I have to opportunity to take a transfer to the Portland Area.  I am wondering what the pros and cons of living there. Mainly CCW Laws and LEO attitude toward firearms.    I would prefer to live in a area with an outdoor range close by. Thanks

As someone who moved to OR just over a year ago here is my take.  Gun laws are a little goofy.  The state police runs the background check not the FBI.  I'm use to either showing my CCW and bypassing the phone call into the FBI or the phone call into the FBI taking 5 min in states that don't have CCW bypass.  I've had to walk around a store for 30 minutes waiting for OSP to get to my spot in the background check que but sometimes it takes less than 30 seconds.  You have to give your thumb prints to purchase a gun from an FFL as well.

I live a little west of Portland but drive to Portland for work.  As far as big cities go, Portland has nothing on the Liberal derp or crime in cities like Chicago, NY, KC, Cincinnati, Omaha, etc...  It gets a bad wrap because of all the hippies but I've come across more than a few hippies that were very pro gun in Portland.  They like their socialism but they seem to like their guns as well.  That being said if you are walking around with a gun visible you are going to have police contact and you can expect the gamut of treatment like you would from any urban police department.  Multnomah has some of their own unique guns laws but as far as I can tell getting a CCW negates most of those laws.    

Taxes in Multnomah county seem to be a nightmare as well.  I'd really look at living in Washington county.  Housing is stupid expensive everywhere.  A 200k home is often a town home or a pretty small house in need of repair.  I'd really look at Washington county OR.  Housing is slightly less and once you learn the backroads traffic isn't bad.  

I've found people to be pretty nice for the most part.  A very large latino and Russian/Ukrainian/Belarusian population here.  The different social dynamics in those cultures amuse me and can take some getting use to if you have to interact with them on a regular basis.  It's not bad...just different.  

As far as ranges go, you have national forests all around you.  Finding a place can be difficult in those forests and there are some fire regulations you need to familiarize yourself with but there are plenty of places if you are willing to get your vehicle a little dirty.  Like anywhere the easy to get to places are packed on the weekends and holidays.

I don't think my wife and I will end up staying in OR.  I think we plan on moving in two or three years.  We are glad we moved here, feel blessed to have had the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery, experience some great things unique to OR, and work in an industry that is in high demand and pays accordingly in the NW.  With all the good here in OR I'm thinking my wife and I were happiest in the Midwest.

Important thing to know is that both houses of the legislature are now control by raving mad liberals so expect gun rights to be totally crapped on here in not too long of time.  Already talking that they are going to ram through a background check bill so that all gun sales have to go through the crappy state police system.  And I seriously doubt that will be the end of it.

I've lived in las vegas.

Schools here suck compared to nevada. Food sucks compared to nevada. Ranges suck compared to nevada. Job market sucks unless you work for intel, nike , or a md.

Water is good and crazy cheap. Beer is excellent. People are weridos.

Medical care here is a joke if you have any cancer besides lymphoma get your care
out of state or die.

If you are only concerned about firearm laws youll do well here. Beardog is correct with his info. I like living here but prefer a small town. Unfortunately my work does not allow that. As for similar sized areas I think its great. I live in Washington County also.

One of the guys that I used to work with was from Vegas.  He moved back in less than two years.  

I much prefer the weather up north as I can't stand the unbearable heat,  but I'm certainly not going to be a long time resident of Oregon either.  I'm looking at buying a house back home in Michigan.

Lifelong Oregon resident here - other side of the mountains though, so we have different weather.

I did a 10 year stint in Portland, though. Right in the heart of NE Portland. It was a good place to be at the time. We were one of the few straight couples in the neighborhood, and all kidding aside, we got invited to some FABULOUS parties.

That said, Oregon is being colonized by Californians and/or others who have fled their socialist utopias, looking for somewhere better. Now they are changing Oregon into the very places they fled.

At the moment, CCW (we call it CHL here) is shall issue, and other than the waiting time to get it, not a big deal at all. The LEO's I know here ask what I carry and whether or not I like it! There are very very few prohibited places to carry (Federal buildings...) but as noted above, that is all subject to change given our current legislature.

If you are looking for info on Firearms stuff, you ought to check out Oregon Firearms Federation which has a good FAQ page, and also is up to date with the status of proposed legislation which is happening now. For $50 you get a patch and a book of Oregon Firearms Laws. I'd imagine the second edition will need to be written soon.

There will be all sorts of DERP coming from Salem in the next few weeks. I HOPE all we get is background checks. That sounds like defeatism, but the reality is that there are some raving lunatic anti's who will be throwing everything they can up to see what will float. The only kind of good thing about the legislature doing it at this point is that the bill MIGHT be a little better written than the one the just passed by initiative in WA (I-594). Again, trying to look on the bright side. But I expect that incrementalism will rule the day. I'd be surprised if we don't see mag limits, specific gun bans, limits on ammo purchases at some time down the road. I know they will try.

Our now former governor got $250K from Bloomberg in the last election cycle. I'll be curious to see how much he throws at the new governor, but I don't think she needs $$ to sign these bills. She's already signed a couple of doozies (non-gun) that can't help Oregon in the long run. One is a bill for "clean fuels" that the legislature admits will add at least 19 cents per gallon of gas. Opponents claim the additional cost will be much greater than that.

Another is the "automatic" voter registration bill. Got a driver's license? 18? You are now automatically registered. Why does this matter? In Oregon, all voting is done by mail, so EVERY person with a license will have a ballot mailed to their last known address at every election.

At least before, you had to be engaged in the process enough to ask  for a ballot.

It is not all bad. Oregon is a great place to hunt and fish, and if you can get over our income tax, not a bad place to work. No sales tax either, so if you have any large purchases planned (think...car!) do it after you get here.

I have really mixed feelings. My family has been in Oregon since before Oregon was a state. But it is changing. Maybe the changes won't be as bad as I fear. I'd imagine that once my kids wrap up school (really good public schools, at least in my town...and oddly enough they get to sing actual Christmas songs in choir!) we will probably consider making a change.

Sorry for the long winded answer to a brief question.


ETA: Added Plug to send $$ to OFF

Annnd here it is:   UBC Bill

I'll grant you many of the schools suck.  And the range scene sucks (partially offset by national and state forest land, though).  The state of the job market is entirely dependent on what you do for a living; it's boom times for some, not so much for others.  I can't speak to cancer treatment, although other medical care I've received at OHSU and St. Vincent's has been stellar.

But food?!?  Now you've done gone ahead and talked smack!  The Portland area has a surprisingly good food scene.  I'd say it rivals and/or betters the food scene in just about every other place I've lived, including two big East Coast cities.  Even better, you can get good affordable food here.  Even from a food cart no less!  ($10 pan-fried trout, anyone?)  If you walk into any decent restaurant in Boston, you aren't coming out with less than a $80 tab for two people.  You can get equal or better quality here for less than $50.  Or if you stick to the "Cheap Eats" restaurants that were recently highlighted in booklet form by Willamette Week, you can get great meals all over the place for $7-$15/person.   You just gotta study up on where to go.  Luckily there's no shortage of good places.

Too many Californians and outsiders recently. People move here chasing the "Portlandia" hipster stuff, and end up watering things down. Makes it more difficult for long time residents who are loathe to see things change.