4Freedom

I was just wondering if anyone knows if the TN Department of Safety & Homeland Security will still be processing concealed handgun licenses and if there will be any delays with the Covid-19 outbreak. I've been meaning to get my CHL earlier, as I completed the 8 hour class and got my certificate. But, the lines at the DMV could be over 6 hours and I just was too busy to spend all day waiting at the DMV. Well, after the outbreak, I decided to go to my local DMV in Lebanon last week and finally was able to apply for my permit and only had to wait 30 minutes. Hahah, yeah, sad it took a global pandemic to make the DMV more accessible for me. I then was able to get into fingerprinting literally right after DMV , because the place I had my appointment scheduled moved me in earlier in case they close due to the pandemic. Well, it has been about a week now and I checked the online status and they definitely have the application, but says the background check is still pending and so is the application review. So, does anyone have any idea if I will ever see my permit? I really regret I didn't get it sooner. I also have 3 other CHLs from other states that are valid, so I did have a leniency period that probably is passed now. I wonder due to the emergency and new laws of 2020 if my out of state permits may be recognized now? Anyhow, just would really love to get my TN CHL finally and wondering if anyone has any inside knowledge about the situation with TN CHLs now? I have heard other less liberated states have shut down all 2nd Amendment related operations, such as gun stores, processing concealed handgun permits, etc. I am hoping TN will come through for its citizens in a crucial time like this.

I am not disagreeing with everything you wrote, but the mortality rate is almost 10% in Italy and approaching that in Spain. In England it is 5% and Germany is very likely hiding their mortality rates and labeling the deaths according to whatever pre-existing conditions people had. And, if America runs out of life saving equipment the mortality rate the mortality rate will go up. New York City is going to exhausted of all needed equipment and I think we will see a surge in the mortality rate and even infection rate as our hospital workers will be forced to be unprotected. My brother is working as a medical assistant/CNA in Portland, OR at OHSU that has less cases than places like Seattle and New York and he has told me even there he sometimes does not get all the protective equipment he needs due to shortages and that the staff are highly stressed. Also there are a shortage of nurses, as now many have to quit their jobs to stay home and take care of their children. Others are getting sick as well and no longer can treat patients. How many diseases have sent our 45 year old politicians to the hospital to be put on breathing equipment? Your average flu doesn't do that. That being said, the interview with Dr. Michael Osterholm (one of most intelligent disease specialists I have yet to hear speak) with Joe Rogan was a very sobering and yes, fearsome, in some ways of the potential reality of this epidemic. I do think that we need an adequate testing system that is easily available, inexpensive and can be distributed to almost everyone in the country before we open up our economy. If we open up our economy it should be in little steps and very limited. Major cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and most certainly New York must certainly avoid any situation where large numbers of people are grouped togehter. Our country wasn't prepared for this epidemic and we can deny it all we want, but we just never thought any tragedy of this level could ever hit our secure borders. And, now we have to reap the results of it and we should only be thankful this is not a worse disease that could have crippled us for generations. At least we will have different priorities in the future now and be prepared for our next pandemic, especially if an Open Borders type of leader gets elected who wants unchecked borders and more illegal immigrants with very little in the way of monitoring. In our world that is overpopulated, open borders, where people travel everywhere and where people still have poor dietary and hygiene habits, these diseases will only become more prevalent not less. I don't think our death rate will be as high as Italy. Contrary to media propaganda, their health system is not better than ours, they do not have as many ICUs as the USA has , as well they have much limited number of highly trained medical staff , as well as a much older population and a significant larger amount of smokers. But, I still think we will definitely be seeing higher mortality rates than we are now once we have equipment and staff shortages, which will be inevitable in the current state.

I think one of the Founding Fathers who was a key player in ratification of the 2nd Amendment in our Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, summarized the reasoning of the 2nd Amendment with his own logical statements. Of course, the fascists Constitutional Reconstructists (like most new aged liberals and RINOs today) would argue Thomas Jefferson must have been tripping on some funky stuff that day and never really meant it.. Liberal Logic.. Right!! "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Well, if people are only allowed to have muskets or bolt action hunting rifles, and the government is allowed to own all the small arms and artillery they desire, that would make Thomas Jefferson's arguments completely invalid. These are just one of many statements our Founding Fathers have given defending the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for the citizenry. Basically, our modern day National Socialist type of politicians like many Democrats, even many Republicans (such as those who support EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDERS to circumvent that "annoying" 2nd Amendment) are pretty much finding any means possible to debunk and manipulate the true sentiments of the authors of the Amendment and the true meaning of our Constitutional Laws. "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." They say owning AR-15s causes mass-shootings? Yet, my relatives in Belarus were not allowed to own any type of firearm and were the victims of mass shootings many times greater than any in this country by the hands of the Russian, Polish and German governments! So, I think Thomas Jefferson made another very bold and wise statement here "To disarm the people...s the most effectual way to enslave them."

Im getting ready for 25 hours of praying and fasting tonight. Best wishes to everyone on their day of prayer and fasting. God Bless you all (or whatever Higher Power you believe in) and God bless our Founding Fathers.

Be certain that you haven't been a victim of identity theft as well. My brother's identity was stolen and a couple weeks ago he was alerted by his bank that criminals were going to cannabis stores in Oregon (he lives in the SF Bay Area) and buying huge amounts with a credit card in his name. As well, he has had strange activity today on his bank account and received a myserious $7000 deposit into his bank account. Yeah, some may think that is super cool, but it could be criminals trying to launder some drug money or testing to see if he is monitoring his account. God only knows what other heinous ideas the criminals with his identity may try to do. He is so lazy and naive about this that he hasn't even bothered pursuing any action, up until today. A while back he would just click on every hacker/phishing email he got and would supply his social security number and all his personal information and such and already was alerted by his bank that somebody was trying to change all his personal information and take control of his bank account. He is just very naive, despite being an intelligent guy. I am not saying that happened to you, but identity theft is a very huge dilemma in this day and age. If you supplied your SSN and this happened it does make me worry a bit. BUt, remember, you have government officials processing these forms and it could always be somebody types your SSN or name wrong. Being a software developer, I can also tell you that computer systems malfunction and databases get corrupt and the wrong data could be queried; especially, in a federal database as large as that used for NICS. This was one thing I liked about living in Idaho and having a CHL there, all firearm purchases bypass the NICS check, which causes these types of headaches and of course, gives Big Brother more information than he really should have about a law abiding citizen. Anybody who doesn't sign up for an identity monitoring service like Privacy Guard in this day and age is doing themselves a disservice. Of course, the odds of somebody using a fake identity and committing a crime is not very likely, but it is not impossible either.

I pray frequently and I am praying more now than ever that we don't lose our 2nd Amendment Rights. I'm all for us praying that God (or whatever Higher Power/Belief you have), will prevent us from losing these very precious rights that are both suppose to be guaranteed in our Constitution , as well as being what I feel is the God given right of Self-Defense. Amen to that!

As much as I staunchly support the freedom of religion and believe it is worth dying to protect such a freedom, I do not support a government that enforces their version of religion upon the masses and feel it is every bit a violation of our constitutional rights as stripping away our 2nd Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. I am also not a Christian and my relatives in Europe were massacred because of their religion (not being the correct type of faith), including my grandmother's village which was exterminated during the Nazi invasion of Belarus. One of the things I cherish about America is that I do not live in a theocratic nation like Iran, Jesuit Spain or monarchy like governments that enforce both a worship of the state and specific type of religion. If America becomes such a nation, I would have to re-think if this is truly the America I wish to be in. Of course, many of my relatives fled the Soviet Union as early as the 60s. My grandmother worked hard with diplomats and government officials to help them flee when the Iron Curtain starting collapsing after Khrushchev's leadership. They came to America because they wanted freedom to practice their religion, as well as not being bound to a corrupt and self-destruction economic system (communism) that left them poor, hungry and struggling to survive. However, they had to keep their religious beliefs secret and could be imprisoned or executed for challenging the state in any way, including practicing religion which was illegal. Therefore, I can say state institutionalized religion or enforced atheism or both two evils with many similarities. I am also probably not so popular being a more small-government, Libertarian-tilted Republican. However, if a Governor wants a day of prayer, it should be a prayer where all backgrounds are represented. Not that I believe any government should enforce praying and fasting as is done in Islamic or in the old Medieval or old Christian theocratic type countries.

Thank you QuackerSmacker.. I just finally got done moving and feeling like a zombie. I'm glad to hear you managed to escape Illinois! I have to be honest, I always hate having to drive through Illinois as all three of my carry permits are not recognized there. It's a pain.. And, my GPS one time got me lost in East St. Louis and I was pretty freaked out.. That is one of the rougher towns I have seen. I just drove through half of Illinois to get to Kentucky a couple days ago. I never realized how rural and empty most of the state is. I am sure , like my home state of Oregon, one city dictates the laws of the rest of the state. Yeah, I think I'll take Tennessee winters over Minnesota or Illinois winters I am looking forward to living in Tennessee and hope I can make it here in Nashville. I'm going through a tough time with the dying family business and may end up needing work. I am hopeful things will work out in the end. I am happy to be out of the West Coast.. It is just going downhill. It is sad to see my home state turn into the cesspool it has become.. Hopefully, Tennessee can manage to retain its charm and stability even with the growth and large number of transplants moving here.

Thank you guys for the welcome! I just arrived to Nashville, TN after a very rigorous journey in my truck from Denver, CO. I got caught in a horrible storm once I started approaching Hays, Kansas that I am glad I lived through! There was tornado warnings along the whole route I was driving and I got caught in a thunderstorm from hell. I am from the Pacific Northwest and not use to the nutty Midwestern summer weather. There was non-stop lighting that blinded my eyes since I was driving at night. Then I got caught in a very bad hail storm that was pummeling my truck and sounding like I was getting smashed with stones. After reading the news report I was told it was about golf ball size hail. I saw some bad accidents, people terrified and huddling together under freeway underpasses trying to wait out the storm. The rain and wind got very heavy and hearing the loud thunder I was terrified there could be tornado clouds moving towards me in the night. I'm not use to being in a storm of this caliber being from a place that doesn't get psycho weather of this capacity. Once I arrived in Hays, KS I waited out the storm to pass and there were emergency weather reports all over the TV stations telling people not to drive. I literally watched the storm pass over me and then saw it move out far beyond me in the distance which actually looked pretty cool. I was very happy I endured all this in a 26ft rental truck and not in my own car. It kind of shielded me from some of that weather and wasn't worried about the hail damage Hi xtriggerman, well, Nashville probably would have not been my first pick, but if I cannot start and online business and since our family software business is falling apart, I may end up having to find some IT work (anything I can do with my back condition) and Nashville obviously is the place to be. I have done some research on inversion tables and have had heard of some people who have had a lot of success with them. Some others claim they haven't helped them as much. I have had some success with physical therapy and have yet to engage into the deep physical therapy (because of my cross country move) that my therapist in Colorado wanted me to do. However, I am big into alternative treatments and tend to live as naturally as I can. I'd be interested to learn more about that book and whenI get time spend some reading it. I also read another book that helped me in the past (i've had a long history of bad back/neck form this job), called Healing Back Pain Naturally. When I get more time, I may like to discuss some of this with you. Once I get settled from this dreaded move, I plan on spending time trying to rehabilitate myself. I really abused myself with this move, but the collagen/joint supplements and other types of supplements I have been taking I think helped me get through it better than I could have. I've notice some improvement from what I am taking. I am taking a line of supplements fro ma company Ancestral Supplements that includes Raw Collagen, Raw Trachea and Raw Bone Marrow. As well taking Bone Broth and other Collagen supplements that seem to be helping. I appreciate you sharing with me about your solutions. I'm always eager to learn more from others. It's been a tough journey fighting through this DDD and neck injury issues I have.

Thank you Jeb! Yeah, I have heard Tennessee is very friendly and on my short 10 day visit I was impressed by how nice the people were. Nashville, of course, is the big city, and people are never quite as friendly as in the smaller towns. But, even for a big city, it seemed pretty friendly. I really liked the people I met hanging around Murfreesboro. That town had a lot more charm than I expected and I really liked all the old buildings and even the college campus was pretty impressive. Downtown Lebanon really looks historic and pretty impressive. I admire the architecture of the cities in Tennessee. Sadly, they have been demolishing most of the historic buildings in Oregon and Washington to build more ugly condos and apartments. Seattle almost has lost all its historic buildings. Ballard, for example, use to be such a nice quaint (although , a bit gritty and rough around the edges) fishing village with a lot of Norwegian descendants. The Norwegian parade is a big deal there (or it was). Now, its an ugly plastic strip of overpriced condos, apartments and tacky and overpriced restaurants. Colorado has brutal enough winters for me and I would just die living in Minnesota. I don't know the appeal of it. I've also heard friendliness in Minnesota is a little more like that of the Northwest in its friendliness, which is polite and all, but a little aloof. Cold, dreary places tend to promote introverted culture. People in Tennessee seem a lot more social and outgoing to me. Colorado is kind of like a hybrid of Oregon and Wyoming. It is definitely a pioneer state and people are very independent and like to keep to themselves. Not a fan of Denver at all, but I do like Colorado Springs a lot and that area is pretty gorgeous. Although, not a lot to do in the Springs if you are a single guy. Boulder does have some nice scenery, but if you are not a liberal billionaire it is just not worth it. If I was to live in a mountain town, Knoxville is just as scenic as Boulder, a fraction the price and more my taste, anyhow. I found people in Knoxville to be real friendly and love the beauty of Smokey Mountains. And, of course, I am going to take a trip to the new Bud's Gun Shop that is located there I just cannot wait to get out of here. I've been packing up morning until night, since my trip lasted longer than I thought it would and I got to drive a 26 ft rental truck.. Just hope we don't get more monster hail storms like we been having. Two weeks ago, record hail (4.5 in wide) fell on the Colorado/Kansas border and damaged a lot of trucks. Looking forward to getting this dreadful move done with!

I just wanted to say hello "again" to everyone on this forum. I joined many years ago when I thought I was moving to Tennessee and have time to time come to browse the forum and make a few posts. However, I have never in my life lived in Tennessee , but always was intrigued by the state and did end up living in North Carolina for a short time. Well, I just wanted to say I will be moving to the Nashville area next week and wanted to send my greetings again, now that I will become a Tennessee resident. I am originally from the Pacific Northwest (state of Oregon) and currently live in Denver, Colorado area. It appears so much of the West Coast is just not what it use to be and as much as I miss my native Oregon, the place is just not where you want to be if you want to be successful in business or cherish your gun rights. The state has been pretty much been taken over by the most liberal types. Colorado I guess is on its same way. After visiting Nashville I was pretty impressed by how much cleaner and nicer of a city it was then most of the West Coast cities. It is sad to see how much of a dump Portland, Seattle and Denver have become, the uncontrolled homelessness, mental health and drug issues. I was impressed by Nashville and the beauty of Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga were impressive. I also remember driving over the Smokey Mountains last year and they were quite bewildering and beautiful. I am struggling a bit in a dying family business and have incurred some disabilities from my many years of software work. I have degenerate disc problems and other injuries, but I am fighting through them and hoping to get a home-based software business launched. I may end up having to find work in Nashville, but having hope I can get back on my feet. The living costs in Tennessee and less taxes will be a bargain to what I am paying in Colorado. I am not a fan of Colorado; it just isn't for me. As well, this state is on its way to becoming the next California and gun rights are already being restricted. I really got a good deal on an apartment not too far from Nashville, but closer to Lebanon. It's a real beautiful area. I found the people in Tennessee to be pretty friendly and welcoming and spent a bit of time in Murfreesboro, Lebanon and Nashville proper. I wasn't shocked, but it does appear Nashville is quite a liberal city and all the sights of No Gun Signs and force of law will take some getting use to. Ironically, the liberals in Oregon/Washington are working on adopting those laws as well. The old cowboy/rancher/logger heritage mixed with Libertarian mentality of the Northwest helped keep those laws away, but I am sure they will instituted eventually, as well as Red Flag laws which are now already enforced. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if the Northwest and Colorado push Assault Weapon Bans, Mag Bans and even Forced Gun Buybacks. Washington already now has a gun registry for what they call "Assault Weapons", yet very few people have complied and registered their guns, despite the law stating you can be arrested and serve jail time for not doing so. It will be interested to see what happens in Washington and possibly soon Oregon. Anyway, I look forward to living in Tennessee. I haven't really had time or money to get involved in shooting, but I did get back on the waiting list of Strategic Edge (over year wait now). I'm hoping to do some more frequent pistol shooting again and maybe eventually when things are bit easier financially be able to shoot my ARs and other rifles.. It's been too long for me and I've gotten rusty. Life has just been a bit challenging for the last few years. Tennessee does appear to be a state that has a lot of people who love their gun rights, despite a few caveats like No Gun Sign laws and 8-hour course requirements for CHL. But, the gun laws appear more friendly than many other states, including North Carolina and South Carolina, which have some laws like Must Inform that I did not like. It would be nice to meet other people of this mentality, but I know these things take time when you are new to a place. Since I am moving to the Nashville area now, I will definitely spend more time on this forum.

It's RINO scum like Governor Mary Failing and Governor Rick Snott that inspired me to leave the Republican party and not look back. In my opinion, the Libertarian party is truly the only real pro-gun party in America. Many people are seriously deceived to think the Republican party was a historically pro-gun party. In fact, the Republican party was staunchly anti-gun and politicians like Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Rudolph Giuliani were some of the most vehemently anti-gun politicians in the history of our country. In fact, we can thank people like Reagan and Bush for helping push our first "Assault Weapon Ban". The fact that the Republican party magically became pro-gun after the Clinton era was more about opportunity to gain votes rather than a deep inherent moral belief in the 2nd Amendment. So, once these Republicans got your votes secured and have a strong grip on their political office than their true colors come to the surface and they will push their agenda of increasing the power of the bureaucracy, which so many Republicans and almost all Democrats support. There are many so-called Tea Party Republicans who support Extreme Risk Protection Orders at the federal level. So much for the 2nd Amendment, as ERPOs basically make the 2nd Amendment null and void. Many Americans are pretty much brainwashed sheep who don't believe they can support any other party and must keep voting for the same liars with all their bold promises and smooth political discourse, only to be disappointed again and again. Until people are ready to become a bit more open-minded, make some sacrifices and fight the status quo of the two-party bureaucracy, we will keep having more and more of our rights compromised and removed. The Democrats are pretty straightforward with their anti-gun/anti-freedom agenda, which actually makes them seem like less of a threat to me than the Republicans who pretend to support our rights and freedoms. After these Republicans gain our trust, they rip all those freedoms they swore to protect away from us under our feet. I am not stupid to think that in an election that I must only vote for the Libertarian candidate. So, my next best advice is to stop looking at the party names that so many of these lying, crooked, double-talking politicians like Rick Snott, Mary Failing and the rest of them have next to their name. Instead, look at their voting track record, the causes they support, how genuine of a person they are and political alliances. If they were staunchly anti-gun and then just a couple years before the election suddenly believe in the 2nd Amendment like a patriot, you may want to think deeply if they will still be so freedom loving and pro-gun once the marbles are all in their hand. I will say that gun rights come before almost all others for me, as the freedom of speech and religion are essentially tied together with the 2nd Amendment. My feelings are that only a small minority of Republican politicians are worthy of my vote. Although, staunchly pro-gun Blue Dog Democrats like Conor Lamb would get my vote over RINO scum like Mary Fallin or Rick Scott any day of the week if the election was between these two candidates. Like I said, we need to stop looking at the party names and start looking at the individual politicians. THe more aligned a politician is to America's One and Only Constitutionally sound party, the Libertarian party, the more likely we can be assured that this person will defend our freedoms and liberties. As of now, I think Rand Paul is one of the few Republicans I could even support anymore, although maybe there is a few others who I think won't turn on us, but it seems more and more of these so-called pro-gun politicians are turning on their voters once the pressure is applied and other factors like screaming liberal soccer moms and state finances (Constitutional Carry would have cost the Republicans in OK a lot of revenue, e.g.) are put into play.

Strangely enough, we get liberals moving here from all over, even Tennessee, who vote away my rights. This is what has led this freedom loving conservative to flee the place he grew up and doesnt even know anymore.

I appreciate everyone's responses here and their suggestions of what area I should move if I relocate to Tennessee. Well, I figured being a single 40 year old guy and a software developer, that Nashville would be the best place for me. As far as scenery and outdoors are concern, I think Knoxville would have been my ideal place. Also, I think the politics in Knoxville would be more agreeable with me, being a fairly conservative Libertarian. However, I have talked to some people from Knoxville and they told me if you are not married, don't go to church and a newcomer to the area that it is kind of hard place to break into and establish yourself. I will be working from home for the next couple years, although there is never a guarantee. If I ended up needing work, I think Nashville would be the best option for me. Also, being single guy, I have had a miserable time where I live meeting people. I live in a fairly conservative military community in the South Puget Sound and most people are married with kids and it is pretty hard to have much of a social life or meet people here. Then again, the culture here in the Northwest is pretty reserved and introverted. That is actually one of our weaknesses, as most conservatives don't know one another, whereas the liberals are always holding rallies, events and way more pro-active. Most conservatives here don't even vote in elections. I remember after they passed I-594 in Washington, many gun owners I talked to, didn't even know what I-594 was and that they just lost some of their gun rights. There is a unique culture in the Northwest of people who just like being left alone in the woods. I actually lived alone in the forest for 5 years, myself, on the Oregon Coast, and was somewhat a hermit for years. But, after living so many years in remote mountain areas, I kind of want some type of urban atmosphere. I'd like to live in a place that has some nice live music venues, bars and entertainment, etc. Even though I do love country life, I guess I kind of also would like some urban life, but not be overwhelmed by liberal zealots who hate my guts, like in Seattle. If Nashville is as liberal as Seattle, I guess I probably wouldn't be able to live there. I'm hoping there is some element of conservatism in the area. As far as traffic and crowds in Nashville, I hardly think it will phase me. If it is even half as bad as Seattle area then I would be shocked. I am use to sitting all day on freeways and taking 2 hours to drive from one side of a city to the other. If I lived in Nashville area, I'd consider moving to the outskirts to places like Hendersonville or even maybe Murfreesboro. I was pretty shocked at how cheap everything is in the suburbs of Nashville. In the Puget Sound, even the crappiest, crime infested, run-down suburbs still cost an arm and a leg. I"m also shocked to see how Tennessee seems to start having the same type of problems with liberal infestation of its urban cores as we are having here in the Northwest. I really pray that Tennessee does't end up like Oregon and Washington, but I guess that is how the tides are turning. If the Democrats take over in 2020, then living in the Northwest will be outright dangerous if you are a gun owner, especially with the nutjobs like Jay Inslee and Kate Brown who are all too eager to confiscate every firearm they can. Also, it's shocking to hear places like Chattanooga are very liberal. I was under the impression Chattanooga was a conservative mountain type of community. It is shocking to hear it is Tennessee own little version of Asheville, NC. Speaking of Asheville, it's terrifying to hear what that sheriff candidate, R Daryl Fisher was saying about murdering gun owners and joking about prying their guns from their cold, dead hands. Wow, I hope Tennessee doesn't elect any sheriffs like this. Anyway, I am glad to hear that it sounds like Tennessee's gun rights should be secure for a while ,at least. I'm predicting in the next couple years, that Oregon and Washington will become full on police state and they will pass a ban on Semi Automatic Firearms. I don't know how they will achieve the gun confiscation they keep championing, but I don't want to find out either, which is another reason I am leaving. For anyone who isn't aware of Ballot Initiative , it may be a good idea to read about it, as if it can happen in our backyard, it may happen in yours one day too. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180322/confiscation-oregon-initiative-seeks-to-ban-semiautomatic-rifles-mandate-current-owners-to-turn-them-over https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/03/22/confiscation-oregon-initiative-bans-so-called-assault-weapons-mandates-current-n2463470

Thanks for pointing that out. What i wrote was a typo and fixed it. Yep, obviously you can buy pre-ban, but not post-ban machine guns or full autos.

Hey peej, i know that Americans are not allowed to purchase post-ban fully auto rifles or machine guns. This is what liberals originally referred to as "Assault Weapons". Of course, today, any semi auto firearm (including pistols) that can accept greater than 10rd magazines are now referred as "Assault Weapons". In the 1700s, muskets were what many consider an "Assault Weapon". In fact, id go as far to say the rental truck used in the assault in Toronto killing 10 people could be classified, using liberal terminology as an "Assault Weapon". I hate using this term and i know ot is not accurate, but that is the term the liberal fascists use on their gun ban bills. I should have been more specific and said what are the chances of Tennessee passing a bill that would ban or confiscate semi auto firearms from law abiding citizens like is being proposed in Oregon and Washington.

That is good to hear Erik.. Thanks for responding. Thing are insane here in the Pacific Northwest and it isn't just the desire of the government to pass our nation's first gun confiscation bills. I just read in the news today that Amazon is considering leaving Seattle and has halted all its new building construction while the city votes on imposing a head tax that is suppose to be used for housing the homeless and redistributing the wealth to the poor. http://mynorthwest.com/974598/amazon-seattle-head-tax-headquarters/ Despite the city spending more and more on housing ,feeding, giving drug shoot up sites for the homeless, the homeless problem is just increasing and increasing. THey claim it is because the city is getting more expensive and has nothing to do with the fact they offer free lodging, food, drugs, etc to all the freeloaders around the country. And, lo and behold, they are coming in droves and giving the politicians votes. In the meantime, all the sane people, those who work for a living are fleeing. They want to take away our guns and our hard earned money. It already costs a fortune to live here. Anyway, I have lived in Idaho and really did not enjoy living there . Idaho is a great retirement destination, but with all the Californians moving there and retiring there, the cost of living is becoming even higher than Oregon and many parts of Washington. As well, Idaho has very high taxes and the taxes there would kill me. Idaho was great back when it was cheap place to live. As far as gun laws, Idaho probably cannot be beat and now has constitutional carry. I actually have an Idaho CHL which allows me to carry in over 30 states with reciprocity. I know there are many other locations in the country that have sound gun laws, but I actually am intrigued by Nashville and the state of Tennessee. Maybe, it is my love of folk and old-school country music, Southern culture, the weather , scenery , etc. Maybe, Tennessee has some type of enchanting feeling to me, like it is the last part of America's heartland and still has some of its own unique culture. As far as me trusting Republican dominated governments, I actually don't and I know that there is no where that is guaranteed to be safe from unconstitutional decrees. Of course, there is no significantly Democrat dominated state where people have any gun rights, that I am aware. I'm actually a Libertarian (fairly right-leaning, former Republican), myself, and I heard Nashville is more Libertarian friendly. Although, I hear it does have a large Democrat presence. I just hope it is not overwhelming like in Seattle and Portland. Ironically, the Portland I grew up in the 90s was quite Libertarian compared to today. Even most of the hippies I knew growing up had huge gun collections and hunted. Today, we have so many liberal California/East Coast transplants and they brought a completely new mentality to the region. Back in the 90s, Washington and Oregon had even less restrictive gun laws than Texas, which didn't even allow conceal carry at one point.

It is because of these two-faced, double-crossing RINOs that I left the Republican party and became a Libertarian. I've always said that it is sad that we are the slaves of two different parties that both desire to control our lives, minimize our freedoms and manipulate us via their political discourse. Don't get me wrong, I know that over 90% of Democrats want to remove my 2nd Amendment rights altogether. However, there are plenty of Republicans who pretend to support our gun rights and have the same exact intentions. However, there are a few exceptions, like guys like Conor Lamb, the pro-gun veteran Blue-Dog Democrat who won the US Representative race in Pennsylvania. If I was forced to chose between a guy like Rick Snott and Conor Lamb, it would be a pretty obvious choice, as gun rights take precedence to me over fiscal issues; even though both are important issues for me. As well, many people have a short memory when it comes to some of the old Republican heroes, like Reagan and Bush who were some of the biggest supporters and even made a lot of effort to ban "Assault Weapons" and helped push for a lot of gun control legislation. In fact, Republicans throughout history have been very anti-gun and were great contributors to gun control effort. The whole Pro-Gun Republican party deal is actually a newer phenomenon and people like Governor Rick Snott are just behaving the way Republicans did before the year 2000, when many were staunchly anti-gun. It just amazes me how people will praise ROnald Reagan on a gun forum and forget that this guy was as anti-gun as Obama or any of the Democrats we so loathe today. In fact, I would say that these Republican anti-gun politicians were much more effective at pushing gun control legislation than their Democrat counterparts. It's much easier for a wolf to kill the sheep if he is dressed up like a sheep. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/03/02/before-trump-defied-the-nra-ronald-reagan-took-on-the-gun-lobby/?utm_term=.94e345c34ab7

I've been interested in moving to Tennessee for a long time. Even though I did like growing up in the Pacific Northwest and it has been my home for almost all of my life, I have to say that the political climate has become insane. The governor, attorney general of both Washington and Oregon are now on a vendetta not only to push for an Assault Weapon Ban, but they are now advocating for a complete Gun Confiscation in both states. Oregon currently has a ballot initiative that would make it illegal to possess any semi-auto firearm that can accept magazines over 10 rounds. How the state of Oregon will actually succeed in disarming over one million gun owners in that state is questionable and I don't even want to think too deeply about it anymore. I just want to get the hell out of this place. Oregon and Washington are not the same places I grew up and all the ultra-liberal radicals from California, East Coast and wherever have gravitated to the NOrthwest and now are going to fix it and make it a hellhole like where they came from. I'm pretty heartbroken, because I will miss the beauty of the mountains, forests and nature here. However, I just cannot stick around. It goes even beyond gun control legislation as the loonies in Olympia and Salem (our capitals) are trying to punish the evil capitalists, raise taxes beyond oblivion and give refuge to every illegal and homeless person, so they can live as they please. There are other issues, as I never liked the weather in the Northwest which is cold and cloudy almost year round and smokey in the summer. As well, the traffic and cost of living is out of control. Anyway, I am describing in detail of my situation because I am looking to relocate somewhere in this country where I won't constantly have to worry about the Governor calling in the National Guard to bust my doors down and take my semi auto firearms away. Could this happen? I don't know, but we have a huge military infrastructure here and Oregon and Washington do have quite a sizable National Guard. Will they refuse orders and defend their fellow Americans over obeying commanding officers and government officials? That is not a question I wish to see the outcome.. I worry for some friends and family I have here, but there is not much I can do anymore. THis is not how I want to live, worrying about becoming a criminal every day of my life. Even if this bill or that ballot initiative fail, these deranged ultra left wing radical fascists will not stop and there will be many more too come and they do keep coming. They go around screaming their brains out how guns are murdering children and that we need to kill gun owners who are responsible for all this mayhem. In fact, it is these fascists who are causing all the mayhem and they are fighting tooth and nail to keep armed security guards out of our schools, as they think dialing 9-1-1 is the magical solution to all problems. Yet, these morons then have protests condemning the police and hating law enforcement for trying to do their job. The whole place is a mess! I know Tennessee is a conservative state with two fairly liberal major city centers, Memphis and Nashville. Sadly, I could say Oregon and Washington have similar demographics, conservative states with two liberal cities that call the shots. Thankfully, Tennessee has a larger rural population and more smaller cities distributed, as well as more conservative suburbs of the city centers, which help keep the state from becoming dominated by the fiercely anti-gun Democrat party. I've been told that the liberals in Tennessee are fighting for gun control, but I am wondering how much influence and power they have? What are the realistic chances of Tennnesee going the way of Oregon and Washington? WIth the way things are looking, even California will have less restrictive gun laws than Oregon and Washington in the next year or two. There is no way people here will retain their gun rights with the insanity going on in these states. It is one gun bill after another and if a gun bill fails, Bloomberg and Friends will finance ballot initiatives. They are using illegal measures like using liberal anti-gun churches to force their members to vote the way the pastor says, such as with the Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon whose pastor is demanding all gun owners turn in their firearms and is using church funds to pass anti-gun bills. I could go on and on, but I am exhausted. I'm looking at relocating to the Nashville area, as I am into IT, single guy, 40 years old and no kids. Figure I want to live in a city that is not completely overrun with liberal zealots like Seattle and Portland. However, what is most important to me is the security of gun rights within the state. So, I appreciate to hear an honest and sober view. I was considering moving to Colorado, but their gun laws are becoming more and more restrictive. The Colorado gun forums are utterly depressing and it seems like a majority of people there believe they will soon end up being the next California. I'm praying that Tennessee is not also going to go down that route. I did hear Georgia tried passing an Assault Weapon Ban, but it failed very quickly. I'm not sure what Georgia's future holds either, but that is not a place I am considering as of now. Tennessee seems much more desirable to me overall.

Wow.. Sorry to hear your bad experience. Well, I neither have the equipment, nor the funds for ammo to shoot 50BMG or machine guns, so that won't apply to me. Of course, I hate when ranges make restrictions, but it seems that many ranges in the Southeast restrict 50BMG because there are so many people living near the ranges and they start to complain. Maybe, that is one big advantage of living in an a place with so much unpopulated and public land. I do plan on getting a 50BMG one day, but for the time being, it's a stretch on my pockets to just shoot my 5.56 rounds.. Well, if you think the range owner is going to give members trouble for whatever reason, then that is not a range I would want to join. Talking to the guy he seemed friendly and accommodating, but maybe that is in comparison to some of the ranges where I live now which have lot of restrictions. Seattle area has a lot of gun ranges, but only few allow me to practice the disciplines I want. Currently, I am a member of the Upper Nisqually Range at the base of Mt Rainier which is an awesome club and lets you shoot 50BMG. Sadly, with the "Assault Weapon" Ban/Licensing scheme being presented in Washington, I probably won't get to shoot any semi-auto, magazine fed rifles at that range soon; assuming, the uber-liberal Washington state government gets it way The one thing that guy mentioned was he doesn't want any guys there blasting off machine guns or shooting over the berm.. Hahaha.. I guess I know who he had in mind I had similar experience shooting my .460 S&W revolver at a small range in the Columbia Gorge in Washington. The neighbors made a noise complaint saying someone was shooting off a big cannon or something. The range owner (or lady who managed the range) came out to talk with me. She said the neighbors were complaining and that they don't allow 50 caliber at the range and wanted to know what I was shooting. So I showed her my revolver and she started laughing and said she would tell the neighbors to stop whining. I also called OK Corral range and that also looks wonderful. They even have some type of shoot-house which looks exciting and I have not seen anymore. The range only goes out to 200 yards for rifle, but that would be ok I suppose for a while, since I am just getting back into rifle shooting and pretty rusty, anyhow. Would be nice to reach out past 500 yards once I get back into shooting rifles again. This OK Coral range though looks really good. I sent an email and left a message with Strategic Edge and have not heard back from them yet. Maybe they won't even bother putting me on the waiting list. I kind of regret asking the owner so many questions, as I was a bit confused talking to him. I am hoping he didn't feel like I was one of the undesirable characters he didn't want joining. I haven't sued anyone in my 40 years of life. It was the first time I ever heard of a range having these type of requirements to join. However, after everyone has filled me in on how awesome this range is, I guess I can see why he operates it like he does. I'm hoping he will put me on his wait list. If I can get to know any other members on this forum who are members there, maybe they be a character reference for me, if necessary and I'd appreciate that. I'd definitely love to join Strategic Edge range from what I am hearing. Guess I will just have to sit and wait to see if I ever get the opportunity. Anyway, it appears I do have a couple decent options of place to shoot in the Nashville area. This has been very enlightening for me and I am grateful to the advice people gave me.

Hey, Johnny Rotten.. I just called the guy Terry Walden and asked him about his range. It's unfortunate to hear you had a bad experience with his range. What did he do to ban you? Or, are you referring to the fact that he won't allow you to shoot what you want at his range? Anyhow, he seemed pretty friendly and told me the range is open to the public and memberships. He said you can do rifle shooting out to 300 yards and he has no problem with draw-shooting as long as you are safe and the range ins't too crowded. His range actually is sounding pretty good for me, at least if I cannot find any other range accepting members. However, I would definitely like to hear your experience with the range and if there is any issues of which I should be aware. I'm going to do more research, but I am happy that I think found at least one place within an hour from Nashville I could do some shooting, until I can join up with this Strategic Edge range..

I really appreciate all the information people here have given me and it will be very valuable to me. I'm making notes of all the various gun ranges and will check out their websites and see if I can call some to get more information. I'm also very happy to meet members of the Strategic Edge range and I am happy to hear it is as awesome as it sounds. Indeed, I would be happy to bend over backwards to join a range like Strategic Edge, but my main fear is that I may not have the ability to join any range and be stuck and shooting at the local indoor range, like some people I have talked to. I have some friends in some other areas (one in Miami and another in Charlotte) who say indoor is the only option as any outdoor range is too far for them or expensive to join. I did send Strategic Edge an email with my information, but they have not yet confirmed I am on their waiting list. I'll probably give them a call and see if they have put me on that waiting list. However, I am hoping I won't have to wait one or two years to shoot my rifles, so I will probably have to find some other range to join while I wait to get admitted to that club. As far as the requirements for joining, the owner, who I talked to, told me they basically will have you certified as a Range Safety Officer before you can join. He also said he will investigate your character and see if you like suing people. I understand that he needs to protect himself, but I always get a bit nervous when people say they need to investigate me beyond a simple background check. However, I am happy to hear how much people like the club and it seems that the staff treat the members well. I just never know, as I have had different experiences at different ranges. An example, one range I went to the Range Officer told me I was not allowed to shoot my AR on any bench except the 3 on the left, which meant I basically could not shoot my AR on a busy day. He said the AR was too loud of a gun to shoot and that the flash hider is same as a muzzle brake and muzzle brakes cannot be shot on any but the leftmost 3 benches. I had another experience a range in Washington state where they asked if you ever had a speeding ticket. They told me they don't trust people and if you lie about speeding ticket you are probably lying about everything else. That whole mentality of treating new members like criminals just rubbed me the wrong way. The Montgomery complex looked interesting and I did go to their website before I posted this thread. From what I read though it appears they do not allow any drawing from the holster and they require a member of the club to give you a good reference to join. Maybe, I will re-look at that club as well and see how their system works. I definitely will look at each of the various clubs/ranges people have mentioned here.

I am considering, once again, relocating to the Nashville area. I've have lived most of my life in Oregon and have been living in the Puget Sound for the last 6 years (in addition to Idaho for a couple in between) and now planning on leaving the Puget Sound and the entire Northwest for good. There are many reasons I am bailing, but with the new extreme gun control/confiscation legislation, very high cost of living, taxes, traffic, etc I am now planning to make my exit for good. I've been planning this for a while, but didn't have the resources to be able to do it. I've been considering Nashville and a few other places to relocate and it looks desirable to me in many ways. I'm planning on making a visit to Tennessee in late March or April and if things look good I would look for a place to live. There are several important factors and Nashville looks good in many ways, but I have been bumping into some issues with the Nashville area. The main problem I see is the lack of outdoor shooting ranges. I utterly hate shooting indoors and have had nothing but bad experiences. Maybe, growing up in the Northwest I just had so many options to shoot at decent outdoor ranges and the ranges here are pretty easy to join. The problem which I am seeing with Nashville and a problem with the Eastern seaboard in general, is the lack of outdoor shooting ranges. In fact, I am starting to wonder if it is possible to shoot rifles at all if you live in the Nashville area? Some people tell me the only people who can do rifle or outdoor shooting are people who grew up in the area and have friends who let them shoot on their farms or property. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but that seems to be the situation from many people I have talked to. I know the West Coast, in general, has the advantage of a lot more rural, unpopulated and public land. When I lived in Idaho, I could literally drive 15 minutes up a big hill and finding a place to shoot. I don't think that is possible anywhere in the East coast or Southeast, except maybe the rural Northeast. The Strategic Edge range looks awesome and is not far from Nashville. However, I spoke with the owner at Strategic Edge range, in addition to having a 1 -2 year waiting list (he said maybe openings will come to sooner), they also seem to do a rigorous amount of checking about you and require long hours of training before you are even qualified to be considered for membership. Maybe, I also worry that this range, the members will be treated like criminals and the range officers will be over the top. It may not be like this, but I did join a range once where they treated members like garbage. Of course, it swings both ways and some ranges don't enforce any rules and members do stupid stuff. Was a member of a range like that as well. I guess I have been a bit spoiled living in the Northwest in that I can find an 800 yard range, pay my $100-200 , get a background check (many ranges here don't even do that, but I am ok with it) and be able to shoot. It seems like it will take a serious amount of effort and a bit of some prayer in order to be able to join a range like Strategic Edge or even many of the other rifle ranges I have seen in Tennessee, especially closer to the big metro areas. I also don't really know anyone in Tennessee and was told some ranges require character references and interviews. Once again, these are membership procedures I have never experienced in the Northwest. It would kind of suck, moving to Tennessee (a place with good outdoor shooting weather) and then being confined to pistol shooting at some crappy big city range where I am side by side with gangbangers and other people who are not safe, inhaling lead and being confined to tight space. Also, I can forget about draw-shooting or double-tapping, which is an important discipline for me as a conceal carry holder. This has been my experience when I use to go indoor ranges in Portland, Oregon (where I am from). Another example of why I hate indoor public ranges is Wade's Gun store in Bellevue, WA (next to Seattle), where a guy committed suicide and wounded the people next to him as the bullet passed through him into the next person. They also found that many of the employees of Wade's had unsafe levels of lead in their body and the state almost shut the range down. Also, most of these type of ranges force you to use their ammo , which usually cost 10-30% more of store cost. I'm not sure if there are any decent indoor ranges in Nashville and I guess an indoor range beats nothing at all. Anyway, I guess this is the biggest strike I have about moving to the Nashville area is my concerns I will not able to do any shooting as long as I live there. I'm willing to drive about 1.5 hours out of the city, but travelling more than that would be just a pain and means I would only be able to shoot once a month or less. If anyone can give me any suggestions or knows any ranges in the Nashville area that are accepting new members and don't have insanely rigorous criteria for joining, I would be very eager to know. I don't really know anybody in Tennessee and have no means to find farms or people's property to shoot on and don't have any personal references or people who can help get me into a club. Can anyone give advice to someone who is interested in rifle and draw-pistol shooting who is new to Tennessee, like I will be, and wants to find a place they can shoot out to 300 or 400 yards and practice various disciplines, like draw-shoot? I don't really have time or money to join competitions, and, in fact, that is why I need to get myself back into shooting again and find a good range. I appreciate the help anybody can give me.

Greetings fellow Duck!!  I also attended the University of Oregon (a long while back), lived in Eugene (as well as Springfield and Vida) many years and an Oregonian most my life.    Not sure about you, but considering a move to Tennessee.  I live in Washington now and this state has suffered major set back in freedom with the passing of I-594.      You guys may laugh, but can I count the numerous times the stoned hippie pumping my gas forgot to put the gas cap back on my car??    :rofl:

I want to thank everyone again for the warm welcome.   Robert, I grew up in the NOrthwest and use to have a view of Mount Hood and Mount Rainier from a couple of the different places I have lived here.  I can definitely understand what you are saying.  It is really hard to even explain the awe of the beauty of Mount Rainier, Mt Adams or Hood in the sunset on a clear crisp day.     It will be something I miss so much when I leave here.         Seeing Mt St Helens blow must have been quite an experience.  I've seen pictures, but moved to Oregon when I was kid which was about 12 years or so after it blew.  I use to see it every day though.  From Larch mountain (in the Gorge) it is quite a sight.   I am currently a member of the gun range right next to the Naval Air Base on North Whidbey Island.  It's a nice a little range and a spectacular drive from the Skagit Valley.  The only downside is the rifle range has only 2 bays.  However, it's fun for pistol shooting and going through Deception Pass State Park is an experience.   No place in the USA has perfect firearm laws or lack of them.. (Maybe Alaska?)  We have a ways to go in most every state before we have a truly constitutional RKBA freedom in this country.   I am happy you have found Tennessee to be your new home and can enjoy living there, especially coming from the Pacific Northwest, like myself.