How are the gun laws and political climate in Idaho and Montana?

[1031]

I am thinking of moving to Montana or Idaho. How are the gun laws there?
And to anyone that lives there, how is the general atmosphare about guns and freedom in these places?

I want to live in or near the mountains, away from big cities, and I want to be FREE. I would prefer to be as far away from California socialist liberal left wing whackos as I can get. I think that these two States might have the climate I am looking for.

[Kaylee]

gun laws?


.... what are those?

-K

Seriously.. pretty darn good here. Never tried to get full-auto stuff, but know lots of folks who have 'em. CCW is a breeze, presuming you know your stuff and don't have a record. Even in what passes for "corporate" here, you don't get too much bed-wetting over guns. Heck, I'm still trying to get my copy of "Ultimate Sniper" back from my boss. Oh... and open carry is legal just about everyplace, though it's hardly ever used that I've seen.

Still... it's nice to be able to take into the mountains with an M-14, "just in case."

[1031]

There are tears welling in my eyes and my heart is in my throat at the thought of that kind of freedom.

And let it be known that if I move to that area you will have one hell of a hardcore pro-freedom pro-Rights family heading your way to fight tooth and nail to prevent my new State from becoming anything remotely like California. The way States go bad is by good men stading by quietly. I have tasted non-freedom and I appreciate my freedom much more so because of it. (Sorry for the speech).


Are there lots of moutains in Idaho and Montana? I must have lots of trees.

What kind of income does a person need to survive in that region and how do a lot of the people earn income (what kinds of jobs)?


I really appreciate the advice.

[EricM]

Northern Idaho has lots of mountains, trees, and rivers. It pretty much starts once you pass the gun and quilt outpost at Ponderosa Sports, just north of Horseshoe Bend outside of Boise .

[Al Norris]

Last summer, my wife and I, and our son (who was home on leave at that time), were on a week long camp over on panther creek up above Challis. One nice sunny day while my son and I were target practicing, a forest ranger came by camp and waited for us to be done. As we approached camp, he told us that a small group of those "Rainbow Coalition" people had been camped a couple of draws downstream from us. They complained to the rangers about our shooting and were told it's a free forest. They didn't like that and up and left. The ranger thanked us. Looking at my new .300wm, the guy asked if I would be shooting it. I asked him if he knew of a safe place to send a few long range practice rounds downrange. He told me to wait a day so he could see where this group of hippies were gonna camp next.....

Now, we always keep a clean and fire-safe campsite, and have found that this attitude is the norm in Idaho. The people that tend to get hassled are generally the type of campers I wouldn't want to be around anyway. They don't keep a clean camp (which is an open invite for them big 4-legged black or brown hairy critters) and they are not fire conscience.

The nearest enclave of librals from us is the Sun Valley/Ketchum/Hailey area. We stopped in Ketchum on the way back from that camping trip to get an evening meal. Didn't once think about the guns we were wearing (upon reflection, should have, considering where we were) and just went into a restuarant and ordered supper. We had just been served when the manager came up to our table, accompanied by a cop. He told us that guns were not permitted in his establishment. I looked at him and asked where the "No Guns Allowed" sign was. He sputtered and admitted that there was no sign. So I asked the deputy what he thought we should do, since they had already took our order and delivered the meal. He thought about it and told the manager that since we had been served and were not causing any kind of scene, he had forfeited his right to refuse service to us.

The manager insisted. rather loudly, that we take our arms and put them into our vehicle. We then pointed out that if we were to walk out now and do that, everyone would know that our vehicle contained guns and would be ripe for burglary, while we ate. Did he really want our guns to fall into the hands of criminals? The man sputtered and loudly protested. I looked at the deputy and asked him if there might be a civil place where we could get a bite to eat. He opined that since it was about time for him to eat, that we should just follow him. As we got up, the manager thrust the bill at us. I laughed, and said that we wouldn't be paying, since we never ate and were being so impolitely asked to leave.

We followed the deputy and walked into another restaurant together. Had a good meal and good conversation about hunting and camping. And no, we hadn't disarmed.

This is Idaho.

[Dameon]

I think I'm going to cry.. that was a beautiful story.
Most people don't have the guts to stand up for themselves like that.

[Elker_43]

PICK IDAHO!

Several years ago, my wife and I were in somewhat the same position - Looking to retire in a gun friendly state. Seeing that I am a native born Kalifornian (60 years) and have worked here all of my life, I have seen the Socialistic blanket completely inundate everything. I have less than two years to retirement!

Fortunately, I have been a big game hunter all of my adult life and have hunted most, if not all, Western states. In all of my treks, Idaho has always been my State of choice for not only hunting and fishing, but the feeling of that plain old "back to the roots" American feeling. Idaho is a no BS state, and guns are not considered "evil". My wife has always been by my side (36 years) in most of my hunts, even packed in with me for weeks at a time for many years. So her choice is really what counts....And she also loves and chooses Idaho.

To make a long story short, we settled after three years of searching, on finding a special spot in Northern Idaho. Last year we did it and purchased a lake front 3 1/2 acre parcel on Lake Coeur D'Alene. We are about 20 minutes from the city of Coeur D'Alene and will start building our retirement home in the spring of 2003...We already have the roads built, the water and septic permitted and installed. The electrical panel is now in and energized. A 30 foot boat slip awaits the boat that I don't have as yet, and my Winchester collection is moaning to head out of Kalifornia as is every dollar that we have.

Screw Kalifornia
Can't wait to move to Idaho

[MatthewM]

Elker, email me as to what the lot cost...

It would be nice if everyone in town found out this restaurant owner votes against their rights.

When you move from a more affluent state, be careful to not flash it around. Be quiet and be humble so people can get to know you without jumping to conclusions. If you join local clubs, keep a low profile.

[ds1973]

Moved here in June, started work on a Monday, turned in my CCW application on a Wednesday, received my approval in 2 months. The application to get my drivers license was more hassle than the CCW.

[FPrice]

Can anyone send me a link to a realtor up your way? I decided a long time ago to retire in the Pacific NW, was going to go back to Washington State (the OTHER Washington) but after reading all this, I may just have to look at Idaho. I do not hunt or fish, but I respect the rights of those who do. I just like the outdoors.

[EricM]

Antipitas, What restaurant was it? I've eaten in Ketchum a few times, but I was carrying concealed. Well, mostly concealed .

[Bill Barrett]

What are the taxes like?

[arthur]

1031 : good morning , my names arthur and i lurk on this board and post when i think that i have something to say . my wife and i now live in hollywood kali. . i am from the upper peninsula of mich. town of marquette . anyway , my wife and i have been checking out various states in the last year and a half pretty much looking for the same thing that you are looking for . last year we checked out washington , idaho , and nevada and we decided that we would have a hard time making a living in those states . i am a little familiar with montana , n. dakota and minnesota and we have decided that we will not even check them out as we think that our finances would be ruined . we were getting discouraged until this year when we found oregon . i tell ya what , oregon looks excellent . we checked the coastal areas from eugene to vancouver washington and then down to astoria oregon and down through tillammok and back over to eugene . jobs were abundant in our lines of work . the state is beautiful and is two thirds the size of kali. with about 3,500,000 people while kali. has about 37,000,000 people living in it . heck , los angeles county has more than 9,000,000 people in it . i talked to a few gun shop people and they tell me that oregon is wide open as far as guns go , i hear that its a class 3 state with easy ccw and good gun laws . so , give oregon some little bit of consideration . in closing , if any of you guys can provide any info about oregon , i would appreciate hearing it !!! i was in oregon for 6 full days but i can't learn all there is to know in 6 days !!! in closing [again] -------elker 43 , yea, that cour de alene is a peach . nice, nice town . we ate at the -rustlers roost- when we were up there last year and checked out the lake , town and surrounding areas . --------arthur

[Al Norris]

EricM, I don't rightly know the names of the places. I don't stop there much.

The place we were asked to leave was a pizza place just off the ketchum sunvalley road. About 2 blocks east of the light and a block north.

The place we did eat was about 3 blocks west of the main drag and 1 or 2 blocks north (from the light). It served sandwiches and Latte's.

[Zander]

It served sandwiches and Latte's.

No doubt...LOL!

Wasn't called the Sheep Pen, by any chance, was it?

[Elker_43]

I have had more than a few of the TFLers write to me for some details about Coeur D'Alene, Idaho (see my above post). Rather than answering all of the messages, I thought I'd just post a response that I had sent to one of the friendly TFLers.

Hi,
We paid $45,000 for the 3 1/2 acres and the 30 foot boat slip was $8,000.00 extra. It cost me about $15,000 for the water, roads, septic connection, and electricity pulled in to my power service panel which I designed and had placed near to the home I will be building. Building costs are really resonable, I figure that I'll be able to build for about $70 - $80 per square foot. The location of our particular area is Carlin Bay which is on the east side of Lake Coeur D'Alene about 23 miles by auto (30 minutes) or 20 minutes by boat. It is classified as being in the small city of Harrison which is 17 miles to the south. There are so many areas around this lake that it is worth checking them all out. Lake Coeur D'Alene is about 50 miles long and about 7-8 miles wide at the widest. Elevation is about 2200 feet and that equates to a lot less snow in the winter than one would expect for Northern Idaho. Spokane, WA is only about one hour away and has a very modern International Airport. Lake Coeur D'Alene has been advertised as one of the ten most beautiful in the world and the fishing is better than exceptional! We have a private airstrip in the Carlin Bay community and about 5 or 6 guys fly out every day to work. We also have our own shooting range and that fits well with what I like to do.

There are a nice bunch of homes in the area for sale one of which currently is a steal at $120,000.00 (it is 1440 sq. ft.) on a 1/2 acre and another on 20 acres which has a barn, guest cabin and a 4000 sq. ft. home. for $254,000.00.

There are a bunch of internet real estate offices that operate out of Coeur D'Alene. What great country and property is in this particular part of Idaho.
Here is a site that you can use to search for
different properties...

http://www.mikecda.com/
Use the "All Area Homes For Sale" and then select
"Harrison" in the search you will see some of the
homes near where we will be.

Great bunch on TFL...
Just thought I'd give you a brief tour.

[FPrice]

Thanks for the info, I will check it out.

[Nanaimo Barr]

one, you have to remember that SunValley/Ketchum is NOT part of Idaho.. it's part of California...

(been there once.. couldn't get a meal because the resturants didn't open till 4:30 PM, all the prices were majorly inflated (most of the "local people" who work in Sun Valley can't afford to live there)... so we left without spending a dollar)

now North Idaho on the other hand.. Moscow is home to the University (thats the University of Idaho, not Idaho University as stated in that lieing letter) we unfortunatly DO have a fair number of Californians bringing there problem childern (and themselves) here. but as the bumper sticker says "make a californian feel at home.. shoot at them"

prices are lowish.. good variety of this and that (Moscow.. Heart of the Arts), best Drag and Fetish Show this side of San Francisco (so I'm told) the area is gun friendly (pretty much).. walking down main street with a Rifle or pistol is not considered odd (unless your a Californian). good sized local gun show once a year, Lional Hampton Jaz Festival every year (one of the best in the world) over all a pretty good place to raise kids and relax...

they say Canadians are Polite.. I found Idahoans are MUCH more polite..

pretty much a "you mind your business and I'll mind my business and everything will be fine oh and if you need a hand just ask" kinda place....

(except if your bringing your gang banger wannabe's from California.. there not welcome)

[Al Norris]

Nanaimo Barr replied:
[qb]one, you have to remember that SunValley/Ketchum is NOT part of Idaho.. it's part of California... [/qb]

You've got that one pegged square on the head!

For those of you that aren't aware: Remember that red and blue map of the presidential elections? That blue portion of Idaho is Blaine county, which is mostly represented by the towns of Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley or Hollyweird North!

Zander, it wouldn't surprise me a bit. I might even have to venture back up there just to find out!

[Nanaimo Barr]

thank you AntiPas.. if the fishing hadn't been so good in Salmon I probably would never bother going back down to Northern Utah, er, Southern Idaho again! (snicker)

NB

[brianidaho]

If anyone of you are seriously looking at Idaho in the next several months, and are looking to buy a house-let me know. I just bought property about 40 miles north of Coeur d'Alene, and am looking to sell my existing place which is about 8 miles south of CDA. It's on 10 acres, private road, nice mountain views. I'm pretty much across the lake from Elker_43, behind Mica Bay if you are looking on a map (no lake view from my place, but there is up the hill). I will miss this place, but we found a 20 acre parcel on a small lake, adjacent to timber company and national forest property-couldn't pass it up.

Great state for gun rights (shall issue, full auto ok, open carry) pretty generous hunting season (you will get a workout!) and lots of national forest to play in. Property is fairly reasonable-you can get a new house in a suburban tract for around $100k, rural property typically has to be 10 acre or larger parcels in Kootenai county, I think others are the same. Rural property is around 5K per acre, on up depending on location and improvements. I think we are the "most Republican" state in the country, IIRC 76% voted Bush and we had one of the largest percentages for the libertarian party. Local library even has Unintended Consequences!

You won't get rich here though-business is down right now, with sevaral major employers laying off recently. Only good thing is that the area has a number of small-medium size companies, not just one major one.

E-mail if you have any questions.

Bri

[Jay Baker]

Idaho suits my wife and me, right down to the ground. Especially afte having spent 35 years in Los Angeles, and seeing a once great State being taken over by the Marxist Socialists, and no matter how we fought them polticially, were finally overwhelmed.

I have one suggestion: when you find an area you like, no matter what State, rent or lease a home for at least six months, so you have the time to look around to find a house to buy, where you're not rushed. I know many people who buy immediately on moving to an area, then later regret it, big time, for many reasons!!

We leased a house for eight months before finding what we wanted. We put a bunch of stuff in storage until we bought. Yes, the "rent" money is not recoverable, but, it beats Hell outta getting into a house where you later ask yourself, "Now why did we buy this??!"

I agree with the other Idahoans above. Gotta run. Am driving 50 miles north for an early morning elk hunt with a couple of my buddies.

Best of luck. J.B.

[DCR]

If you don't mind small town life (lack of services - medical, etc., living in a "fishbowl," inability to buy anything but gasoline on Sunday, and so on), look to small towns in Idaho. The decline in the natural resource extraction industries like logging, mining, and ranching, have decimated local economies and there are bargains out there for property because nobody has any money and nobody wants to move to these towns. Salmon, Challis, Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho come to mind. I had my old house on the market in one such town for three years before it sold last month (took a beating, too ) and there are many, many others whose homes have been on the market a long time.

On the plus side, there's more scenery than you can enjoy in a lifetime, hunting and fishing are tremendous, the people are friendly and helpful, live the RKBA lifestyle and love to shoot.

Think about it, and we'd welcome an influx of TFL types instead of (hope this isn't in too poor taste) Kalifornicators with the wrong attitude.

- - - D.

[Elker_43]

DCR - Absolutely correct...Look at the small towns in Idaho for the best deals and the best in rural life.

If a stable and higher paying job is a requirement, Southern (Pocotello and Twin Falls), Western (Boise), and Northern (Coeur D'Alene) Idaho hold the best promise and they are very, very, nice!

The smaller towns in the central and eastern areas are by far the best choice for just getting away from it all and enjoying life at its best! Deer, Elk, and bird hunting--Superb. Fishing the Rivers and streams--None better. In the rural areas, my first choice was Salmon, Idaho. Unfortunately for me, it was not my wifes' first chioce as it was too remote for her. What a neat little town and it was just what I was looking for in retirement....If you ever go through Salmon or spend a few days there, you will fall in love, I guarentee it! But once again, Salmon was not my wifes' first choice....That is why we settled on the Coeur D'Alene area. CDA was my wifes' first choice, my second choice.

If any of you are looking for the living, hunting and shooting Utopia of the west, I agree with DCR, the small towns in Idaho have it!

[Nanaimo Barr]

"If you don't mind small town life (lack of services - medical, etc., living in a "fishbowl," inability to buy anything but gasoline on Sunday, and so on)"

not all the smaller towns are like that... Northern Idaho is a bit more enlightened than Mormon controled Southern Idaho is.. I can even purchase a horrid Kalifornia Chabis on a sunday from any of the 4 large chain food stores...

and the medical care around here is FAR superior to any I've had before...