Why stay?

[kevin9]

Job and house/family. I've got +21 years in a job I still like. Moving to NH would mean paying MA income taxes and NH property taxes, the worst of both worlds.

Even more is the fact that 6 years ago we found what we consider to be our perfect piece of property; lots of room, rural location, not too far from work (at least by my standards). This was before I got into firearms or had license or even know how tough it was in MA and in our town in particular.

Had I known then what I know now we would have been at least 5 miles in just about any direction, preferably northeast. Moving here was a big deal, and with all the small farmstead stuff we've accumulated in the last 6 years another move would be twice as big a hassle. Getting the wife out now would require a small thermonuclear device, figuratively speaking.

 

[ateamrob]

Well I have read some really good posts in this thread.

I guess here I go with my turn. Born and raised in MA and I have been very lucky to always have a class A ALP license and now a Machine Gun license. Guess I cant complain other than not being able to buy hi cap mags anymore (at least not legally ) or guns with folding stocks or bayonete lug barrels.

but now the wife and kids and I are making the move to the "Live Free And Die" state. We are moving to NH in a few months as the wife got a job up at the Dartmouth Hitchcock hospital. I am ready for the jump.
Assault Weapons and hi cap mags here I come......

 

[dwarven1]

People who fled Nazi Germany while they still could are seen as prudent, wise, and lucky. They are never seen as cowards or quitters or deserters. For anyone who is staying, even if it is only partly because you are afraid it isn't courageous to stay and tough it out, please consider.

An interesting point. I have to wonder, though, if the difference is that, at least nominally, MA is a democratic state, and that we are supposed to be able to fight back through the ballot box. I question if the Germans had that ability once Hitler was firmly ensconced (yes, I know he was elected Chancellor). In any rate, there's another difference, in that if Spend It All Deval started putting concentration camps together, the federal government would be jumping on him as well as the various gun owners who've somehow managed to not be registered.

Still an excellent point to consider: at what point do we who love our freedoms (and our Second Amendment rights) decide that it is all-out war on us and we need to escape? And what are we willing to pay or put on the line? Our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor?

 

[Lxpony]

A few reasons:

1 - Mrs Dwarven1's career is in Cambridge - she's been working on the same program for longer than we've been married.

2 - I picked up and moved once already, from NJ to MA - I've spent 20 years making friends here in MA.

2a - My mother Lodge is in Grafton - I'd miss all my Brothers from Franklin Lodge if I moved. Not sure I'd want to drive to Grafton from NH every month for Lodge.

So it all comes down to people, really.

Plus you love the people you work with

 

[Dieseldog1]

Was south of Boston, now north.

I was born in East Bridgewater MA, I now live in Derry, NH as of a month ago. I work in a large law firm in Boston and went from living 30 miles south of Boston to 42 miles north of Boston. I know what Derek means when he crosses into NH he feels like lead was lifted off his shoulders. Gun freedom wasn't the only reason I moved here, there were many, but that is a big bonus for me. I go for a 42 mile motorcycle ride to Boston every morning, and I get to do it again at night. At 420 miles a week, I better like to ride.

 

[Gabe]

An interesting point. I have to wonder, though, if the difference is that, at least nominally, MA is a democratic state, and that we are supposed to be able to fight back through the ballot box.

True enough. The question for us who remain is, will it get worse before it gets better, and am I willing to suffer it getting worse and be patient enough to wait for its improvement? The more I reflect on our democracy however I find it leaning dangerously close to complete "tyranny of the majority." And as gun folks, that leaves us firmly in the category of "the minority" and therefore inevitably "the oppressed."

Still an excellent point to consider: at what point do we who love our freedoms (and our Second Amendment rights) decide that it is all-out war on us and we need to escape? And what are we willing to pay or put on the line? Our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor?

Well thanks dwarven. You've brought my rather primitive suggestion to a more educational level.

 

[GSG]

I'm a young guy, just tying up some things in the next few years and I'm out. Until I go I have an LTC-A/ALP, and when I go the family's coming with me (most of 'em anyway).

It's not all about guns in this commonwealth. We're collectively dying. Insanely high taxes and lack of incentives are pushing buisnesses and people out. TJMaxx, a huge national corporation, is currently moving their corporate base from Framingham to Texas and financing the move for all of their management, because it's cheaper than staying around. That's just one of the many, there's a TON of tax money leaving. There's too many social(ist) programs and other things for us to support from our paychecks, and the middle class eats it, since the rich make enough for it not to be a burden and the very poor by nature can't pay much for taxes. I'm not sure of the exact figures, I'll look them up, but for years our state's had people packing up and moving out. It's in the tens of thousands a year. Look at the real estate market, unless you're buying you're getting hosed.

People leave for a lot of reasons, and stay for even more. Basically, it's home, as bad as it is. I'm young, unmarried, and my career is taking me out of state. I don't own land or have kids in school, so it's easier for me to go, but still hard, leaving everything I've ever known behind. It sucks.

When the founding fathers signed the declaration of independence, it took quite a long time. They hid their families away, stashed money, and had to plan an escape that would be very costly to them. They were giving up everything, buisnesses, homes, friends, money, to commit a treasonous act that they felt was absolutely necessary. It's a shame that the home of the revolution is now the home of some of the worst tyranny in the country.

Right now, people leaving is doing a lot. It's killing the state, because a loss of tax revenue is the worst thing that can happen. Funding is getting slashed for all kinds of stuff in towns and cities, and industry is leaving if it hasn't already left.

If you stay and vote, it's furthering our mini-revolution. If you leave with your tax dollars, it's furthering our mini-revolution. Which is easier for you to do?

 

[MichaelJ]

I am too far from NH to commute (on the NY/MA border), nothing is in VT to live there for and a non-res LTC is too damn expensive in MA.

 

[EZEKIEL 25:17]

At the risk of restating the obvious:

1) Friends
2) Job

That said, the most important reason is I can't get anyone to buy the house. This market sucks.

But the moment we do, Windham here we come. I can get brand new construction with 1000 extra sq feet for about the same cost.

How do I overcome these things:
reverse order:

Job - Downtown Boston - time from Windham @ 7am = 45min (my boss lives there now and swears by this). Work from home on Fri.
Time from Medfield 45 min Verdict - NO, appreciable difference.

Friends - We have to make plans to get together as it is, and one of my friends lives 4 houses away. I can allow for travel time. In our group of friends one lives in Norton. Norton is about as far as Windham from the nexus of the rest of my friends (Fradick shopoplex), we see them quite a bit. Verdict - No problem.

I envision that day being like King Theoden when Galdalf releases him from Sarumon's spell....you know "Breathe the free air once again"

Oh yeah it will be nice to have my vote actually count for something.

 

[Cuda444]

Maybe someday I'll move. I'm still young enough. Don't own property but I've never lived in another state. Every single family member lives in this state with no intentions of moving. Like others have said, it's not all about the guns. Sure, that's part of it. But in the end, family and friends are way more important. On top of that, living in a town that is ranked in the Top 10 NATIONWIDE says something, too. I went through the school system here, start to finish. While it didn't seem like it at the time, moving here was probably the best thing my parents ever did for me as wel as the family. So, depending on what I end up doing for a job, maybe I'll end up in another state. I know I wont be moving somewhere like California or Jersey, but Pennsylvania, Maine, NH, or VT are strong possiblities, I suppose. Time will tell.

 

[dwarven1]

Plus you love the people you work with

Jeez, Lxpony... Don't SAY that where Magnum Mike can read it! You trying to get me shot? Yeah, it actually does help that I have a few people there that I can talk guns with.

I'm young, unmarried, and my career is taking me out of state. I don't own land or have kids in school, so it's easier for me to go, but still hard, leaving everything I've ever known behind.

And you have the opportunity - seize it. Us (slightly) older guys who have a lot invested have it harder - plus there's the whole family thing. If I was single with no one else to worry about, I'd probably try and uproot myself. But there's an awful lot of roots right now, so I will probably wait until retirement - won't be THAT far away.

 

[reinbeau]

I am too far from NH to commute (on the NY/MA border), nothing is in VT to live there for and a non-res LTC is too damn expensive in MA.

Ah, but nothing is why Vermont is so appealing to some!

 

[Mikey]

Jeez, Lxpony... Don't SAY that where Magnum Mike can read it! You trying to get me shot? Yeah, it actually does help that I have a few people there that I can talk guns with.

"Magnum Mike" Who the hell is that...

Tell you what Ross I'll let you train me at an Appleseed shoot then you can worry.

 

[stoneypete]

Guns are only a part of my life.

• 1.7 mile commute to my job of 15 years. My wife's job is between 3 and 5 miles away.
• My Church is just over a mile down the street. That is where I met my wife, where I was married and where my children were dedicated. It is also where my ministry is.
• My parents and in-laws are both less than 4 miles away.
• My brother-in-law is heavily dependant on the Brockton Association of Retarded Citizens. Through their program he lives a fairly independant life. However he would not be able to comprehend our moving away. It is just not a concept he could grasp.
• My children are now attending the same school I did. They've even had some of the same teachers.
• Finally, this is my home town. I won't be driven from it.

Having said all that, Chrissie and I tollerate the cold less and less each winter. When Kylie graduduates, (Class of 2018), we're headed to warmer climate. You can bet we'll be choosing a gun friendly state at that time.

 

[MarkM]

Job - Downtown Boston - time from Windham @ 7am = 45min (my boss lives there now and swears by this). Work from home on Fri.
Time from Medfield 45 min Verdict - NO, appreciable difference.
will be nice to have my vote actually count for something.

You should test that out yourself a few mornings before making the move.

My wife leaves for work between 5.15 and 5.30 every morning because if she leaves any later then I-93 is jammed solid from 495 in.


Edit to add: you know what though? we both agree the commute from hell is worth it (I also understand the feelings of many here who say that family comes first)

 

[C-pher]

Yea, it's hard for me. Like Ross, my company transfered me up here. I left everything and everyone I know and picked up and moved to MA.

I met a wonderful woman, which we now have kids, a house, and friends. Her Family is from MA, she's never left..and I don't see her leaving.

I had an opportunity just reciently to have my company pay to have me moved to a job in Tennessee. Back home I could go. But, my wife said no. And I can't really blame her...

Growing up, we moved a few times with my Mom's job. It was hard...I never grew up around my family.

Here, I now have kids. My wife's ken has kids. My kids have grandparents, friends, and cousins that they can grow up with. Something that I didn't have.

My wife's a Yankee born and breed, and I don't see me moving her back home to the South. I've taken her down a few time, and she really hates the heat...so I don't see it happening anytime soon.


Like most, Guns aren't the only part of my life. And other than the Gun issues in MA, I really like it here. Maybe because it's a different life than I had, but anything and everything you could want in within reach.

You want city life, I'm close to both Boston and Providence. You want the mountains? Just up the road. You like the beach and the ocean, it's a short drive. Anything and everything is just around the corner.

There's two sides to every coin. You just have to find which side you want to look at and make the best of what you can.

 

[C-pher]

You should test that out yourself a few mornings before making the move.

My wife leaves for work between 5.15 and 5.30 every morning because if she leaves any later then I-93 is jammed solid from 495 in.

That's my issue...I work in Hingham, live in North. I leave for work around 5 am. If I wait, my 40 min drive is more like an hour, hour and a half. Going home isn't that bad beacuse if I95/93 is backed up, I can cut through the Blue Hills. But it's closed that early in the morning.

 

[1903Collector]

For me it's mostly Family, The Bride's parents are of ill health and she could never leave them and she could not be seperated from her twin sister. As for me, I love my mother and father and siblings, but I would be gone in a New York minute if I could, we have telephones and airplanes if you miss them. It's not jobs, the wife is an RN so she can get a job anywhere and I work for a large national company and could get a transfer to another state if I wanted.

The other factor is the kids, I grew up in the same home and I want my girls to have the same. I thinks that is very important in a child's life. Hopefully when they grow up and are on their own I can convince the Mrs. to get out of here unless it changes. (Daytona Beach looks very appealing)

The one thing that may make it happen sooner is the property tax's. Mine are rediculous. Even with what I wrote above at some point you have to say enough is enough. They just went up again and what was the reason you may ask? Well the one that really pissed me off was because the town workers health insurance went up, sorry not my friggin problem, you pay the difference just like I have to...But seriously, at some point I think it's going to become economically unfeasable to live in MA I just haven't reached that point yet, and I'm not even sure where I would draw that line..

 

[Joe R.]

Besides, if we keep the fascists and their pet morons (a.k.a. sheeple, useful idiots, etc.) busy on their home turf, maybe they won't be so hot to try exporting their brand of trouble to other states.



John.

Sorry, that ain't happenning. Talk to people in southern ME, VT, and NH - the people from MA are already spreading. The sheeple that leave are basically leaving for some of the same reasons we would leave. For some it is getting expensive to stay, the schools are bad, or traffic is too much to deal with. What is bad with this is that they don't see themselves as the cause of the problems! Taxes are getting high because you want all this "crap" that is available here but even a liberal has limits. They leave after the system has become too messed up to fix.

I'm here because of the job. I have a 5 min. drive ( 15 min. bicycle or 30 min. walk ) to work and like that. The hour commute from NH wouldn't be my choice unless the situation got totally out of hand here. I'm ready to leave...I just need a job at the other end...

As far as the good fight... you have to know when to walk away. This place causes me stress that I notice both mentally and physically. You fight but eventually you're either used up or have grown insensitive to the environment and just don't care what happens around you. I'm almost there ( thickness of a human hair between the fingers! ) now and just don't want to fight anymore. Call me weak but trying to fix this state is an effort in futility. The libs are bring more and more people here that will vote to keep the status quo and that is very bad...

Joe R>

 

[dwarven1]

"Magnum Mike" Who the hell is that...

Tell you what Ross I'll let you train me at an Appleseed shoot then you can worry.

Damn, Mike... if it wasn't for that Polish chicken I wouldn't have recognized you!

I'd train you but I'm not an instructor... yet. Heck, I haven't made Rifleman... yet. Soon, though. BUT... crak is an instructor, and he runs mini Appleseed practices on the second and fourth Mondays at Harvard Gun Club - 8/27 is the next one.

There's a shoot up in Jericho, VT on October 20-21 - Nickle is running it. You have 2+ months to work on your boss to get that Saturday off; I expect to hear from Nickle that you were there. Heck, my 17 year old niece will be there... you gonna let a little girl outshoot you? 'Cause she will...

For me it's mostly Family, The Bride's parents are of ill health and she could never leave them and she could not be seperated from her twin sister. It's not jobs, the wife is an RN so she can get a job anywhere and I work for a large national company and could get a transfer to another state if I wanted.

The one thing that may make it happen sooner is the property tax's. Mine are rediculous. Even with what I wrote above at some point you have to say enough is enough. They just went up again.

All great points - I'm trying to get my mother to move up to the assisted living facility Masonic Home in Charlton, as it's an AWESOME facility and I'd sleep a lot easier knowing that she's closer to hand, and that she's at Charlton - if she needs more advanced care, that's right there, too.

SWMBO could get a job in CA, IN, FL and very possibly MN - the vendors she works with out there have all made it very plain to her that they'd hire her in a New York minute. Me? Heck, everyone needs phones! I can go anywhere, too. And my taxes keep going up, too. But... there's that family and friends thing again.

 

[Twigg]

Well, I'm stuck here...

My Father in law lives with us. We moved out here about six years ago to assist my wife's parents. (...and get out of a lousy neighborhood.) MrsTwigg has deep roots here, and moving would be hard on her dad. Besides we've paid the house off a long time ago. ()

I've planted the thought about moving and we're doing day trips every so often to explore N.H. & Me. scouting out towns where we might buy some land for a "Vacation" home.

The plan is to buy some raw land in a very rural area and park a mobile home on it for weekend & vacation use and then start building a small house with an easily expandable floor plan.

Baby steps, but going in the right direction.

 

[Mikey]

Damn, Mike... if it wasn't for that Polish chicken I wouldn't have recognized you!

Hey check your spelling it is not spelt “chicken” it is spelt like this “eagle”.

Heck, my 17 year old niece will be there... you gonna let a little girl outshoot you? 'Cause she will...

That’s what I am afraid of.

 

[Jaxon]

For me, its simple and Joe R said it best

I'm ready to leave...I just need a job at the other end...

Peg and I have discussed moving - alot, especially since her brother passed last year and that reason for staying is gone.

But, unless we win the lottery, I'll be working here for awhile longer.

 

[MrsWildweasel]

I am too far from NH to commute (on the NY/MA border), nothing is in VT to live there for and a non-res LTC is too damn expensive in MA.

Yeah you're a little further than us.

 

[MrsWildweasel]

Hubby said it best. I am a transplant from Washington State. I have been here 22 years now. We periodically take rides further up country, and it is absolutely beautiful and peacefull, but then the reality sets in on how truly messed up this state is.
I actually really like where we are living, it is beautiful, and we have the four seasons. I live in a green town, and Glenn grew up here. One of things I wanted for our son when he was small was the stability of living in one place, with his cousins and family around. We did that. I grew up moving alot. My Dad wasn't military but his job had us moving quite abit. Which for me uprooting isn't anything, but not what I ever wanted for my child.
Glenn's mom lives next door to us and we do alot with her. His grandmother is 95 and she has her family all around and is able to live at home becasue of this. They are our priority.
Our son is extremely close to his cousins, and they all act like they are siblings. They all take care of each other, and for the most part most of Glenn's family lives right here in town.
I have lived out here now for so long I don't even consider WA home. Everytime I go back it doesn't feel like home and it has changed sooo much.
Glenn has too much time invested at U Mass for him to leave and find something else.
So it boils down for us Family, and Glenn's job.

 

[Chris]

If we had known my parents would be selling their home 2 years after we bought ours and moving just 4 miles away, I think we would have gone to NH back in 2000. That really is the reason we stay. My parents are the greatest - and not just because they watch our son 2 days a week.

Now, I can move anywhere for my job as I work from home. But the family is hard to leave behind.

 

[dwarven1]

Hey check your spelling it is not spelt “chicken” it is spelt like this “eagle”.

I stand corrected; from on it will be spelled "chickeneagle". I was wondering why there was chicken with a crown on it; I thought it was a Wizard of Id reference...

That’s what I am afraid of.

Heh. Coward. Hey, Appleseed isn't about who shoots better; it's about getting YOU to shoot Rifleman... and to help save the country by creating more Riflemen & women.

 

[sksguns]

Now, I can move anywhere for my job as I work from home.

If kids and work weren't issues I would move way down the cape.

Fish and boat and beach in the spring, summer and fall and shoot in the fall, winter and spring.

Notice there is one season exlcusive for each event.....

 

[Cadillac Jack]

because running away never solved anything.
someone has to stay here and fight the good fight.
there are restrictions but I have a class a alp....
is there work to do? yup....but running away won't get it done.
Besides, NH and ME are on their way to more restrictions...just wait.

Right you are sksguns...
Couple this with Massachusetts history: and an understanding of this state's role in the history of our nation, are compelling reasons for me not to abandon this state. While it is true that the leftards have all but ruined this state for Conservatives of late, teaching the next generation what is truely important. Planting the seed, in the hope that at a time, long after we are gone, this commonwealth may return to its senses, and its history. Proud in the knowledge that this was the place "of the shot heard 'round the world"...
CJ

 

[MARINE96]

the wife and i often talk about moving.the issues of why we want to move go way beyond the issue of guns.we've discussed many of the pro's and con's to moving elsewhere including the leaving of friends and family behind.overall we do see ourselfs moving out of Mass although it will be at least another five years before it can really happen.