Hello,

I may be moving to the Columbus area for work and I am wondering how the general hobby shooting climate is? Basically I'd like to know how gun friendly or unfriendly the area is.

Are there lots of places to go shooting?
Are there crazy city/county/state laws regarding guns?

Thanks for any and all responses I really appreciate it.

Columbus is pretty spread out. Which side/Area?

If you're coming from Nevada, it might not be exactly what you're looking for.  If you pull off the highway to shoot broken down cars, the police officers in Ohio might not smile and wave.



That said, I came from a pretty crappy gun state, so I find the shooting climate in Ohio favorable.  Statewide preemption eliminated local restrictions on semiauto rifles, standard-cap mags and CCW.  There's still private property that's posted no carry, but it's not overwhelming, and the pro-gun movement seems to have good momentum to continue to expand the legal bounds of carry.



The only stupid, random law is the "No loaded non-CCW mags in cars."  So, if you're going to the range, you're supposed to have empty mags until you're at the range.  Practically speaking, I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for this.



As far as the specifics of Cbus, you'll have to hear from somebody that knows the area more.  It's a beautiful city but I've never been there long enough to track down the ranges and such.

The Mayor of Columbus is not especially gun-friendly...siding with the positions of other big-city mayors on firearms.  I doubt you will want to live inside of the outerbelt anyway.  The suburbs are generally OK on this issue.  There are only a few public/private ranges available.  OTOH, if you had five acres and a good backstop, lots is possible.  I hear shooting all weekend long around my neighborhood.  Those folks just have a bit of acreage and do their thing.  I am envious of them.

dvo

Thanks for the responses so far.  I don't know much more than a position would be opening up in the Columbus area (likely a work from home job) so suggestions on good suburbs or parts of town would be great.  thanks again

Mostly gun freindly. Most of the cities are run by the Dems. The major in Columbus is an idiot You can't carry in most restaurants since most of them serve beer & wine and the CCW class takes 12 hours when it only needs to be like 3.

What no one mentioned yet, but I found very true is that as a community, Ohio is great. Lots of competitions, shoots and events here, and a lot of great shooters & orgs. dedicated to our sport. I've made so many friends through firearms it's hard to keep track. That's not true in every state, and since we're small in geography it's easier to connect and do things.



There are also a lot of stores and places locally to get all your goodies - Columbus has Vance's & Buckeye Outdoors, we've got SOG, Aimsurplus, the CMP North Store, among others.



Also a lot of gun shows in the area.



Law wise, it's a wash....we're NFA-friendly, decent CCW (actually probably preferable to Nevada's in some ways), and the only booger on our state laws is the no-31+ round mag inserted into rifle rule...but it's mostly unenforced and doesn't affect owning or loading mags, only putting them into the gun.





Columbus is, like many big cities, kind of a shit hole but most of the suburbs are nice and it's a great area to live in with a lot to offer and you're close to everything. If I were doing it, I'd suggest getting 25-30 miles out of town, commutes are easy here, and the freedom is worth it.

in a nutshell

- we have an NRA A-rated governor (all other "controversy aside"..)
- we have an NRA A-rated attorney general
- we have a largely pro-gun legislature
- we have some great grassroots groups who've helped move things forward!
- shall issue CCW
- firearms preemption (although is is currenlty being challenged by cleveland )
- castle doctrine (applies to home and inside vehicles)
- a world class training facility in SW Ohio (www.tdiohio.com)

but there is still work to be done to improve and defend what we have!

other than this forum, i'd invite you to check in at the Buckeye Firearms forum, lot's of great folks there to chat w/ and respond to specific questions..     http://forums.buckeyefirearms.org/index.php

Edit:
oh, and a soon-to-be elected A-rated Senator, Rob Portman who's leading the anti-gun demorat by 20pts in the polls!

My next move I would like to get further out for sure.

We can have SBR's, Suppressors, and Machineguns. Plus LLC;s have no yearly fee

I don't know where you stand on taxes and retirement but one of the biggest pitfalls for Ohio is it has the 7th highest tax burden in country and generally considered not retirement freindly. These are things to consider when the kids grow up and the income is fixed.

Have to look at cost of living tho, lots of places with lower taxes are much more expensive to live.



 

The Brady Bunch gives Ohio an 11 out of 100, and Nevada a 9 out of 100.  A lower number is better.  So there's that.  

as for suburbs, go north or east.

New Albany has an indoor range.  never shot there, but been in there once.

Delaware has Blackwing Shooting Center,  they have a massive outdoor trap, skeet, sporting clays range.  An indoor rifle and pisto ranges.  they have a few rental guns.  there is also an outdoor range north of delaware that is ran by the state.  $5/day or $25/year to shoot.  they have a pistol range and a rifle range.  and a place to shoot trap if you have a thrower.

Powell has an indoor range.  i've never been in.


Vance is awesome,  but it's in a bad neighborhood.

I feel like I'm in a nice gun friendly area on the north-west side of 270.  Moved back here from IL so I feel quite free.