Hi Phil,
Let me provide you with 2 perspectives from my point of view.
I moved from clark County Nv, and I certainly did my share of shooting down there, and when I retired from the Navy in 1989 and moved there it was a red state, and there was quite a bit of shooting available. Then in the middle to late 90"s the crowd from the L.A. Basin started moving there in droves, and of course the gang problem came along for the ride. I watched as the town was taken ove by the left wing loons! Today there is a beautiful new shooting facility, that parks and recreation built for 52 Million dollars, how do I know this because I was at all of the planning meetings for it until I moved up here to Nampa, Id. My personal view of Las Vegas, is that they built too much,too fast and it has impacted the area in a very negative way,
When we moved to Idaho in 2005, I have to say I have never lived anywhere that the people in a community are as polite and kind as they are here. When you come to a four way stop sign drivers actually wait their turn and wave each other through the intersection, when we first saw this, my wife said in Vegas the drivers behind you would have been honking their horns and flipping you off. I belong to 3 shooting clubs 1 is here in Nampa, and the range is about 5 miles from my home, I have a key to go shoot any time I want and there are 7 pistol bays, 1 rifle range that goes out to 500 yards, a silohette range for rifle, this same club has an indoor range that opens in November, and remains open all winter, and you can shoot Wed and Fri evenings, and if you want to shoot in a rimfire rifle leauge or pistol leauge they shoot on Mon., Tues., and Thur. Cost to shoot on open nights is $1.00 to members and $3.00 for a non member guest! Price of membership with key privledges for a senior is $90.00 a year. They also shoot at the outdoor range all winter weather permitting IDPA, USPSA, Steel matches etc. There are several other clubs within a 35 mile range that shoot all the above disiplines.
We have a 2500 SqFt Semi custom built home that was $102.00sqft in 05. taxes on that house are slightly over $2000.00 Auto insurance is 50% of what it was in Vegas and this state is 3rd safest place to drive in the country!
I like the 4 seasons here and my wife does complain about the cold winter weather, but normally we only get 4-8" of snow and most of the time its gone by the afternoon. This is a Red state and I hope that the majority of people that move here from a blue state, realize that if the state they are leaving was as liberal as the Bay Area that they turn a new page and learn to embrace conservative values. We have a balanced budget law here in Idaho and the legislature can not adjorn for the year until the budget balances!!
There are a number of other laws that I won't go into, so as to not start an arguement here, but I will tell you that they fit my core beliefs!
Oh this was the best part of why I moved here, I love to hunt and fish and it is nothing short of phenominal here, Every year I buy the sportsman package which includes the following license, Elk Tag, Deer Tag, Bear Tag, Wolf Tag, Turkey Tag, Fishing and Hunting license, Steelhead permit, and Salmon permit.
The cost of all that is $127.50. and there is a river or lake no more than 15-20 minutes in any direction from my house! The area's I hunt are no more than an hour from the house. If you want to look at the calendar for the shooting club, just type in Nampa Rod and Gun Club. Good luck and who knows maybe we will meet one day.
