Is there a good summary of CA firearms laws somewhere?  I currently own NFA (SBRs and Suppressors) and concealed carry daily, I'm not sure what I can and cannot do in CA.  I'm willing to leave some things behind in a storage locker here.  I'm both sure that this question constantly gets asked, and that someone has summed it up nicely

How is the area?  I'm looking at an engineering job and I imagine I'd end up in an apartment nearby for awhile.  Are there any areas I should avoid/focus on?  My plan is to spend a couple days looking around after my interview.

I see Los Padres and Angeles national forest's nearby, is there good camping and hiking out there?

Thanks Gents!  I hope I get the job!

Palmdale is kinda BFE, but then so is much of TX.

It is in LA CO which you do not want, but Kern is nice and red.

I would move up to the high desert for the right job.

LOTS of empty desert to shoot in.  Forests nearby too.

But the high desert is what it is.

Come visit first.

The pay must be worth it for you.  I would not move here unless there is a good job in it, and the pay is worth it.  So far as living in LA, forget it.  Move to Tehachapi or Rosamond.  You can get a CCW there.  There is virtually no traffic between those two cities and Palmdale.  Even when it's busy.



Forget NFA all together.  You can get AOW's here and that is about it.



Calguns.com has the legal info you need.  But if you list what you have here, or PM some us you feel comfortable with we can probabbly tell you what you can or can not bring with you.  



There is a ton of good hiking, and outdoor everything here.  Especially out near Mojave.  



The downtown area of Lancaster is good.  There is plenty to do in the AV.    So far as Palmdale goes for living, just forget it.  If you east of the 14 it is not worth the effort.  Quartz Hills is nice, but again it is in LA County, and not worth the squeeze.  The city of Palmdale is lovingly called "Palmton" as most of the hood rats from Compton have moved out of south LA and relocated in Riverside, and Palmdale.



So if the money is there, have at it, but remember most of us (real Americans) are leaving Ca. or biding our time until we can.  If you do make the move, look at the Ca. Safe gun roster and buy everything you can that is NOT listed.  You can bring in personally owned off roster guns, and sell them here when you feel you no longer need them.



http://certguns.doj.ca.gov/

Thanks guys,I appreciate the responses.  I definitely have more research to do, especially on housing location.  I'm sure I'll have more specific questions as I dig in further.

If the job pans out it will be worth it.  

Tehachapi has nice weather but it is a prison town.

I would look in the Rosamond area (Kern County).  However, make sure you check out different areas, as most of Rosamond is not nice.



Distance from the Antelope Valley up to the Owens Valley is not bad, and up there you will have access to wide open spaces, and tons of hiking, fishing, shooting, hunting, opportunities.



Eric  

I spent some of my childhood growing up in the Antelope Valley and still commute to work there from nearby Valencia. Most of Palmdale/ Lancaster east of the freeway/Sierra Highway is absolute shit. I'm assuming the job is aerospace? Apartments are getting more and more expensive there due to a larger number of aerospace engineers and solar company employees moving into the area. I would suggest Lancaster over Palmdale, and only anywhere west of 20th. The gun stores in the AV mostly suck, but there are exceptions. Lots of shooting in the desert so that's the upside. It's a couple of hours from the beach and about an hour away from Los Angeles. It used to be considered the sticks but urban sprawl is making its way out there. Best sunsets in the world out there in the high desert.

Please explain the implications of "prison town".

I've spent some time in the AV - I'd say look at Tehachapi and deal with the commute.  I have a good friend that lives in Tehachapi and commutes to Edwards - ~60 miles each way.

Tehachapi does get some of the "family" problems associated with having a prison in town but from what I've seen it's really not an issue in the big picture of deciding where to live if working in the AV area.

BTW - stay the hell out of Mojave & California City................

DONT COME HERE -- Stay in Texas
the guns laws get worse and worse every year.
theres probably more good paying jobs in Texas than in Kalif.

Trollslayer, Correction Officers are an insular type, my friend is a retired CO.  Some of them are real jackasses, some are not, it is not a great work environment.

There is also the prison family element.

So there are those two populations in town, who will be part of one's life.  It is doable, but it merits attention.  If this is a temporary move, then one should have no problem.

The prison has a significant influence on the town.  Neither good nor bad, but it is a prison town.

Traffic is shit in that area.  If you're not used to it, you might find it a little daunting.

I'm not sure why you'd want to come here.  I'm sure it's for a job, but I'm surprised there isn't an equivalent/analog in Texas--closer to you and in a better political climate.

I'm in the high desert, about two hours away from Palmdale/Lancaster.  Let me know if I can help in any way.

Live in Kern county, you aren't getting a CCW out of the LA county Sheriff.

Tehachapi used to be a railroad and apple farming community.  started getting some retirees, then got a state prison.  Now it's mostly prison industry and a lot of folks that find it to be a nice area to live.  You actually have 4 seasons. The snow is not too bad and the heat in the summer is not as bad as down in the valleys

It's on my short list of possible places to move when I retire.

I went to buy a radial arm saw in Southern Tehachapi.  Must've just been the right time of the year, but that place reminded me very strongly of Ireland.  All rolling emerald green hills and grey stone.  It was truly beautiful, and not what I expected to see, having spent most of my time on the freeway side of Tehachapi.

The high desert blows.

No, really.  Most of the time when I go up there it is windy.  The few trees that do grow lean with the wind.

I'm most familiar with Victorville high desert, not necessarily Palmdale.

I graduated from AVHS in '78. Lancaster was about 20,000 people, Palmdale about 10,000.  

I barely recognized the place when I was there for work in 2010.

Live in Kern County and drive to work from there (lower cost of living and lower property taxes there) and get your concealed carry permit there. You won't be able to bring it to work at Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman or Boeing because the guards perform periodic car searches.

I have to agree, I've driven through and found myself wanting.

Define "Southern Tehachapi" - Stallion Springs area or along Highline Road?

Thanks guys, the responses have really helped.  I think I have a game plan on how to make the most of my time around the interview.

I fly out next week and it will be a bit of a whirlwind tour, but I have a couple of places to check out in Kern county for housing.  If I get the offer I'm hoping for we will have to meet up for a few beers!

Mojave & Cal City & North Edwards are shit holes. Rosamond isn't much better. Scratch them off the list.

Add Boron to that list. That pretty much leaves you with something in LA County or Tehachapi. Or some random house north of Ave A that isn't in Rosamond. Unless you plan on Tehachapi, you should probably just suck it up and deal with the LA County bs and at least live in a nice part of Lancaster/Palmdale and enjoy life a bit more while you are here.

The hills are beautiful in the late winter and spring.  then they dry out and you get a classic  "golden state" scenario.  dry grass and oak trees.  Kind of pretty but hot and dry.

Also you're not all that far from the High Sierras where the camping and hiking is superb.

I was born and raised in a little mountain town just outside of Lake Tahoe.  I didn't know I lived in paradise when I was a kid.  I know now.

I graduated H.S. in Lancaster 1960. Moved permanently 1966. I visit once in awhile to see relatives. Lots of changes. Not really a desirable place any more.

As someone who took a promotion to go to California from Texas I can agree with you, I wish I never did it.  I'm back now and just wish I never left 5 years ago.  I liked living in Bakersfield as there were lots of great places to go within a 2-4 hour drive and a lot of people there are freedom/gun oriented but at the end of the day the pay wasn't even all that great when you factor in 700/year car registration feed and all the other ways they nickel and dime you to death.  When the opportunity to come back came up I took it, at nearly my financial ruin.  The whole time I was in CA I just tried to live in denial like guns didn't exist and not read or look at anything but I still felt "wrong" the whole time I was there.

I had to sell all my non-CA legal items too as I have no friends/family to leave them secured with like the OP is mentioning so now here I am trying to rebuild what took a decade to accumulate.

Don't do it!

$700/year car registration means you were driving a relatively new car - about $600 of that total was basically a personal property tax, not actual "registration".

Is the Budweiser man still around?