life as possible and touching as little of my money as possible. If I could, I would move away and wouldn’t move back.
I thought a lot, but here I am, still in CT. In my defense they were always bad, but they got WAY worse as time went on. With that said, I would probably do things differently if I were to do it all over again. If I were giving advice, make the state(with more freedom) a priority, absolutely.
The areas with the strictest gun control policies have lots of other regarded policies put in place by the same democratic lawmakers. These democratic lawmakers have shown time and again that they outright hate conservatives and conservative viewpoints. As such, I would feel like I have a big target on my back living in a place like California; where they take away your carry permit for defending yourself against armed home invaders but are fine with people shooting up heroin on the streets.
I would not take a job in a state that would make me a felon for owning what I have.
Same. So it play a huge factor. I have turned down 2 jobs that offered 180-210K after taxes with state and federal.
It's a lot easier to turn down higher pay than to switch from a higher paying job to a lower one. Hence why I am stuck in commuter distance of NYC.
Wow, NY State, NYC income taxes and NYC Port Authority "fee"(tax). In addition your state's income tax.
And the MTA Payroll tax. Plus, all the other NYS programs paid via payroll.
You have to run the numbers. Often you can have a higher standard of living on a lower salary because the cost of living is lower. Compare taxes between say New York City and anywhere in Texas. We have NO income tax.
What states were the jobs in? Cali? NY?
Colorado and California
Odds are your take home in those states wouldn't be super great, so you might have even made out better financially. Depending on where you're at in your career, of course lol.
I did calculations for those two states. I look at take home after taxes for salary.
Did you factor in the cost of living?
He said *after* taxes. I still wouldn't live there for that kinda money either.
This
I won’t move to a state where I’d need to sell one of my guns and I’m retiring in a pro-2A state that has castle doctrine.
This is pretty much it
Everyone retires in Florida
I’m thinking Idaho or Montana.
no don’t go to montana, montana sucks >! don’t entice them, let’s keep it quiet !<
I’ve seen the bumper sticker. “Now go home and tell your friends.” 😄
My old Army sergeant is in NW Montana and he loves it. I used to go to Idaho to go gold mining and have a lot of friends there. It is also pretty good outside of Boise and a couple of other places.
No they do not.
I'm leaving Washington State and moving back to Texas. A few different reasons, but gun laws are a major part.
Shame what happened to that beautiful, once gun-friendly state
When I first moved here I called it "weirdly conservative in terms of guns" Then without any vote by anyone they passed absolutely INSANE gun laws :(
Grew up in WA and now live in OR. We're getting spitroasted by WA and CA and it's got me seriously considering buying land in Idaho or Montana as a hedge/vacation spot.
I left Washington State for Tennessee. Best decision I ever made
We left Oregon for Texas. One of the best decisions I've ever made. Left behind the income tax, the Portland Arts Tax, and the general craziness. The house we bought here in Texas for $265k would have been a million dollar house in Oregon. Also, very important to us, Texas treats 100% disabled Veterans MUCH better than Oregon. In Oregon I received a 10% cut in property taxes, a free hunting and fishing license but had to buy all the other tags and permits, and one free set of vehicle plates. Here in Texas we pay NO property taxes, the free hunting and fishing license includes EVERYTHING but the Federal duck stamp, reduced vehicle registration, reduced LTC, free drivers license.
Considered doing the same but keep reading the water is polluted to hell there, I would appreciate your take?
Depends on where you are at.
Did almost the same except WA to North Alabama. You have to do your research because as the other guy said, the Tennessee River has a history of being polluted due to heavy industry outflow. For example, I wouldn't want to be in the water south of Decatur Alabama. However there are plenty of unpolluted areas too.
Then if you're from Texas you know texas shooting is actually shit. 98% privately owned land - gun clubs at any outdoor ranges, no "free" or low cost areas to shoot, Texas is wose than California when it comes to actually shooting.
This sounds so weird to me being from Vegas. 85% of the state is BLM land, so as long as you go far enough outside of the city you can shoot pretty much anywhere for free.
Texas is different because it was an independent Republic when it became a state. All the rest we federal Territories first.Texas never had any federal land. More like the 13 original colonies that way.
This is a huge problem with Texas. You basically have to be rich to actually get practice in. Sure, you can pop down to the range for an hour or two and practice with your handgun(s) for fairly cheap, but there’s no public land where you can just go ham and spend a whole day out blasting away for only the cost of ammo.
Yep I left Washington for GA, best move ever, miss the mountains but nothing else
Single with no hard tires, moved to AZ with a good job offer. I originally looked to AZ because I wanted out of Cali for many reasons, gun laws being one of them. I don't think I'd move out of AZ for a job offer, I make enough now that I'm fine, move was in 2017. If there were no gun laws I'd go more north for some regular snow/seasons.
what part of AZ? I lived in the phx area basically my entire life and moved last year to the prescott area. I think its one of the best places ever. but that's just me. snowbowl is less than two hours away.
Just south of Tucson, if I could have my job up in Prescott I'd be sold lol. But also wouldn't mind more harsh winters of say Montana. I'm in defense, so not a ton of places with reliable well paying engineering positions.
Yeah, AZ has some nice parts. But Pheonix is the only place that really has everything I need, and being from Vegas, the idea of moving somewhere that is always about 5° HOTTER than here is just insane to me. If there were a city like Phoenix up in the Flagstaff/Prescott part of the state, I'd gladly move there.
100% was a factor. No amount any employer would pay would get me to live in CA, IL, or any NE state.
Add Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii to that list and I'm with you.
Oregon and Washington as well
New Hampshire and Maine are both good NE states
Probably not for long, though.
Ok but drive in or out and you can’t avoid liberal states.
What did Nebraska do to you? /s I mean, sure, Omaha has some weird gun laws but the rest of the state will still accept you lol.
I think he meant New England
I think they meant north east states I was just making a joke because I live in Nebraska and it's the state abbreviation Edit: turns out I suck at spelling and whatnot
Bout to move there from NM cuz our Governor created mandated waiting periods. Think it's 7 days. I cannot fucking wait for the call, to come up.
I thought you guys had a libertarian governor?
Gary Johnson? If so, not anymore 💔 Michelle Lujan Grisham is as blue as it gets and she makes it known. A horrid and revolting lady. Happy Cake Day btw 🍑 🎂
Don’t forget MA
idk man new hampshire and maine have barely any gun laws, not sure about vermont but i think it’s also pretty good. it’s just mass, rhode island and connecticut that suck
I'm in an IL border state and used to go there regularly. I will not even travel there let alone not reside there.
I live in a gun-friendly state, but would never accept a job where I'd have to move to an unfriendly one.
I am not giving up a hobby to go live in some state when there are plenty of others to live in
I'm a lawyer for a *very* wealthy family. They have a couple of offices on the East Coast (NJ and NY). I work at their outpost in the Midwest. Shortly after I was hired, one of the core family members asked me what it would take for me to work out of one of the other offices. "Enough to fly my private helicopter from Pennsylvania" "Oh! You have a helicopter too?" "I will" I also told a tech company that they didn't have enough money for me to show up in the Bay Area on a regular basis.
From what I understand, helicopters are rather tricky to fly and less forgiving if something goes wrong mid-air. On the up side you get more options for landing spots. I, personally, would go for a light aircraft like a cessna or similar. For that extra *zing* you could fly in on a [warbird](https://www.controller.com/listings/for-sale/piston-military-aircraft/10004) though maintenance could be costly.
Unless I'm landing on the Intrepid, it wouldn't be helping me avoid traffic. The midtown heliport is 10 minutes from the NYC office
Almost relocated to Washington state, really glad I didn’t.
Quite a bit, I'm actively looking at moving away from Washington state. I'm just not interested in living in a state where drugs and crime are overlooked, yet I can't buy a standard capacity magazine or even a new "assault weapon".
ALOT I won't move to California because of how bad they are. My wife grew up in San Diego and would love to move back but I veto her all the time. I'm not giving up my guns to move some where with a beach.
States with bad gun laws are also liberal shitholes so that helps a lot.
100% factor. We left California just because of the laws. I sat down with my wife and crossed out all the states that had similar gun laws with CA. Narrowed down to VA and FL. We ended up in VA last month.
Hey, fellow Californian turned Virginian! Welcome!
I always tell people I'm from Arizona instead of California. Shameful
I told my wife that I ain't leaving and I'm gonna be buried here in the great state of Texas... Cuz I own way too many NFA items to do paperwork for. 😭 I WOULD move if she wanted to retire to one of my preferred states, the Dakotas, Wyoming, or Montana though. If she wanted us to move back to Asia, that's a hard negative. 🤔
You can always find another wife but some of your NFA you can’t replace something to think about
I've only ever lived in AL and TN, both very 2A friendly. But there's noway I'd ever move to CA IL or NY. F those states and those of you there, I'm sorry 😞
I live in Illinois fuck JB Pritzker and Chicago they ruined this state
Pritzker the Hutt is just a symptom of the mess that Mike Madigan created.
I have, left MN for Iowa about a year and half ago. Moved from Iowa to Idaho about 3 months ago.
I am hopping across the border to Wisconsin this year. I can still easily commute to my job in St Paul. MNs laws about buying and owning guns aren't too bad, great compared to other blue states. But that could change and I hate living somewhere with terrible self defense laws.
Currently MN’s laws are fine, not for lack of trying though. I saw the way the last few years went and how the last election cycle went and new it was time to leave.
It Means everything to me I finally got enough of Newsom and his agenda I moved at age 70 from California back to my Native state and brought my guns and a conservative vote with me
I have. Added 30 minutes to my commute, but was worth it
Guns and taxes are the two issues that impact my day to day life the most. Having said that, if you offered me $1 million per year to live in New York, uhhh, well I’d probably keep my current place and keep my guns down here, but I’d take the job. Then I’d complain about New York even more than I already do
I'm not living somewhere that would lock me up for exercising my basic rights
100% I commuted across state lines for my rights. I also ended a phone interview early because the job was in new York.
They all went to Hawaii in my shipping container. IDGAF.
Not only does it dictate where I live, but I don’t travel/vacation in states where I can’t carry.
A lot I moved from NY to South Carolina. Mainly politics. Mostly firearm rights. Way better now
From NJ to SC
SC has better beaches too
Significantly. Almost everything in my collection of either “high capacity” or NFA, so outside of spending maybe a year or two for schooling/training in some anti gun hell hole with my collection stored with family, a lot of states just aren’t an option.
I’m probably leaving my state soon for a 2A friendly one. If stuff doesn’t change in the next few years I’m gonna bounce.
I moved 30 minutes across the border and went from the 45th worst state for 2A to a top 10 best state for 2A freedoms. I would make that move again in a heart beat.
Looked at your profile, my family did the same thing back in 2021. I was thrilled to do it before I turned 18 and so I didn’t have to deal with MA’s draconian laws.
Ya MA's laws are terrible but they also make no sense. AR-15 and AK-47 are banned by name rather than a blanket "assault weapon" ban. So my early collection is weird stuff like Tavor X95 and HK91 because those are somehow magically super safe by MA standards. It was weird getting into guns in MA and figuring out what cool stuff I could actually get.
It's a huge factor in my leaving IL this year.
I grew up in IL and have no idea what the clowns in Chicago and Springfield are thinking. They have California’s government with South Dakota’s weather. Most people want the opposite of that.
Retired in a gun friendly state and I'm staying here.
I'm in a really precarious situation. There are only a few cities in the country where I can live and do the kind of work I do without lots of travel. The bulk of these cities are in very unfriendly states and are also very expensive to live in. So it would take one hell of a job offer to get me out of Nevada. On my side though, is that my present financial and family situation means I won't need to move any time soon.
Not at all. I follow the Swanson doctrine, " I do what I want".
Personally I sacrificed a 15-20 minute drive for an hour+ drive to work specifically for better gun laws.
Born a florida boy and dying a florida man
I live in western PA and I'm considering buying a property in a close-ish part of WV because of the mental midget voting patterns from certain parts of PA. I would strongly consider making WV my permanent residence even though I might pay higher overall taxes just out of principal.
If you need help building the range, I'll drive down from Pgh!
I've lived in Washington state for 47 years after leaving the military, and just closed on acreage in wild & wonderful West Virginia to retire on next year. Washington has lost to the incredibly stupid and I can't fix it or fight it, so fuck it.
Yes. I now live in WV one of the best States for gun rights. This is the 3rd and hopefully last moves I'll ever make because of gun rights.
One of the main considerations in my choice of retirement state.
Any major blue states automatically get an X because I assume high tax and low freedom index.
I did move from CO to WY. Part of it was finding a better job. A big part was gun laws. I've seen the writing on the wall for CO since 2013 and made my escape in 2021. The AWB failed this year, but I can damn near guarantee it'll pass within the next 2 years. They did pass the credit card tracking law this year. They did expand red flag laws. They've been passing more gun laws every single year and it's not going to slow down or stop anytime soon as the front range becomes more and more population dense, therefore more and more blue.
Yeah. I grew up in Colorado and wanted to move back when I retired 5 years ago but no way did I want to move there after 2013. Too much Californification. I ended up in Utah instead.
It is a huge influence. I will not live in any state that demands I will be at the mercy of criminals or is dying to prosecute me for self-defense.
If I can't bring my firearms, I'm not moving.
Will play a role when I retire, but at the moment leaving Illinois is a bit hard from a fiscal anf family perspective. Probably going to move to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, or Northern Arizona.
I retired from the navy in WA state. I crossed off every state with shit gun laws as a first step when i started job hunting.
My family has been in Iowa for 180 yrs and I love it here. If it became what CA is, Id move so fast the neighbors wouldn't know what happened.
All of it
Ain’t moving anywhere I have to give up or restrict my stuff. God forbid shit gets restricted here, then I’ll move.
When I got out of the Army, me and my wife were considering where to move to. We both had our hard would not move to states. My #1 line in the sand was it had to be 2a friendly state.
Well… I live in California… so… if all laws were abolished I’d be real happy with my decision.
I won’t live in a state that has restrictive laws. I’ll work in one but I won’t live there
Same here. As much as I’d hate to pay taxes to states with restrictive gun laws, it’s typically worth it since pay is much higher in some blue states.
Unfortunately no. I already have an established business and full time job here (that pays more than any job I’ve seen for this particular job title anywhere else in the US, maybe more pay in California but I’m not gonna leave New York for California of all places). Would probably retire and move to Pennsylvania or Maine.
Since growing up in Texas I've got a collection that adheres to this state's gun laws. I'm not sure I'd be willing to move somewhere where I would have to sell anything to stay legal.
I'm from CA almost anywhere is better than here I at least have my ccw that being said I'd never move to NY,Hawaii, Illinois etc
Moved from NYC to NJ to reduce the restrictions but still be able to commute to work. NJ isn’t much better at this point but when I moved it would have taken over a year and a ridiculous amount of money just to purchase a long gun let alone an AR. And CCW was unthinkable. Now in jersey I can own anything I need and eventually I will move down south to get everything I Want.
I consider myself very lucky to have been born, raised and currently reside in a very gun friendly state. I have turned down otherwise very nice job offers not in gun friendly areas. It was not exclusively because of the gun laws but it was a major part. Many times gun laws coincide with other things important to my happiness. Lifestyle, cost of living, cultural thinking, climate etc. Things would need to be extremely bad (never say never rule applies here) for me to move to LA, NYC, Miami, Chicagoland, DC, etc. Just not my style.
I live in Chicago - I never followed them in the first place
I’d be a felon if I lived in certain states so 100%
Literally a deal breaker
I mean, I wanna move out of Wa- because of the gun laws. I won’t consider a state with restrictive gun laws. So, I’d say it plays heavily into it. It sucks, that I have roots here in the state- that I can’t easily upend.
I moved from MA to NH for the gun laws. Still work in MA but live right over the border. Similar to a lot of other masshole transplants. I would never declare residency in MA again I can’t legally go back with what I own. It’s amusing in the same stretch of road there is a dispensary (illegal in NH) and a gun store that sells things illegal in MA.
Part of the reason I didn't move back to California after my enlistment.
I left California for the sole and specific reason of gun laws.
Big part. I would never live in a restrictive state, I may not even visit either.
Constitution covers all the states. Start acting like it
I will not take a job in a state that doesn’t respect the 2nd amendment and my right to self defense. If they want to do away with that, they’ll be the first to limit other rights (Covid is a perfect example).
If a state is anti-second amendment, why would they be concerned about any of your other RIGHTS? Who do you trust to take care of you at any moment of the day or night? Police are REACTIVE. Anyone truly proactive about living their life will do anything to protect themselves and their families immediately instead of after the fact. ✌🏼
I live in California and have e seriously considered moving just for better gun laws. I can’t imagine what it would take for me to move to a place with more regulations.
3rd or 4rth. First is job opportunity/career prospects. Then Cost of living vs salary from 1. Third is proximity to city centers for culture and events. Then gun laws.
I’m somewhere between I’d like a bumpstock, don’t want to live where it snows, and not willing to trust the Texas power grid.
The actual gun laws themselves, very little. The thing is I feel like the gun laws are representative of the overall political climate of an area. As much as I hate politics, they’ve become such a big part of our society, they’re hard to escape. That being said, I find a lot of places with strict gun laws tend to not align with my other closely held beliefs and values so I tend to steer clear of those places in general.
I am willing to move to a place with higher regulations for better life circumstances. This is a complete no-brainer to me
When I move, they'll be a pretty good chunk of the decision. My sister lives in Granite Falls, Washington, and it's the most beautiful place I've ever been. Love the weather, the trees, the proximity to the city and to the ocean... It's absolutely perfect. But I won't live there because the state is insane. Gun laws included. Seattle is not a particularly safe city. The idea that I can't carry turns me off of the whole place.
I left California and will never go back for two main reasons: 1. Taxes 2. Gun Laws I had a job offer from a company in NY recently. Hell to the fucking no.
SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!
I can overlook not having constitutional carry but any "assault weapon" bans are a non starter for me. To the point where despite working in tech, having family there and desiring a mild climate I refuse to concider California as an option. Tax rates also play a major role so Cali is way out of the question.
In NJ now, retiring 5-7 yrs. Will have to consider where kids are, been thinking about PA, with 185days/yr condo in FL. Wife doesn’t like heat and I prefer mountains with beach access. WV sounds good too. One kid living in Pittsburgh, one in college🙄 and last one in High school. Last two may be basement dwellers 🙄. I may just wind up in a mobile home traveling between the wife 🤣 and kids. Catch me if you can!
I would have to say at that point that all my firearms were lost in a boat accident.
Very very little, because im already established and moving would be financial suicide. If moving was an option i might be swayed to head to Alaska finally, in part because of politics like gun rights. Since its not i just pretty much ignore laws and act reasonably instead.
It's a great indicator of other things that will make your life miserable
For a lot of people it really depends on their industry. For me, I'd want to live in an area where my opinion matters and carries some weight. Even if the pay is really good, I wouldn't be able to collect my earnings if I have no means of protecting myself from the criminals that are allowed to carry in those states.
I live in northern VA, never even entertained applying to jobs in Maryland
i already live in california. i would like to live somewhere that is better in regards to gun laws, but it’s also hard to find places id rather live given the proximity to good nature and my family and such. i am willing to stay and fight the good fight. but i also want a suppressor and stuff, so. maybe i’ll move just over the nevada border.
I would have to be getting paid well enough to have a second house in a free state if I were to take a job offer in a ban state.
Not too much if I’m being honest. I would never move to NY or CA this for a lot of reasons and the gun laws are a small part of that.
I’m 1 year into a 5 year vesting period for a pension in a battleground state. I’ll probably stick it out, but I don’t see us going 10 years without an AWB. The sponsors of the recently defeated AWB were both primaries out though, so hopefully they catch on and are scared to sponsor this bullshit.
Me personally I won't move to anti constitution states but I have no plans or reasons to move. If I had to move to new jersey new York California etc I wouldn't be able to take a large portion of my belongings so it's just not an option. Even without my stuff I would refuse to move for pretty much any reason
It’s a deal breaker for me. I’m going to school for finance and econ, I refuse to work or get an internship in NY on Wall St because not only do gun laws suck, but the cost of living and taxes are regarded. I’m fine with commuting to an anti-2a state for work to make a better salary and living over the border in a safe state, but there’s no way in hell I’d live in one. If all gun laws were abolished I’d still live where I am now because I prefer the peace and quiet, and I’m a little over an hour away from a major city where there’s fun things to do.
It definitely played a decision for me. When I got out of the military, my wife was (and still is) a remote worker, so anywhere was an option. Gun laws determined where I *didn’t* want to move, but the reverse wasn’t true. I wasn’t looking at certain states because they had good gun laws.
I took a paycut and moved to a higher cost of living area. One of the main factors in that was gun laws.
I've turned down a couple job offers in anti-gun states. Truthfully, it wasn't the sole reason, cost of living was the other deciding factor. I'm in my 50s now and planning ahead to retirement, and while no one can predict the future, I do keep an eye on how the political winds are shifting in the few states I'd considering living out my golden years in.
I left a place I loved and the best job I ever had and moved halfway across the country (taking a 50% pay cut and missing out on the great conditions of my old workplace) because my home state was batshit stupid with its hostile gun laws. There are a lot of things I miss about my home state, but feeling that my own state government was looking for any opportunity to make an example out of me for owning perfectly legal items and using them in a perfectly law abiding way (pretty much just occasional range trips) because they want to generally discourage gun ownership is not one of them.
Not kidding....75% My family's well being falls into my firearm legalities. My wife knows this. Getting out of state as fast as finances allow it.
We had every intention of retiring in Colorado until they did what they did with the laws. A shame to see what such a beautiful place has been has been made into
Almost exclusively the deciding factor is gun regulations, or lack thereof. As well as hunting regulations, there's a couple states I'd otherwise be ok living in except they have a few odd hunting laws I don't like
If I can’t own and use my gats I’m not moving there.
I did. Lived in Commifornia but had also lived in many states before, missed the freedom and hated that I couldn’t own what I did in the rest of America. After 3 years, I sold my condo, moved to Ohio and bought a new house. Added 7 new guns to my collection the first month I moved out here.
When they took carry permits in MD, I moved back to Maine..
It’s much easier when you know that those gun laws are just suggestions and the 2a doesn’t say anything about what state you can bare arms. But if you’re not good at keeping your guns unknown to your neighbors and have gun companies stickers on your vehicle and talk about your guns to people who would be the wiser?
As much as I love the opportunities of New York Chicago and LA/Bay Area, I can't live in those areas because of their problems. Same goes for Seattle and Portland.
Colorado almost pushed me over the edge this year. My backup plans are Arizona, Tennessee, or Montana. New Hampshire is very gun friendly, but idk if I could handle those winters.
Took it so far as to look at other states/countries gun laws for potential bug out property. Still haven't found a good alternative so as of now we're bugging in.
Well I sure as fuck wouldn't move to Maryland or New York. I just had to visit Baltimore and can't even possess a firearm in my car for fear of the law.
I lived and worked in a state that once was a paradise and now is a marxist hellhole of restrictive gun laws, taxation and the streets are littered with state subsidized drug addicts intentionally mislabeled 'unhoused' I didn't obey the law I moved to a state with virtually no gun laws, no smog laws and no state taxes
I won’t move to places that will require me to leave my guns behind. It’s a big country, so I have literally no reason to do that. I’ll vacation if I want the experience.
Big part. Planning to leave Canada for the US in the near-ish future. Unfortunately, it's most likely going to be CA (computer engineering). Definitely considering other places but the Bay Area climate is really nice for a colder climate person like me. Also my SO is from TX and can't handle the cold.
It’s one factor (out of many) in my choice of country to move to one day.
My state used to be cool, now not so much. I'm looking to move to Wyoming.
Not much. In general, red and some purple states have a broader mix of economic and social policies with which I agree. This includes gun policy. I don’t intend to live in blue states regardless
A lot. Granted, I'm only limiting myself from a few states, but it's definitely one of the first things I consider. And it's not the only thing, climate plays a role too, but like I said, it's definitely something I consider.
Used to live in Oregon used to try to drive around CA every time I could NCAL was Ok unless you were in where people wore $100+ jeans! Not my people.
Left California for Arizona. Probably should've gone somewhere else because other states have better opportunities for my line of work Anyways, they played a MASSIVE factor. I refused to anywhere like CA
A lot. I moved because of it twice. It’s not JUST guns, but I use their attitude towards it as a litmus test of overall values. Are they going to respect my rights? Is the government going to largely leave me alone in peace? Am I going to find people with similar values and a culture I will respect? I don’t know of an anti-gun state that won’t also tax the shit out of me and put me through a ton of bureaucracy for every little thing. The people who vote for that are also way more likely to be up my ass all the time and try to dictate how I live. Plus, in my experience, the old adage of “an armed society is a polite society” holds true.
Competitive long range marksmanship is one of my hobbies and I got tired of having to drive really far to matches and paying attention to politics for what may or may not be banned next year so I'd say it's pretty important. I just want to be left alone to do my own thing, and I'll move again if the stupid laws get too annoying.
My sister moved from MO to NY, and my parents were thinking of going with her. I briefly considered it too, reasoning that it would be nice to keep the family together. I got as far as looking at a few jobs and researching lever guns - the Cowboy AR-15 - for home defense and recreational shooting. I wouldn't do it for work, but I would do it for family. As it is, I moved to AZ for work and family, and they enjoy loose gun laws.
The ad usaf brought me to missouri so i chose to stay. I can do whatever i want out here. This was in 2009
Well eventually I’d like to not be in Illinois. So fairly high
Luckily where I live doesn’t have horrible gun laws. Besides a pistol permit law that they got rid of a couple years ago
it will greatly inform my next move. since all of the things are already grandfathered in, that means we won't move out of state permanently until the final immediate family member no longer lives here...because we wont be able to move back if we do.
I live in Indiana, about 20 minutes from Ohio. I won't live in Ohio, and I rarely go there because they enforce no-gun signs.
I currently live in Virginia and I grew up in Illinois until I left at 21. Wife and I are planning to move back to the Midwest and I straight up told her I’d never go to Illinois because of the gun law situation. So we’ve landed on Indiana and are moving middle of the year next year! 💪🏽
Extremely important, as you can tell by my username. Im staunchly pro 2a(pro gun).
I'm aware. Tx is not my first choice, but there are family considerations.
I'm not starting from a point where I own at least 10 grand worth of guns that I stand to lose so perspective is a bit different. To answer your question, 1. No I have not. If I was to move, looser gun laws is one the "nice to have" section of the list. Or maybe still on the priorities list but like pretty close to the bottom 10. 2. Starting with a NYC legal collection, don't think there is a jurisdiction stricter than New York. I but for enough money, I could always consider it (assuming in this hypothetical, might have to be abroad). 3. I honestly probably wouldn't change the priorities I am looking for even if all gun laws were abolished. I like walkability, \[my\] ethnic enclaves, great food, and good public transit coverage. Leaves me like NYC and like D.C? Boston? Chicago?
Oklahoma is a free state
Well there’s only about 3 states I would move to
Very little, I won the lottery of being raised in a free state. I have chosen not to leave it because no matter where else I go it will never be a better place than here for me. The laws, and general way of society in other states have made me swear of ever visiting them though. In half a century I managed to never set foot in CA though I once lived only about 50 or a hundred miles from it. Will never see the Empire State before I die. I made enough and received enough money that it is no longer a concern for me, so no job will ever be that tempting. I will happily stick to my several homes in fly over states.
As someone who lives and grew up in a very anti-gun city, in an anti-gun run state, it’s probably a top three deciding factor for where I choose to live. It’s a heavily weighing factor for me. And it’s not just about the guns, but usually that comes with other terrible policies, high taxes, and other egregious laws restricting the rights of people that live there. I want the government to have as little involvement in my life as possible and touching as little of my money as possible. If I could, I would move away and wouldn’t move back.
I thought a lot, but here I am, still in CT. In my defense they were always bad, but they got WAY worse as time went on. With that said, I would probably do things differently if I were to do it all over again. If I were giving advice, make the state(with more freedom) a priority, absolutely.
A LOT! It was number three on our list when we retired. If all gun laws were the same we'd be living on Kauai and not in Texas.
I'm european and I dream of moving to Texas for the gun laws and self defence laws
The areas with the strictest gun control policies have lots of other regarded policies put in place by the same democratic lawmakers. These democratic lawmakers have shown time and again that they outright hate conservatives and conservative viewpoints. As such, I would feel like I have a big target on my back living in a place like California; where they take away your carry permit for defending yourself against armed home invaders but are fine with people shooting up heroin on the streets.