I will be relocating to Minnesota for work.  I will be working out of Roseville.  Can anyone help me give me some advice on areas to live that won't break the bank.  Also, are there any special gun laws I should know about?  I am currently living in Texas.  What is the process to purchase a pistol in your Fine State.

Welcome aboard. You'll love the winters.

Roseville is a nice burb. You might look around there, Arden Hills, New Brighton, White Bear Lake or you can go a bit north like Forest Lake, or a bit west to Fridley or Brooklyn Park  to get something a bit more affordable. There is really a wide range of prices in just about every town. Roseville and vacinity are middle of the price range burbs. Just stay out of North Minneapolis or parts of St Paul.  Other parts of Mpls and St Paul are nice. In the towns I listed, some are nicer than others, some are older and more affordable, and parts of some can get a bit sketchy, but nothing really too bad (except N Minneapolis). Obviously the further out you go, the cheaper. If you are looking at a map, stay north of Hwy 94 to avoid traffic going to work so you don't have to fight the downtown crowds.

Private party purchases are pretty easy here. You can get a permit to purchase from your local PD once you get here for free. Permits are good for a year and take about a week. Take a course up here to qualify for CCW and get a permit. Permit is good for 5 years and are about $100 plus training. Can purchase with the permit nice and easy. There is no waiting period once you have a permit to purchase or CCW. Lots of great training avaiable local. CCW takes about 30 days after submitting app.

CCW laws seem better up here too. No 30.06 type stuff which seem stricter than out tresspassing laws here. Other gun laws are pretty decent. Nothing is perfect, but at least we are not some commie state (maybe socialist), but mostly free.

I would have to disagree with goblue on brooklyn park or fridley being ok places to live. They have gone down hill in the last several years. YMMV. As for where is affordable, that would depend on how you define "affordable". If you want to buy a place to live, you should be able to eaisly find a new townhome for less that $200,000. Rent for a nice appartment should run in the $800 range , and middle of the road places were in the mid $600 range last time i looked.
Our gun laws aren't too bad. No supressors, C&R machine guns only, and no short barrel shotguns. If you want to hunt, we have a few strange quirks, but it seems every state does.

+1 for staying out of Fridley & Brooklyn Park.  They are cheap for a reason.

Roseville is a nice area, so are the surrounding burbs to the east and north.  I wouldn't go too far south or west though.

The gun laws are pretty decent.  Just check your non-C&R MGs & SBS, and silencers at the border and you're good to go.

Quoted: +1 for staying out of Fridley & Brooklyn Park.  They are cheap for a reason.

BP isn't bad if you stay north of 85th, east of broadway...basically all the new suburbs that were built in the 90's and more recently.

The problem we're currently experiencing (someone buying a house in the neighborhood and turning into "affordable" housing) has helped to create some questionable visitors and any neighborhood could be a victim of similar problems...but that was quickly resolved with a notice signed by several houses that we have plans to form a neighborhood watch and that we were going to remain vigilant in the short term and report suspicious activity...strangely enough, the questionable visitors quickly tapered off.

if you have non-C&R MGs you can still keep them in MN, but it requires another license (ammo makers license), and i think the licensed premises needs to be a non-residential, so you can't license your house.  

Bob Bowman seems to be the expert on going this route, last time i spoke with him about this route, he said he had helped maybe 3 dozen people do it this way.  i think it's like $30/yr for this license, i think its a form of an FFL (actually the form is the same as an FFL application, but you check the ammo maker box).  so i think you will have to get printed and have an interview, etc.  

once i get my cabin up on my property up north, i am going to apply for my ammo makers license for this premises (the zonings open, so i should be good).  we'll see how it goes.

Craig

I am relocating to new mexico and my house goes on the market tomorrow. I live in Coon Rapids, Shoot me a email for pictures at [email protected]

Thanks for all the great info... What is the residency restrictions for purchasing a pistol or getting My CHL??  In Texas, I had to be a resident for 6 months first.   Anyway... I look forward to getting into some real hunting according to my peers at work.  We shall see.  

Semper Fi-

Mutt_69

As far as I know, none. There is no differentiator for res/non res CCW. If I recall correctly, you need a MN DL to get a permit to purchase (but that does not apply to CCW). You can get a permit to purchase with the temp DL form the DMV gives you.

Welcome, I just relocated out here in July...

The permit to purchase question was mostly answered, except for one thing - you won't get a temp license from the DMV..at least, I didn't. They just punched a hole in my NY license. As a consequence, I didn't get my license number for quite a while..a couple or so months.  I had to wait for that to come in before I could get my permit to purchase, which requires the DL number. So, it may be a few weeks/month/etc before you can buy a handgun and/or "assault-type" weapon. (Some things fall under needing a permit to purchase to buy, like an AR, etc.) But, you can still buy long arms that aren't restricted like bolt guns and shotguns and whatnot.

As far as where to live...*shrug* Depends on how far you want to drive to get to work and etc I have a good realtor here I can hook you up with; he'll take care of you right.  Me, as I had never bought a house before, found him to be an invaluable resource, especially for moving out here...

Me, I live a cool 35 miles from work, about 45 minute drive in to Minnetonka, where I work out of. Being from NY, this is a "normal" commute time for me...and as a consequence, I live out in the middle of nowhere, with a monster lake and a golf course both within walking distance of my front door. (And horses and cows) Me, I like being out in the middle of nowhere.

As you're on the east side of the cities, Wisconsin is an actual viable place to set up shop. The upside to WI for our hobby is that it's a C-III friendly state..the downside is that there's no CCW (but there is open carry)...and if you work in MN, I don't think MN grants non-resident carry permits.

(The reason I say it's a viable place is that a friend of work lives out in Hudson WI, and he hauls in 50 or so minutes to work in Minnetonka...so it's not too horribly bad.)

Unless you're a city guy, don't discount 15-20-30 miles outside the city...

You will soon find, however, that open carry in Wisconsin is not worth the trouble...

What are the laws concerning weapons in vehicles?  Can I carry a pistol in my vehicle without a conceal Carry permit?  I know long arms are probably okay but I was curious about pistols...

You need a permit to carry a loaded firearm (HG or LG) in the vehicle.
Otherwise it must be in a closed gun case unloaded.

Okay so here is another important question.  The Pistol permit that I have to get from the local PD I was told it was good for a year.  Is it one permit per pistol or can I use one permit to buy several pistols??  If I can only use one permit per pistol can I get more than one permit at a time.  Let's say I am about to head out to a gun show and want the ability to purchase more than one pistol.  What other types of weapons will I need permits for??  Will I need a permit to purchase my next AR or AK??  Will I have to register any of my non-Class C weapons with the state when I move there?  Do I need a permit to do a face to face sale between two private citizens??


Semper Fi-

Mutt_69

Okay so here is another important question.  The Pistol permit that I have to get from the local PD I was told it was good for a year.  Is it one permit per pistol or can I use one permit to buy several pistols??  If I can only use one permit per pistol can I get more than one permit at a time.  Let's say I am about to head out to a gun show and want the ability to purchase more than one pistol.  What other types of weapons will I need permits for??  Will I need a permit to purchase my next AR or AK??  Will I have to register any of my non-Class C weapons with the state when I move there?  Do I need a permit to do a face to face sale between two private citizens??


Semper Fi-

Mutt_69

You are good to go with one pistol permit. You can buy a whole aresneal.
The point of the pistol permit is to eliminate a waiting period in new purchases after the permit is issued.

Will get back to you on the other ?s

The pistol purchase permit (not to be confused with the CCW permit in MN) allows you to buy AR's as well.  Unfortunately, it does allow you to buy more than one, thus is not an effective deterrent to stop me from spending money like I'm drinking beer

I don't believe you need a permit at all to purchase/sell private party, but legally you can't sell to them if you know them to be ineligible to possess.  Since there is not permit required, I'm not sure how you can really verify it....

Quoted:  What other types of weapons will I need permits for?? Will I need a permit to purchase my next AR or AK??

Any handgun or military style assault rifle.

Will I have to register any of my non-Class C weapons with the state when I move there?

I assume you mean non-Class III -- Minnesota has no firearm registration whatsoever for Title I arms.  Title II MGs and SBS require registration with the BCA.  SBR does not.

Do I need a permit to do a face to face sale between two private citizens??

I don't know what the legal requirements are for requiring a permit, but everyone I know wont do a FTF without it, for their own safety and peace of mind.

what is all this "permit" stuff you speak of...

Quoted: what is all this "permit" stuff you speak of...

With any luck, you will find out in a matter of months...

Quoted: If you drive up into northern Minnesota you can generally find some FANTASTIC hunting.  Drive out into northern prairie lands like near ND, I hear they've got INCREDIBLE prairie dog / varmint shooting!  I don't know personally because Dan has never invited me to join him up there for a weekend of dog blasting...  :-)

I can't seem to get enough time off at work to go spank some prairie dogs myself

"Minnesota" -  Where all assholes get along.