Might be taking a field safety contract job in the wildfire area(s)

Will be living in a hotel most likely for the duration of the job.

What are the laws regarding bringing a handgun to California ?

I already know magazine capacity would be an issue.

No plans on bringing a long gun.

What is the weather like in NorCal ? Should I pack cold weather clothing if I am going to be in the Sacramento area at higher elevations?

Will I be subject to state taxes if I am getting paid from a company in Houston ?

That is it for right now.

Thanks,

Hoji

It couldn't hurt to bring clothing for somewhat cool weather, but I wouldn't expect it to be cold, even up there.

Bringing in a handgun is fine.  No hi-cap mags, obviously.  No threaded barrels, magazine wells outside of the grip, or other AW features on semi-autos.

For transport, must be in a locked container and unloaded, or a locked compartment of the vehicle not accessible from the inside.  Loaded mags, ammo with the gun (but not in it), etc. is okay.  You could have the mags on you if you wanted to.  I've been hearing lately that locked and unloaded concealed carry/transport like this is not allowed for just walking around; you have to actually be engaged in transport from one place to another.  Not certain how true that is.

I believe concealed carry is allowed while fishing and hunting, but I'd have to double check.

Loaded open carry is allowed in unincorporated areas where discharge is not prohibited.

You can also freely carry or possess within your domicile, which can include your hotel room, campsite, RV when used in this manner rather than as a vehicle, etc.

State parks and most county or municipal parks are off-limits for guns.

No CCW reciprocity.

No issues for non-residents bringing in any quantity or type of ammo for personal use.

Depending on how long you are in town, and which fire area, you may run in to some cooler weather.  (Also depends on where you are from in Texas.)    If you are in the coastal mountains it's likely you will get fog, rain and cool weather.  IIRC snow won't be happening for a few more months and highly unlikely at the altitudes where the fires were.  If you go over toward Mt.  Lassen, which is definitely worth the trip, you may get snow as early as October with the roads being normally closed around the last week of October and first two weeks of November.

If you have some time off, Ferndale is an interesting place to visit.  Various redwood parks.  There is a spectacular beach and a Fern Cnyon at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  You generally will see elk roaming around there and other places along 101 north of Eureka.

Your Company's payroll people will know the tax situation for you.  The key is DO NOT ESTABLISH RESIDENCY here in California.  If you do (unknowingly) become a resident, almost certainly you will have to pay California State income tax.

My Weather Advice -

In the winter it is warm during the day, maybe even HOT.  As the sun sets and night rolls in it can get quite cold (45 degrees).  Usually a fleece jacket does the trick.

Believe it or not it does rain out here (we are hoping for some rain this winter).  It tends to rain for a few days in row, usually not gully washers but a drizzley rain.  Rainy days are cool.  Being wet makes you cold - cold and wet SUCKS!  Umbrella or raincoat is advised.  Out of doors rain parka and rain pants are best.  Waterproof boots and warm socks are terrific!

Thanks all. Looking more likely that I will be in NorCal in about 10 days.

I think I am going to be paying California state income tax as the company has offices in California as well as Texas.

What are knife laws like?

Knife laws?  Maybe a little odd.  Maybe not.  There are several sites which address them.  Some by lawyers pretending to give advice while not advertising.  Not sure they help.  What kind of carry/issues are you thinking of?  I wouldn't carry a switchblade.  It's not unusual to see pocket clips but not even remotely aware of any issues as to length, kinds of locking or not locking blade.  There is law on fixed blade knives (not called knives but dirks and (or?) daggers, etc., that can be carried openly attached at the waist.

It's like having a firearm in a state park.  It begins to become difficult to track different parts of the different codes and laws.  Locked and not loaded in a case, not allowed at all, allowed in a temporary residence/campsite.  "School zones," prohibited areas, etc., etc.  If a handgun is unloaded and locked in an appropriate container it's just not likely to be an issue.  The last couple of national and state park campsites I've been in, you'd attract attention trying to somehow "open" deal with a firearm as part of being at a temporary domicile/residence.  Locked away in the trunk, who is going to know or care?  While the "trunk" could be considered as a locked container in itself, that leads to "juggling" around if you should need to take it into a residence, office, etc., where it might be legal but that movement could run afoul of "open carry" on it's own.

Are you in the habit of getting stopped for motor vehicle violations?  Attract attention on the street because you look like the guy that just robbed a local convenience store?  Drunk and/or disorderly is your normal state of being?  Read up on the laws.  If you're not a frequent flyer with law enfocrsment, it's hard to see whil there should be any problems.

Open carry of fixed blades is okay, especially so in the back country, but it has to be plainly visible.

Some cities (like Los Angeles) have laws which are more restrictive than State laws.

You need to read the actual laws.  They're available on the CA DOJ web site.

How high up, elevation wise? Sac ain't really to awful high above sea level so I assume you mean the Sierras?...

All I know at this point is I will be one the safety guys  for chainsaw crews working on clearing power lines.

Couldn’t say on elevation. How high up do power lines run?

Was just skimming through y’all’s  knife and weapon laws.

Wow. Clear as mud. Lol.

For SMUD we go from about 30' to 6,500' of elevation for our power lines.

Awesome! I am looking forward to doing safety observations somewhere other than an offshore oil rig.

Playing in the woods/ mountains will be an awesome change.

Although I am usually toting a rifle and looking for elk when I am hiking in elevation.

Most of our line guys are big time outdoors people, we have company sponsored poker runs on the rubicon trail for the 4x4 guys as well. Lots of fun to be had in the mountains around here.

This is why I recommended you read them yourself.  I would not presume to understand them anywhere near well enough to summarize them or make recommendations.

It’s official. I will be leaving United States and coming to California for about 6 months.

I will be in San Ramon on Wednesday.

Y’all really do have a gorgeous state and I look forward to playing in the woods there.

San Ramon is a nice town in the east bay area.  Nowhere near any of the fires though.   I'm assuming that's your initial staging area and you'll be deployed as needed to various locations throughout northern CA.  Just a guess.

eta I wish I could give solid weather info but it varies so much.  Some years the fire season goes well into November or even early December, north of the bay area in the coastal range the season is usually shorter.  A typical year the fire season north of the bay area shuts down by October, it actually rains up there,  south of that imaginary line fire season can easily go into November or December.  Or we may not get any rain.  Or it could be epic flooding.  Dunno'.  Northern coastal range usually gets a LOT of rain, that's where a lot of grow ops were traditionally based.  Sparsely populated, beautiful scenery, deep woods but not high elevations.  Northern valley around Redding is completely different terrain,  very hot in the summer,  a different type of beauty but beautiful all the same.  Before the fires.  Now, I don't know.  The east side is another type of terrain and microclimate, it is rugged country,  mountains descending into beautiful lush valleys, more mountains then high desert then Nevada.  I know we have HTF members who live up around Redding, hopefully they can give you a better idea of what to expect in the winter.

Yep

Wow.

Your state is a rolling worst case nightmare scenario for wildfire.

Just from the highways I am seeing hundreds of acres of 1hour fuels going up hills and mountains into the heavy fuels with little or no fire breaks.

On some of the areas where land owners have cut/scraped breaks, they stop at the right of way. I asked a guy why they did not go ahead and scrape the last 8 feet of dry grass away and I was told that they could face massive fines for it.

Is that accurate ?

Yes.

Another WTF moment - my family would be fined if we did not keep the weeds down to bare dirt.  Were it not maintained, the State would come in and disc it.  My inlaws would get billed for the work and fined for not doing it themselves.  <-- multi-$10k of fees and fines.

Right across a narrow country road, closer than their own trees, lies a HUGE gully that is so full of chapparal, weed trees, etc, it looks level with the road.  You cannot even tell it is 50' deep.  It is a tinder box waiting for a firebug.

As it is owned by the State, it is neither maintained nor can an individual maintain it.  It will also likely never cause any State agency to be fined.

That is crazy. Beautiful state though over governed.

I got my location assignment. I will be in the Santa Cruz area.

Santa Cruz = NICE!  You got lucky, dude.

Over governed but governed by idiots.

The local UC mascot is the Banana Slug.

The coastal mountains around Santa Cruz are really nice.  Lots of manzanita.  In places it's very heavy timber.  Coastal redwoods.  And yeah, banana slugs. lol  There used to be a lot of small grow ops out in the deep woods, I'm sure things have changed since I worked up there a long time ago.  It used to be really popular with killers as a great place to dump bodies.

Been here about 3 weeks now. All of it in the area around Alameda county.

I am actually kind of shocked as the majority of the people I have interacted with are not lefties at all.

My expectations were jaded by the number of affluent lefties that are fleeing and coming to Texas

There is a sentiment amongst quite a few of the folks I have met that they are either thinking about giving up voting or already have. I have heard from more than one person that voting in California is like voting in Venezuela.

Really sucks to hear that. Wish more of the conservatives from your state would come east instead of the ones we are getting.

Gorgeous state.
Your state income tax sucks.

Agreed on the taxes! And the beauty of this state, sadly the liberals that have in fluxed over the years have ruined it politically!

Even though everything I vote for or against the opposite seems to be the outcome(and that is disheartening at times), I just cant do nothing and look at myself and family in the morning, so I will continue to vote until such time arises that I am able to vote with my feet.

The November ballot is filled with one tax or bond spending measure after another.  It's appalling.  I vote against them all.  It doesn't matter, they all pass, anyway.

There seems to be a belief that it is not so much liberals coming in, but illegal voting ( illegals, dead people, and other voter fraud on a massive scale)

How much truth is there to that?

I'm sure its both. CA has become a sanctuary state(officially or not) for some time now. And the lib influx took place a few decades ago.
A perfect storm if you will. Libs over run and allow the illegals to stay, refuse to criminalize them and give them hand outs. You also have those that throw in the towel and say my vote doesn't count, so they don't get out and vote, and there are the fuds that don't care as long as they have their hunting rifles.

If you are here long enough to be a resident and vote, I encourage you to do so. We need all the help we can get.

Also, enjoy the beauty CA has to offer wile you are here, as often as you can. I see you are in the Santa Cruz area, its nice, but get out of the liberal coastal areas to visit the Sierras as well. There is a bunch to see and do in northern CA.

I am actually in the Canyon area right now but I just put in a request to get moved to one of the mountain crews as I am getting bored with slow rolling hills.

I will update as I get moved around. Having a blast and making good money, but I sure do miss Texas .

Heading home on Friday. Got a full time job at home.

Have been working in Paradise since the fire started( about a month now)

Thanks for having me.

I really wish that more of the people I have met would be the ones migrating to Texas vs the ones who seem to actually move to Texas.

State of Jefferson people , good luck! I hope it happens for you.

Adios, good luck in your new job.  I'm glad to hear that it wasn't all bad.

Have a safe trip home. Enjoy the holidays.  Thanks for helping Californians.

Thanks for the help Hoji.

Enjoy the holidays with your family.

I live in San Ramon.

Glad you enjoyed the trip.  Most people I work with aren’t that liberal as you discovered.  Lots of shooters / hunters / outdoorsmen here.

Yep, thanks for the hand.  Going to be a lot of line work going on.  Catch up for the fires and trying to keep ahead of problems.