Guns & Ammo "Best States"?

[Duces Tecum]

Several years ago Guns & Ammo magazine published an annual article on their web site a list of "Best States" for gun owners and another list of "Best States" for concealed carry.

Anybody know if those articles have been updated?

[Lost River]

I will offer some "perspective" about living in the semi rural west.


In the mid 90s or so, I was working a small town PD in what could be called "Pumphandle" Idaho.


A house got burglarized, and one of the things they did beside steal stuff was drink the homeowner's booze.

I literally did the door to door thing, found a suspect, brought him in and made him write an apology letter to "DT" the homeowner (who everyone said was a super guy).

No questioning, no Miranda, no nonsense. Just told the guy he was a dick, and that he should apologize.

Long story short, the guy got convicted, and the homeowner and I have been good friends since.

I only tell the back story, because the homeowner, whenever he got a new handgun would stroll right into the PD, gun in hand. He would say "hi" to the clerks and visit with the chief or Sgt, if I wasn't there. Nobody ever even said a word about it, as it was just normal rural Idaho behavior.

The place I was working for was so poor, they issued me a Mossberg shotgun that they had previously seized, that was broken, and would not extract shells. When asked what I was supposed to do with a broken shotgun, the genius in charge told me to point it at them, because the bad guys did not know it was broken.. I could write a book on the dumbfucktitude of many of the shenanigans there, but that would get me off track..


One of the farmers who I had given a ride home from the town bar on numerous occasions (I made a point of stopping by the local town bar and offering rides to locals, if I had time, rather than getting a DUI), offered to buy me my own, personally owned shotgun, because he thought it was absurd. I ended up buying a Colt AR-15, for a patrol rifle, but that is another story. I was especially appreciative that he was willing to do this out of his own pocket.

That farmer's brother (3 older brothers who all owned big farms) one time stopped and checked on me after seeing my patrol car door open and the lights on, and me not in sight. He had driven by earlier to get a sandwich at the gas station and saw my car/lights, and when he came back, he noted that I was still not in sight.

He parked his truck, got a shotgun out and came walking around the building I was at. I was dealing with a very drunk hispanic farm worker, who had tried to break into a couple places to go to sleep. He was too drunk to even walk to the edge of the property. It startled me to see a guy walking around the corner with a shotgun until I saw who it was.

These locals always had handguns, long guns, whatever, and I doubt any of them had a CCW. I never asked.

I still consider the rural Rocky Mountain western region the best place in the world to own a gun. I would venture to guess that the stuff I was dealing with in the 90s, (relationships with locals and attitudes about guns) before I went to a state agency, is still happening today and it is good for all involved.

[Malamute]

My interaction with LE guys I knew and didn't know wasnt too different then what you described. My last speeding ticket (late 90s), the State guy asked if I had any guns, my Smith 19 was in a holster on the seat next to me. He asked for it, (he didnt care about the Winchester carbine behind the seat) and when he came back handed it to me, still loaded and in the holster, we ended up talking guns, hunting, trucks and whatever for a short bit. The town guys I knew were similar. I joke that even the liberals have guns where I'm at, and its true.

One of my shooting, gun trading and ammo buying friends was a local LE guy I ran into. He had some good stories about locals. Giving them rides and such. The West still lives in some places.

[Totem Polar]

In the mid 90s or so, I was working a small town PD in what could be called "Pumphandle" Idaho.

[buncha life stuff...]

I still consider the rural Rocky Mountain western region the best place in the world to own a gun.

FnA right, dude. That is so Idaho Panhandle that I could just shit. I was probably in your town in the mid 90s, because that's where I roamed, and damned glad for the fact.

[Trigger]

" ...I could write a book on the dumbfucktitude of many of the shenanigans there, but that would get me off track..."

I'm up for story time. Please tell us!

[Lost River]

" ...I could write a book on the dumbfucktitude of many of the shenanigans there, but that would get me off track..."

I'm up for story time. Please tell us!


Let's just start with this:

The genius "I was a Marine therefore I know everything about guns/police-work, life on planet earth", small town supervisor was extremely against me having a patrol rifle, in spite of the fact that in the summer time we would respond to shootings/shots fired calls, on a very regular, sometimes nightly basis. (we worked a small town where the primary feature of the town was a Mexican labor camp). In fact it got to the point that unless there was a report of a person actually shot, we would not respond to all the shots fired calls in the labor camp.

When I ended up with the Colt, the former Marine made a directive that I could not deploy the rifle, unless the "threat was at least 100 yards away".

This guy is a now a chief of police..


The funny part is that in the winter time, a patrolman might not get a single call for service all night. That made for good opportunities to give farmers a ride home from the local watering hole.