I have been offered a position with a company in a small town outside of Mason City. I want the job but I'm having a hard time trying to decide if it's worth relocating to northern Iowa for. I know only I can answer that question but I was hoping some of the local Arfcommers could give me some positives about the area/state. I have a bunch of Ars and handguns which I shoot regularly so are there any good ranges nearby? I concealed carry on a regular basis, what is the process for obtaining a permit in the state of IA, any stupid restrictions? Thank you to anyone who provide some info.

I can't say much specific about the area, except that it's pretty cold up that way in the winter, and not much going on entertainment wise.  As far as ccw permit, a short class or range proficiency test is all that you will need. And if you have any NFA items, kiss them goodbye , as we don't get in on any of that sort of fun here in Iowa.

I live in a small town outside of Mason City.
To which small town outside of Mason City are you considering relocating?
Mason City itself has a club with a fairly nice range.

If it is a real good job and you will be able to move to a free state like Az in a time take the job build up your savings and move on. This is the Peoples Republic of Iwonistan it is not going to get any better it will only get more restrictive.

No NFA items currently. I would like a suppressor and an sbr though. If I stay here in PA I'll likely start down that road before the end of the year. What is the possibility they get legalized? It's a good job with a seemingly good company owned by a world wide corporation. The possibility to transfer after a few years is there. What's the club in mason city called?

River City Rifle and Pistol Club

Mason City area is pretty good.
Hour and a half or so to Twin Cities to the north and same to Des Moines to the south.
Pretty laid back, rural area.
Summers can be hot and humid and sucky.
Winters can be cold and snowy and AWESOME.
Clear Lake is great for summer amusement, boating or fishing.
Mason City has some pretty good resturants.
The Surf Ballroom is in Clear Lake also and has a lot of formerly big name acts.
Schools are generally quite good.

What's with that attitude?

Most very member in this forum is pushing to better our rights and we are gaining. Just a few short years ago we had a mix and match "may issue" carry permit where the Sheriff could be a real dick. Now those Sheriff's have to submit to your right to carry a weapon and can not put any restrictions on your permit. We have one of the best carry laws in the country and you can legally carry almost anywhere in the state. The omnibus bill, even though it has been changed, if passed, will be a big boost in our rights. Maybe it won't pass, but we have made inroads into the Democratic Senate that will carry into next year and elections are coming up. We gained a few seats and do it again with enough effort.

I ask you to drop the negative attitude and join in with the rest of us and help push our agenda. Sitting back and complaining won't accomplish anything. If your post was just sarcasm then ok, but lets not make someone from out of state wonder WTF.

. I agree, things are a lot better then they were just a few years ago. Northern IA isn't so bad and the MC area seems nice. There are a bunch of gunshops around the area and a few have really good prices.

I am in Mason city.  We like it here.  Good schools, both public and private.  Housing is fairly inexpensive.  Small enough town to get around in and Des moines is 90 miles south and Minneapolis is 100 miles north for a quick day trip.   I have been here 15 years after moving from Chicago. Are you,coming for the new pharmaceutical plant?    Shoot me an IM if you want to know more.

I'm not from Mason itself, but I've lived a short distance west of there and I'm currently about an hour away and still go there on occasion. Some of the pro's that haven't been mentioned is that they have a decent movie theater, some nice parks, and probably my favorite store in all of Iowa: Mills Fleet Farm. Great selection of ammo, guns and military surplus and various outdoor sporting goods. I'm bummed if we drive through without hitting that store.

As already mentioned, some good restaurants and Clear Lake is nearby with a great public beach and parks. I haven't been to their range before so I can't speak to that. Hopefully suppressors will pass this year and maybe other NFA in the next year or two.

If you're looking at towns straight west of Mason, feel free to PM me and I can probably fill you in a bit.

ETA: I didn't add the link to the word "ammo", I don't know why it did that.

I am actually moving up that way very soon the wife has a job and we get house up that way July 1st then it's me selling my home in Dsm and finding job for myself I don't have any real pro or cons but my father grew up in rock falls - which is close to mason

I am looking to hire a sales person.

I'm 35 miles east of mason city.  I go there often.  Haven't been to the new river city gun range, but went to their old location a few times in the 90's. Hart bros guns has probably the best selection of guns.  Mills isn't bad either.  I go to the bon air shooting range by cresco alot.  It's a free county range.  It's nice for a county range.  I recently got a membership to a local range in nashua.  Not as big as bon air tho.

One thing to keep in mind if coming to Iowa is to avoid as much as possible going south of Interstate 80.
Those people from down there are a burger and a slice cheese short of a cheese burger.
They ain't right in the head; in fact, some of them have two heads and aren't right in either of them.
Think Deliverance but with a couple more teeth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1969796,-93.317084,715m/data=!3m1!1e3  River City Gun Club.

Looks a bit lacking on long distance, unless there's a berm I'm not seeing on the back of the trap range. I never knew that's where the gun club was. For distance shooting in Iowa, public ranges seem to be limited to 200 yards, I haven't seen a longer public range yet. Best bet for shooting longer is to find someone with land that'll let you shoot.

It is limited in a number of ways.
The 50 yard range is not separated from the longer range(s) so if there are people on the other range from you, you have to coordinate cease fires so you or they can go down range.
They seem to have no interest in putting up a berm between them.
Next to that is the 100 yard range and next to that the 200 yard range.
The 100 yard just has target stands but the 200 has a pit.
BEHIND the firing line there, there is a firing point that will let you do 300 yards, BUT because it is behind all the other firing points/lines and the outhouse and the "club house" the entire rest of the place has to shut down so you can shoot there.
Guess how often that happens.
They own ground to the east of the berm but it seems the people that have a say have gotten it set up the way they want/wanted it and they just don't seem to give a rat's ass what could be done to make it suit more people.
As a result, I was a one year member.

I live 3 miles North of I80.  This is Truth.  Think Berkeley of the Midwest (Iowa City) complete with granola eating rabid antigun bottom feeders.  Most of whom go back to mommy's in Chicago when school gets out for the summer (like it did this past weekend...)  The good news is that it's a localized phenomenon, get about 16" Iowa Class battleship's main gun range away and you're safe.

Or you could get lucky and be in the Chicago of Iowa (Des Moines) with the wannabe politicians and government blood suckers.  They're mostly harmless but their attempts to be a Chicago suburb made me puke.  I lived in Chicago for six months, figuratively chewed my foot off to get away from the trap.  Money gets you so far and then you realize life is actually worth living.  

Cedar Rapids is tolerable, except for their bizarre long term desire to become more like West Des Moines, where the successful rabid granola eaters go after earning their 6 year undergrad degrees from UI.  Actual work happens in CR.  Like half of the avionics for all the airplanes in the world.  And high fructose corn syrup.  Can't make Dr Pepper without it.

Wait, this was a thread about Mason City.  Not sucky.  They grew my first wife there, can't decide if she was/is a space alien or if it's a bad idea to get married at 23.  Something about 6' redheads out in the corn fields occurred to me after the divorce, but then I stopped drinking.

Well it has been made official. I'll be moving in a few weeks.

Stay north of 80, got it.

Take another gander at the map, that shouldn't be a tough task for you! Haha, congrats.

I'm having a hard time finding a decent place to rent in the Garner area. Can anyone im or email me and help me out. I would be open to anything within a half hour drive to garner, Mason city included.

You want me to point you to a realtor I know in Mason City?

If you don't mind a little commute you can move to the Minnesota side of the border where you can have your SBR and in the near future cans.  

If he/she can help me out with a rental then yes. I'm not looking to buy anything right now.

i don't really want a long commute. I do that now in pa and I'm sick of it.

I don't know if she can help with rentals or not but guessing she'd know who could.

http://www.janefischer.com/

Ouch

ETA I thought that was just the last 2 tiers of counties

It probably gets worse the farther south you go.
But... aren't you one of the more southern south of 80ers?