To All Mass Residents Thinking of Leaving

[tk421991]

Anyone in RI? What is the gun climate like there, especially down along the coast?

What do you want to know? I'm posting from RI right now and I was a resident of RI for 23 out of my 24 years.

Rhode Island is not New Hampshire. There isn't the "Live Free or Die" thing (mostly because RI's Revolutionary War history was... interesting). Consequently RI does not cater to libertarians. Nor does it have issues that stem from libertarians.

RI gun laws, on the books, are straight forward. No suppressors, SBRs or SBSs or full auto. Town carry permits are shall issue. However the town police chiefs who are supposed issue the permits can decide "no" for whatever reason they want. For example, the town in RI I lived in before I moved to NH has an application that requires a non-existent mental health exam and requires you to allow them access to basically every single facet of information about your life. I talked to a former Attorney General about this and he said it is utter crap. Problem was I had one of two options: A) Spend $10,000+ on a lawsuit after the RI gun rights group who volunteered to help me decided to ban me or B) take my money and run. I chose B.

In South County (Washington County), you wouldn't have a problem like I did unless you were to move to North Kingstown or South Kingstown. If you were to move to Tiverton, Little Compton, Jamestown, Charlestown, maybe Narragansett and Westerly, you'd be fine. You'd be very fine if you lived in Hopkinton, Foster, Scituate, Burrillville, North Smithfield, West Greenwich, etc. My dad lives in Tiverton - the state law requires permits to be issued in 90 days. My dad got his in 14.

Attorney General issued permits are may-issue. These are the "I carry large sums of money" permits or permits for work like a security guard (with company blessing). You have to prove a showing of need and AG permits were brought to court in around 2000ish. These are issued at the discretion of the Attorney General, who isn't a friend to gun rights in RI, but not as bad as Maura.

Gun "culture" in RI...

There are now two rental ranges in RI. Midstate Guns in Coventry (avoid Coventry for living in) and Sakonnet River Outfitters in Tiverton (Tiverton is nice). Most people shoot at gun clubs, like Mass. You're mostly going to be dealing with trap and skeet clubs with pistol and rifle ranges not making a lot of money and therefore not having the best facilities, with a few exceptions like Bradford, Tiverton and Wallum Lake. The "best" gun club is subjective obviously. I would recommend Bradford Sportsmen's Club (Charlestown), Narragansett Gun Club (Exeter), Tiverton Rod and Gun Club (Tiverton), Wallum Lake Rod and Gun Club (Burrillville) and East Warren Rod and Gun Club (Warren).

Wallum Lake has the best facilities in the state, no questions asked. They also hold the most events. They recently begun having 3-gun shoots and they have the biggest amount of area for the shotgun sports. They're well organized and they're active in 2A activism (talk to Gary). The two clubs that come close to WL are Bradford and Tiverton. I've shot at Bradford but I don't know enough about it personally to give you a run down. Tiverton would be great if you're not a skeet shooter and you live on Aquidneck Island or Tiverton or Little Compton and you want somewhere close to shoot.

Gun rights activism...

RI every year has anti bills and pro-gun bills showing up in the legislature. So you're going to have to be active and alert and work with your gun club or Federated Sportsmen or a state level gun rights group. RI is a great place to live as a gun owner once you get a carry permit from your town and if you like being active. If you want to be fat and happy, do not move to Rhode Island.

 

[Wildweasel]

we are looking at 2017 to move up to nh, wife and I have had it, family is no longer an issue to stay. as I work at Umass we are looking at winchester area, (south west in general) house prices don't look bad and taxes are around what we pay where we are now. and don't worry we will be R voting and freedom. the AG is the last screw in the coffin. we where going to move to Texas when I retire but we can't wait now.(and with the move to NH we will stay in retirement.)

Thanks for the info and thread.

 

[robjax]

Moving is probably the best solution. And NH seems like a good place to go. They have pretty good gun rights there for now. But if you were really hell bent on moving to where your gun rights are strongest you should move to Georgia or Alaska. (my apologies if there are others, those are the only two I know) Because those are the only two states that support the second amendment. Georgia made it a law and Alaska changed their state constitution.

As great as NH and ME are as compared to Mass if you are running to get your rights back and you go anywhere other than those two states you are still compromising your rights.

I know NH had a couple of gun control bills shot down. That's how it starts. It's good the bills were shot down but seemed like a lot of bills came to the floor after 2000. How much longer will NH be safe? I don't know.

It would be great if we were in trouble like we are now and instead of our pro-gun people moving out pro-gun people decided to move in and help us fight.

The NRA and GOAL and other pro gun organizations are great. But we can only win if we have the votes. So how do we get them? Well, to start we don't run somewhere else and latch on to their rights. Because pretty soon there won't be anywhere else to run. We need to get our message out and have that message carried into the voting booth to put like minded people in places where the laws can be changed.

If we don't this will spread across this country from here west and California to the east.

Only you can decide what is best for you and your families. If you stay and fight thank you. If you decide to move and be bullied and shoved around the country until you find a place that hasn't totally stripped your rights then I wish you luck.

But make sure you have a couple of other states to run to as back up plan for when your gun rights are challenged again.

 

[tk421991]

Moving is probably the best solution. And NH seems like a good place to go. They have pretty good gun rights there for now. But if you were really hell bent on moving to where your gun rights are strongest you should move to Georgia or Alaska. (my apologies if there are others, those are the only two I know) Because those are the only two states that support the second amendment. Georgia made it a law and Alaska changed their state constitution.

As great as NH and ME are as compared to Mass if you are running to get your rights back and you go anywhere other than those two states you are still compromising your rights.

I know NH had a couple of gun control bills shot down. That's how it starts. It's good the bills were shot down but seemed like a lot of bills came to the floor after 2000. How much longer will NH be safe? I don't know.

It would be great if we were in trouble like we are now and instead of our pro-gun people moving out pro-gun people decided to move in and help us fight.

The NRA and GOAL and other pro gun organizations are great. But we can only win if we have the votes. So how do we get them? Well, to start we don't run somewhere else and latch on to their rights. Because pretty soon there won't be anywhere else to run. We need to get our message out and have that message carried into the voting booth to put like minded people in places where the laws can be changed.

If we don't this will spread across this country from here west and California to the east.

Only you can decide what is best for you and your families. If you stay and fight thank you. If you decide to move and be bullied and shoved around the country until you find a place that hasn't totally stripped your rights then I wish you luck.

But make sure you have a couple of other states to run to as back up plan for when your gun rights are challenged again.

Georgia bans campus carry at colleges and if you look at the application process in Georgia for a permit, you don't get a sense that they're trying to help people have their civil rights. It seems to me more like you're being documented and hosed for cash.

Georgia also bans deer hunting with rifles in large swathes of land. I've been to Georgia on multiple occasions and I hated everything about it. YMMV.

http://www.georgiapacking.org/gfl1.php

 

[jtnf]

"Welcome to New Hampshire!"
"Now don't Mass it up!"

Seen on a T-shirt on a young woman Saturday during the rally.

 

[ISOTOX]

If you think moving will fix your immediate issue, Yes it will. If you think moving will fix the long term issue it will not. If the battle in Mass is not won it will spread. Slow in some surrounding states faster in others. But it will spread if not crushed in Mass. Opinions will vary.

 

[Cerfur]

My last day living in the state of Massachusetts is Aug15th. My wife was able to get a transfer to Portland Maine and I can be anywhere! Renting a house for the time being in will purchase in the spring!

Surprised no one else mentioned Maine....

 

[ISOTOX]

"Welcome to New Hampshire!"
"Now don't Mass it up!"

Seen on a T-shirt on a young woman Saturday during the rally.

The big mistake is often not standing together....Keep in mind you will not need Mass to mess it up. New Hampshire is about 49% Democrat at last polling..... Just saying.

 

[robjax]

Georgia bans campus carry at colleges and if you look at the application process in Georgia for a permit, you don't get a sense that they're trying to help people have their civil rights. It seems to me more like you're being documented and hosed for cash.

Georgia also bans deer hunting with rifles in large swathes of land. I've been to Georgia on multiple occasions and I hated everything about it. YMMV.

http://www.georgiapacking.org/gfl1.php

Ok...I stand corrected on GA. Thank you for that clarification.

 

[rep308]

My forefathers arrived in Massachusetts in 1621 (on the Fortune, not the Mayflower) and I have no intentions of going anywhere.

 

[StevieP]

Good timing on this thread.

I work in tech. As a remote worker I can work from anywhere there's fast Internet.

Wife's family has a summer cottage in SoNH, and as I sit here now there's a year-round home on the other side of the lake for sale. We met the realtor yesterday for a tour. It needs a garage and $75k worth of kitchen, bath, roofing, siding and windows.
The property taxes will be higher but with no income taxes it'd be a wash.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[NeverMiss]

Meh, Mass has better schools, better jobs, better pay, better property value ....and its only a matter of time until, well, you know....
(oh, and you don't need a stupid license to drive a boat )

 

[45collector]

Meh, Mass has better schools, better jobs, better pay, better property value ....and its only a matter of time until, well, you know....
(oh, and you don't need a stupid license to drive a boat )

You need a license to drive a boat in NH?

I had thought of moving to NH back when the Linsky/ Deleo bills were coming. I even went to a job interview for a position near Manchester. It didn't pan out and I'm glad it didn't because in these last two years a lot of things fell into place for me, really good things. Yes, our situation here sucks right now but I am going to stay and fight it. F*ck "voting with your feet". I love my home, my family, my friends etc... but I hate the politicians in my state. The chances of voting in people that will fight for our rights in the future are slim, but I don't care. I will stay right where I am and be a pain in all their asses.

 

[allen-1]

Wow, so to sum it up when your in MA you play by MA rules, no exceptions.

That's true for all states.
Not to be crass, but generally speaking the only exemptions carved out are for law enforcement and sometimes active duty service.

When you cross the border into a state, that state's laws apply.

 

[allen-1]

Georgia bans campus carry at colleges and if you look at the application process in Georgia for a permit, you don't get a sense that they're trying to help people have their civil rights. It seems to me more like you're being documented and hosed for cash.

Georgia also bans deer hunting with rifles in large swathes of land. I've been to Georgia on multiple occasions and I hated everything about it. YMMV.

http://www.georgiapacking.org/gfl1.php

Governor Deal vetoed campus carry this past May, we almost got it through. The application process was painless for me, it took six days for me to get my permit and cost $77.50, that's good for five years. I'll take your word about the deer hunting, I don't hunt. I moved there this past January, and after forty years in Connecticut, I absolutely love Georgia. They take their freedoms seriously.

 

[ColdDeadHands]

Looking at property in NH now, but plan on keeping my home in Mass as well. Ideally looking for a cabin with about ten acres and good/decent internet.

 

[SpencerT]

I've been pushing NH for a while, wife is open to it if we stay along the boarder area of middlesex (not sure what county that is in NH) I work in Nashua currently so I'd be saving $4k+ on income tax which would probably net me a little positive even with the higher property taxes.

Not in a position to move right now because I'm cleaning up some credit issues from when I was unemployed but we are thinking in the next 2 years or so, right now I have $90k in equity based on my appraisal from 2 years ago when I re mortgaged and market value in my town right now probably puts that closer to $115k and we are in the process of finishing the walk out basement which should increase buyer appeal.

 

[nhpoke]

New Hampshire is about 49% Democrat at last polling..... Just saying.

No it isn't. Of registered voters, as of April of this year there were 272k Democrat, 297k Republican, and 347k Undeclared. See http://sos.nh.gov/NamesHistory.aspx

You need a license to drive a boat in NH?

Yes. You have to take a test, it takes about 20 minutes (do study for it though) and then you are licensed for life.

 

[headednorth]

If you think moving will fix your immediate issue, Yes it will. If you think moving will fix the long term issue it will not. If the battle in Mass is not won it will spread. Slow in some surrounding states faster in others. But it will spread if not crushed in Mass. Opinions will vary.

One issue is that libs and non-libs look at things differently. Here we are as conservatives/libertarians/republicans (however you want to label the average NES member) talking about moving away to escape the bs. Meanwhile, libs move into states and work to turn them blue. There are entire organized movements on the left to turn TX into a blue state, just like they did to CO, OR and others. Libs purposely move to battleground states like OH, FL, PA to help change the state in their favor. The only movement thats comparable to that is the FSP. Other than that, libs are playing offense and we're leaving the playing field rather than playing defense.

 

[10thSFFD]

My forefathers arrived in Massachusetts in 1621 and I have no intentions of going anywhere.

^THIS

I have been moving all my life from a communist country to people friendlier socialist country than to yet another European half socialist country and finally to People's Republic of Massachusetts which was an absolute paradise compared to real "people's republics". This was my life.

To be honest with you, and this may sound weird, I WOULD NEVER DO IT AGAIN. Why?

Every time I moved I have lost everything. I would estimate that it took on average 5-10 years to get back to almost exact point where I was before I moved. Houses, cars, land. Everything was gone and I started again. When I arrived in Massachusetts, I thought I arrived in hell. That was my first impression. I was living in projects in Mattapan and when police saw me walking on the street they stopped, picked me up, and kindly recommended to me to never ever walk in that area again or get a car. That alone took 5 years. I was walking for everything, as I was used to from Europe. I have many stories to share but I will skip them for now. When I started working here, I was amazed. I was nobody, but I had 100% dental and 100% medical coverage, I had 401K, I had profit sharing, I had bonuses, company paid courses, .......And I was still nobody who barely spoke any English. It was an amazing adventure which I would never forget. Anyway, here comes the surprising history part:

My home country, formal communist stronghold, is now very conservative. People there can purchase any gun they want, and if Barry would show up on their television sets talking about "the workplace violence", his next performance would be on the circus stage as Bozo The Clown. The second European country I moved to next, is today shell of itself. It is being destroyed by irresponsible liberal idiots who want global mess to arrive there and they consider everything nice and stable as old and reactionary. And, here we have Maura and her start up empire. Maura is a soldier in the FSA. Maura is not a lone wolf, she is FSA Special Forces, she received special training and prepares ground for legs to flood the country. And, than it us. Show me a job which would have same conditions I had when I arrived here and barely spoke any English. Show me! Show me a right which was not changed, adjusted and interpreted in a wrong way. Show me! Show me a candidate for any office which would really matter to me or to anybody else? Show me! I would rather get numb by Pokemon GO than listening to this uber liberal horse... So, if Hilary wins I am moving one more time back to where I was born. Not because I do not like it in America. Not at all! I spent most of my adult life here, not there. I will have to move because I can't afford to live in lies and feed FSA at the same time. I can't become an underground operator again just because some lady decides that I am a felon overnight.

This is not a happy immigrant story and Disney would never make a movie out of it. My point is this: History is a bitch. You think you know it, but what you really know is today's interpretation of events which were re-interpreted by those who never participated in the original. I wasted half of my life, always moving and adjusting to something new. I have lost everything twice.

When I say EVERYTHING, I do not mean cars, houses and my own land only, I have lost wives, kids, friends, and also big pieces of myself. Unless you experience it on your own you will never know what it was like. If I would have do it all over again I would never move. I WOULD FIGHT WHERE I WAS. I am not complaining. My life was an amazing adventure and it was a blast.

I decided to share this experience with you because many of you can't escape to some other country. Moving from one state to another will not make the problem to go away. It is a very temporary fix only. Learn from me and fight. That is what you need to do right now.

 

[lancecolonel]

My last day living in the state of Massachusetts is Aug15th. My wife was able to get a transfer to Portland Maine and I can be anywhere! Renting a house for the time being in will purchase in the spring!

Surprised no one else mentioned Maine....

my house is on the market and we are actively looking in maine.

 

[TheCrowing]

I moved to NH from MA not more than one week before Healy's bullshit. Couldn't be happier. Definitely recommend checking out the free state project.

I also highly recommend getting in contact with Mark Warden at Porcupine Real Estate. He's a fantastic real Estate agent, former state Rep and strong libertarian. He definitely "gets it" and will do everything in his power to find you the right place in NH.

 

[tk421991]

My last day living in the state of Massachusetts is Aug15th. My wife was able to get a transfer to Portland Maine and I can be anywhere! Renting a house for the time being in will purchase in the spring!

Surprised no one else mentioned Maine....

The thing about Maine is that, on average, it's the lowest income state in New England and it has the highest income tax rate in New England.

The job market revolves around Portsmouth in NH, Portland, Augusta and maybe Bangor.

Those two things prevent me from seriously considering moving to Maine. If I want to make less money and pay high income taxes, I would rather buy a place in Caledonia or Essex County Vermont and when I say "place", I mean 30 to 60 acres of undeveloped land.

 

[Oldarmy]

Thank you for the links..... now do you have a wife convincing app or something.
I have wanted out of here for a long time. My wife won't leave because of parents.
I said can't well all sell everything and buy many acres with a few house! My mom is game!

Love to leave but I can't so I guess I need to figure out how best to fight

I would remind her that NH is not very far from Ma. for visits.

 

[ggboy]

Excellent posts....
Have a cabin in NH that is looking better and bettter.
Does anyone know of any good gun clubs in south central , NH,?
Hillsborough area.
ggboy

 

[Kevin_NH]

If you're even considering moving to NH, this is the time of year to tour the state, visit the small out of the way towns whose name you'll never hear on the evening news, and make up your own mind whether you're better off trying to fix your old state, or keep your new home from being broken in the first place.

But if you were really hell bent on moving to where your gun rights are strongest you should move to Georgia or Alaska. (my apologies if there are others, those are the only two I know) Because those are the only two states that support the second amendment. Georgia made it a law and Alaska changed their state constitution.

As great as NH and ME are as compared to Mass if you are running to get your rights back and you go anywhere other than those two states you are still compromising your rights.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire supports both the wording (Art 2-a) and the original meaning (Art 10) of the second amendment.

I know NH had a couple of gun control bills shot down. That's how it starts. It's good the bills were shot down but seemed like a lot of bills came to the floor after 2000. How much longer will NH be safe? I don't know.

Freedom includes the freedom for legislators to introduce bad bills, like the Georgia Democrats who backed House Bill 731.

No state, not even Alaska, is going to be an evergreen safe haven for gun rights. Anywhere you live, the fight will go on.

 

[nhpoke]

Excellent posts....
Have a cabin in NH that is looking better and bettter.
Does anyone know of any good gun clubs in south central , NH,?
Hillsborough area.
ggboy

I'm not a member of one, but there's a list of clubs at http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/hunting/clubs-ranges.html

 

[Deleted member 12999]

I have broached the subject with the wife, and going to start prepping house for sale. Still in early stages of discussion, but have tons of work I can do now to get ready. I'll have to commute to MA, but its worth it.

 

[Oldarmy]

Excellent posts....
Have a cabin in NH that is looking better and bettter.
Does anyone know of any good gun clubs in south central , NH,?
Hillsborough area.
ggboy

Monadnock http://mrgci.com/ is on 202 about maybe 15 miles out of Hillsboro. If you got on 202 at the lights at McDonalds. BTW the site of many NES event shoots

 

[Mr.E]

If only there was comparable work in NH I would be sold immediately.
Luckily I rent and the actual move would be very easy (no kids, rent month to month) but the job prospects aren't as good as Boston and the commute would suck. If I worked in Boston proper it would be easy but I'm in Waltham, no great way to get here..Still poke around the rentals in Salem though...