Hi, I currently live in california and I am looking at moving to northern utah and would like some info about utah from people who actually live there. I read all of the tourist stuff and it looks nice but that stuff always looks nice. How is the waether, the job market, most importantly how are the gun laws? Whats it like being a gun nut in utah? Thanks guys.

Well, I don't live in northern Utah.  Live in the west part of SLC (West Valley ironically :P).  Gun laws are great!  I believe we are shall issue on CCW.  Average cost is bout' $35 to get it + pistol.  Very AR-15 friendly.

Weather is another matter.  I'v had it many times where it will be raining or snowing in the front yard, and not the back yard and vice versa :).  But overall the weather isn't too extreme (May get the occasional blizzard year).

Outdoor possibilities are almost limitless, mountains all over the place, lakes, hiking trails....ATV trails.....lots of public land to shoot at.

Hope this helps a bit!

Oh and the job market is so-so.  If you are in IT like me....the market is a bit flooded, but other occupations are decent I believe.

Thanks, that was great.I am actually in retail and would be moving with my dad as well. You told me everything that I wanted to hear...now I just need to get the money to move.

The weather in Utah is great.  We actually have all four seasons.  It gets pretty hot during the summer (usually a week or so of 100 degree temps, lots of 90+ days), and winter hasn't been too bad for the past many years.  In fact I'm having a little difficulty remembering when it got below 0 degrees last.  Anything above about 10-15 deg. is pretty comfy.

Humidity is pretty low, since we live in a desert.  50% humidity is "muggy" to me.  Spring and fall are great - very mild, sometimes it rains.

Gun laws are quite liberal.  No restrictions on ownership of anything, except for silencers in Salt Lake County (lawmakers screwed up a couple years ago writing their pre-emption statute, we gotta get that fixed).  Concealed carry permits are $59 and good for five years, renewal is $5 or $10.  The CCW exempts you from the Brady check and the corresponding fee, saving you about $7.50 for each gun you buy.

You can carry pretty much anywhere but the common sense big places - airport, jails, post offices, courthouses, etc.  You can carry in restaurants and bars too, but you can't be legally drunk (.08) and carry.

The shooting facilities, honestly, need some work for a city the size of Salt Lake (about 1.5 million people in the valley).  The state has a really nice outdoor range at the Lee Kay center, but don't allow full automatic or rapid fire, and are closed on Mon/Tues.  The other outdoor ranges are a bit worn down, and the only decent indoor range is 30 miles away in American Fork.  The couple indoor ranges in Salt Lake are at Doug's (poorly lit and in pretty bad shape due to lack of maintenance) and small (Totally Awesome Guns).

There are a lot of gun stores, but no one really has any great deals on bulk ammo, so mail order still seems to be best.

Utah, like many other states, is over run by illegal Mexicans.  I would not doubt that there are 200,000 or more in the SL valley.  This has caused the opening of marginal Mexican restaurants everywhere and more and more places catering to serving the illegal market.  Utah is also stupid enough to give these losers drivers licenses, and even let's their kids qualify for in state tuition.  Of course, any argument against illegals is met with cries of "racist" just like anywhere else.

On the job market, jobs are available but wages seem to be lower than in surrounding states.  Just because you make $90,000 a year in CA doing some tech job, doesn't mean you'll make it here.  Cost of living is considerably cheaper than in CA, so that helps.

We won't have gas supply problems like they did in AZ a while back because there's a refinery in North Salt Lake, so as long as they get oil, we'll have gas.

Quoted: The shooting facilities, honestly, need some work for a city the size of Salt Lake (about 1.5 million people in the valley).  The state has a really nice outdoor range at the Lee Kay center, but don't allow full automatic or rapid fire

That defined as more than 1 shot every 2 seconds at Lee Kay.  I still don't understand that one...

Very gun friendly when compared to Kalifornia. Not bad overall, you can get your CFP there.

Job market sucks, my brother in law lived in Utah county for like 2.5 years looking for a job, he ended up moving to Kalifornia...

It might not be so bad outside of Utah county. However my uncle lives there and he is richer than almost anyone I know... But he is a CEO of a company he co-founded.

Utahns are notoriously "cheap". Not necessariliy in a bad way but they all tend to be very thrifty. Yes, that's the word. So, prices are competetitive because everyone wants a deal.

Good place for hunters.

Summers are similar to Kalifornia but with thunderstorms towards the end of summer. Fall is cool, the leaves are awesome in the canyons around this time. Winters are cold with snow and such but nothing too bad.

Quoted: Utahns are notoriously "cheap". Not necessariliy in a bad way but they all tend to be very thrifty. Yes, that's the word. So, prices are competetitive because everyone wants a deal.

That's a bunch of crap.  Utahns are the cheapest buggers on the planet.

Edited to add: How do I know?  When I delivered pizza in college, I received, not once, but twice, a 2 cent tip!  Both times they said, hey thanks, keep the change.  woo hoo.  Cheap, cheap buggers....

Quoted: How do I know?  When I delivered pizza in college, I received, not once, but twice, a 2 cent tip!  Both times they said, hey thanks, keep the change.  woo hoo.  Cheap, cheap buggers....

Sorry, that might have been me.  If my pizza takes forever, I tend to take it out on the delivery guy.

Quoted:  No restrictions on ownership of anything, except for silencers in Salt Lake County...

I'm not sure if it's on the books as law or not but I have seen more than a few silencers transfered in Salt Lake County. I suspect it's because the CLEO sign off is by city officials, but regardless, they transfered and the owners have the stamps.

So there you have it, Utah is the gun Utopia of America.

Just a comment or two about the job market here in Northern UT.  I don't htink there's any shortage of work, generally speaking.  There's a lot of companies, government agencies, etc. and the state is very buisness friendly.  However, the job market seems unusally competitive to me.  I think that's due to a number of factors.  

There are and always have been a lot of big families around here.  For the most part kids grow up not really wanting to move anywhere else, but rather stay close to the fam'.  Secondly, Utah is very highly educated state.  There are more folks with BS or BA degrees than you can shake a stick at, depending of course on the size of your stick and the manner in which you shake it... highly
Just my ramblings/experience.  Hunting and shooting opportunities are pretty much limitless.  It's a beautiful area for sure.  I sometimes find myself longing to move to a less urbanized area, not that my wife feels that way mind you, but Northern Utah is not the place it once was even 10 to 15 years ago.  At least Davis county isn't.  That's not totally a bad thing, but if i had my 'druthers, I think I'd pick up and move to Wyoming or one of the three extreme northern counties in Utah.

Good luck in whatever you choose.