CA gun owners: just how bad is it?

[Rick Lee]

My company would send me to work in our LA bureau like yesterday. But I just can't get over the CA gun laws. I'd have to get rid of some stuff to be legal there and I'd probably have to totally forget legal concealed carry. I don't know how I'd get my SC smogged. Financially, it probably would be a lateral move at best. Add to that the traffic, taxes, earthquakes and general CA-nutiness and I don't know if the awesome weather, women, car culture and being near lots of great stuff can compenstae for the negatives. Does anyone in LA get a CCW?

[widebody911]

How bad is it? I was playing Doom the other day, and they replaced my BFG with a wiffle ball bat.

[Jim Richards]

ROFLMAO!

RL, what'chu trying to leave NoVA/DC for, eh?

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
My company would send me to work in our LA bureau like yesterday. But I just can't get over the CA gun laws. I'd have to get rid of some stuff to be legal there and I'd probably have to totally forget legal concealed carry. I don't know how I'd get my SC smogged. Financially, it probably would be a lateral move at best. Add to that the traffic, taxes, earthquakes and general CA-nutiness and I don't know if the awesome weather, women, car culture and being near lots of great stuff can compenstae for the negatives. Does anyone in LA get a CCW?

I lived there for 13 years. Here's my experience.

The minority that dominates CA politics would confiscate all firearms if they could, since that's not doable, they are somewhat content to merely reduce the armed culture that was once dominant in CA by a few degrees per year. In the SF Bay area, much like SoCal, there are constant attacks on gun shops, the last one in SF itself went out of business about two years ago, some towns have laid a special tax on all merchandise sold in gun stores, even if not related to firearms. The vaarious county governments have successfully, in some cases, prohibited gun shows on county property.

All handguns must be registered when you enter the state for residency perposes. There are signs to that effect at the border crossings. If you've never driven into CA across a border, you're in for a surprise. CA has what are essentially customs agents at the border, and can inspect your car without a warrant.

All firearms purchases require a ten day waiting period, even if you buy one gun today, and another next week, the second purchase will run the full ten days. You'll pay the fees for the CA background check, and sales tax. All private sales are illegal unless they go through a dealer, whereupon you'll pay sales tax on the transaction too.

There's more, but my opinion is that CA is best left to the wack-jobs now running it, they deserve what they will eventually get.

[Rick Lee]

I'm definitely leaving this area. The only question is whether I'm headed to Phoenix, Vegas or LA. If I can find a job in either of the first two before my boss draws a line in the sand about the last one, I'm outta here!

[Rick Lee]

Pat, I've driven into CA before and never seen any signs like that. I think there are a few CA gun enthusiasts on this board, Nostatic for sure.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
I'm definitely leaving this area. The only question is whether I'm headed to Phoenix, Vegas or LA. If I can find a job in either of the first two before my boss draws a line in the sand about the last one, I'm outta here!

Pat, I've driven into CA before and never seen any signs like that. I think there are a few CA gun enthusiasts on this board, Nostatic for sure.

I'd choose Phoenix first, Vegas second certainly. Vegas is interesting, but too much schlock for my tastes, and the politics, while much better than CA, is running downhill fast. The Casino's and Unions are F'ing things up.

The time I saw the gun registration sign was on I80 going into CA. There are crossings that are not observed though, but they're usually only known by locals, and they're in very rural areas. I've only crossed through one of them.

[jriera]

Vegas baby!!! where else you can go to (almost) any gun range and rent fully auto, where Conceal Carry is a must issue and non-conceal carry is your right!!

Close enough to LA to drive it, great airport anf of course The Strip.

[Rick Lee]

Jordi, we have exactly those rights and abilities here in VA, but I don't want to stay here.

I was in CA in Jan., drove from San Diego to El Paso. As soon as I crossed into AZ, I got my SIG P220 out of the trunk, chambered a round, put a full mag in behind it, put it in my holster and stuck it in my rental car's cup holder. In White Sands, NM we got stopped by the Border Patrol and he definitely saw the gun, but said nothing about it. Gotta love it.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by jriera
Vegas baby!!! where else you can go to (almost) any gun range and rent fully auto, where Conceal Carry is a must issue and non-conceal carry is your right!!

South Carolina , but it's not for everyone.

[legion]

Better than here.

At least CCP exists in CA, if only in theory.

[nostatic]

funny...I rode back and forth to Vegas last weekend and wasn't stopped or searched.

They are looking for fruits and vegatables at the border Pat, not guns.

Oh...maybe that's why you were stopped...

[fastpat]

Originally posted by nostatic
funny...I rode back and forth to Vegas last weekend and wasn't stopped or searched.

They are looking for fruits and vegatables at the border Pat, not guns.

Oh...maybe that's why you were stopped...

Yep, that's why they stop people, those highly contagious fresh fruit from Nevada. They can, however, search for anything else they wish to search for, and anything they find that's contrary to law can be confiscated.

If you doubt me, take a hunting rifle in a gun case in the back seat of your car and see what happens to it next time you're searched. It might not be confiscated if it's a bolt gun, but the likelihood of it being looked at is very high.

My point being that few other states stop people at the border for any reason.

[pbs911]

A CCW in LA. Are you a major contributor to a local politician’s political fund? If yes, you might be able to obtain a restricted CCW. Otherwise forget it. Eventually, they will try and take away your guns. As for a lateral move, you will need to make about 3x time what you are to break even in the housing market. The women are not all that either. The Ca women are, but where do you find those these days? They left. So are many others. I personally know three other families that are packing it up and moving out of Ca in the next 30 days. About ½ of my high school class left Ca. 6 of my Ca born members of my family have left Ca in the past 5 years. Others want to leave but simply cannot due to health conditions, etc. Emigration from Ca is the highest it has ever been and will continue, yet the population continues to increase via the Latino immigration / birth rate. It is difficult to find the Ca mentality that made Ca great.

I was born and raised in So Cal since 1962, but I have spent a good amount of time in other States. CA has changed significantly. I would say 99 out of a 100 people are not from Ca and 25% of them are not from this country. The State believes they have to accommodate every one and in the process the State has become a political mess. Traffic is a nightmare, and can not be over exaggerated. I sold my P-car because of the smog problems and the inability to drive it on a daily basis because a stick shift is just a pain in the arse. There used to be a time not too long ago that if you drove from LA to San Diego the majority of the trip was through farm land. Now, you would be hard pressed to find any farm land, just hundreds of thousands of tract houses built 10 feet from each other.

The majority of people in Ca do not know their neighbors name. There was even a time when Hollywood was cool. Now, you have a 18% greater chance of contracting lung cancer just because the air is so polluted.

The weather is nice, but it is not “awesome.” It’s just better than many places, and is not significant enough benefit to overcome the burdens. High taxes, limited personal freedoms, a ridiculous housing market, and serious overcrowding.

I’ve left CA fur times and for some reason have come back with the memory of it wasn’t that bad. Each time I have been proven wrong. Now, in 29 days I’m out for good and will not look back. CA needs a serious make over and it ain’t going to come anytime in my lifetime. The problems with the federal government can be fixed more easily. The appeal of Ca is all there is. It may be better than many places and the population proves that point. Ca is better than Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Viet Nam, Communist China, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, and Russia to name a few places. Just ask the people you meet on the street here when you get here. Ca may be better than many places, but it is no longer what it is made out to be. Ca used to be a great state.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by pbs911
A CCW in LA. Are you a major contributor to a local politician’s political fund? If yes, you might be able to obtain a restricted CCW. Otherwise forget it. Eventually, they will try and take away your guns. As for a lateral move, you will need to make about 3x time what you are to break even in the housing market. The women are not all that either. The Ca women are, but where do you find those these days? They left. So are many others. I personally know three other families that are packing it up and moving out of Ca in the next 30 days. About ½ of my high school class left Ca. 6 of my Ca born members of my family have left Ca in the past 5 years. Others want to leave but simply cannot due to health conditions, etc. Emigration from Ca is the highest it has ever been and will continue, yet the population continues to increase via the Latino immigration / birth rate. It is difficult to find the Ca mentality that made Ca great.

I was born and raised in So Cal since 1962, but I have spent a good amount of time in other States. CA has changed significantly. I would say 99 out of a 100 people are not from Ca and 25% of them are not from this country. The State believes they have to accommodate every one and in the process the State has become a political mess. Traffic is a nightmare, and can not be over exaggerated. I sold my P-car because of the smog problems and the inability to drive it on a daily basis because a stick shift is just a pain in the arse. There used to be a time not too long ago that if you drove from LA to San Diego the majority of the trip was through farm land. Now, you would be hard pressed to find any farm land, just hundreds of thousands of tract houses built 10 feet from each other.

The majority of people in Ca do not know their neighbors name. There was even a time when Hollywood was cool. Now, you have a 18% greater chance of contracting lung cancer just because the air is so polluted.

The weather is nice, but it is not “awesome.” It’s just better than many places, and is not significant enough benefit to overcome the burdens. High taxes, limited personal freedoms, a ridiculous housing market, and serious overcrowding.

I’ve left CA fur times and for some reason have come back with the memory of it wasn’t that bad. Each time I have been proven wrong. Now, in 29 days I’m out for good and will not look back. CA needs a serious make over and it ain’t going to come anytime in my lifetime. The problems with the federal government can be fixed more easily. The appeal of Ca is all there is. It may be better than many places and the population proves that point. Ca is better than Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Viet Nam, Communist China, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, and Russia to name a few places. Just ask the people you meet on the street here when you get here. Ca may be better than many places, but it is no longer what it is made out to be. Ca used to be a great state.

In the 13 years I was there, 1992-2005, it went from merely bad to intolerable.

I had a good time for the first 5 years, bought a fast motorcycle and saw a huge part of what makes NorCal the naturally beautiful place it is.

Everything you've described above is true, but as you say, it's got room to get worse, and it will. Housing costs are about 5 times what they are here, perhaps more. Rental costs are only about 2 times more, so most who move there today rent. The house I sold there for $664,000.00 wouldn't bring $80,000.00 here.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by nostatic
funny...I rode back and forth to Vegas last weekend and wasn't stopped or searched.

They are looking for fruits and vegatables at the border Pat, not guns.

Oh...maybe that's why you were stopped...

They do this in Arizona as well at some places. And no, they are not looking for weapons, just people carrying in fruits, veggies and illegal aliens.

I have been offered several jobs in SoCal. Turned everyone of them down. Cannot put up with the "fruits and nuts" faction living there as well as the car/gun laws.

[JavaBrewer]

Cali blows. Nothing to see here. Move to PHX...

[HardDrive]

Originally posted by widebody911
How bad is it? I was playing Doom the other day, and they replaced my BFG with a wiffle ball bat.

LMAO!!!!!!!!

Man, you just made me bust out laughing in a meeting. My collegues look at me like 'wtf?'......

[rrsrsr]

There is a customs station on I80 heading into CA. I have driven through there, probably 50 times (every trip to Tahoe)... and I mean 'driven' without ever having to stop.

There are certainly no 'gun registration required' signs. The only vehicles I remember seeing stopped are trucks (which I think are all questioned / inspected).

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Owning isn't that big a deal unless you have stuff like machineguns. Concealed carry is impossible to get - don't waste your time even trying.

Or just be like everyone else already here and buy a MP5 or MAC-11 from a dude down in Compton and concealed carry it anyway.