Carrying in Vermont

[mcbethr 42]

I just spent the last three days biking the old Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in northern Vermont.  This is a trail that runs from Richford all the way down to St. Albens.  I open or concealed carried the entire time I was there.  

 

#1. In the three days I was there I didn't see a single gun.  I didn't see anybody open carrying, or printing.  I think that guns are just not a big deal to these people.  It's just a farm tool.  Nobody gave my gun a second glance.

 

#2. I didn't see a single "no guns sign."

 

#3. All of the gas stations were multi-purpose general stores.   They sold everything from wine to JB Weld to Ammunition.  And yes, they had .22 Ammo - in stock on the shelf.

 

#4. I only saw one police officer and he was a Tribal officer at that.

 

#5. I conceal carried during the Ben and Jerry's factory tour.  I saw plenty of "no smoking" signs, but not a single "no guns" sign.  

 

#6. I didn't see a single gun store.  I think business can't afford to specialize in one thing up there.  That's why the gas station sold wine and JB Weld.  I think the hardware stores double as gun shops or people just purchase guns from each other.

 

#7. There was an article on the local paper about a kid who came to school with three guns in his car.  The guns were found by the shop teacher who was working on the kid's car.  The guns were on school ground and the kids was repramanded by the school, but he had broken no laws.  Apparently it's still fairly common to bring your guns to school if you are going hunting after.

 

#8. There was another article in the paper about the local Burlington Town Counsel changing their gun laws in town to ban guns in bars and require Burlington residents to get carry permits.  I'm not sure how well that is going to go over.

 

#9. I think every other car was a Subaru Forester.

 

#10. There aren't many jobs up there.  Yes, you may call Vermont a gun paradise, but you are 40 minutes away from a hospital if you get sick, there are no Italian restaurants, and basically no jobs unless you want to work at a dairy.

 

But... this is the view outside of my home right now:

 

 

This was the view a mile from the bed and breakfast:

 

 

So there have got to be some advantages.

[iCARRY 0]

Vermont is beautiful.

[Pythagoras 2]

Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Thanks for the report! How's the weather up there this time of year?

[ogfarmer 138]

I lived in Vermont for 4.5 years up in Northeast Kingdom from 1996-2000. It's was completely rural and free. It was the best times of my life. Was a hard struggle while living there but totally worth it.

[mcbethr 42]

Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Thanks for the report! How's the weather up there this time of year?

 

Not bad.  It felt like November in New Jersey.  You need a jacket and hat, but no gloves.  You can lose the hat around midday.

 

I liked going out on the porch in the morning with a cigar and a hot cup of coffee looking at the view while I was still in my pajamas.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

I love Vermont for snowboarding, I go atleast twice a year in the winter. They have about 3 top 10 mountains in the east coast for skiing/snowboarding. 

But would I want to move there, not exactly. 

[ryan_j 0]

You mentioned tribal police. I believe that some nations may not allow carry even though the state they are in do. It's an issue in states like UT and AZ. Not sure about VT. So just be careful when you're on Indian land.

[buell508 6]

I love Vermont, but as you said work is slim and i'm sure the pay scale is way off NJ.

[voyager9 3,434]

I love Vermont, but as you said work is slim and i'm sure the pay scale is way off NJ.

But so is the cost of living and tax burden.

[Night Prowler 0]

18 years ago when I was in high school, in NJ, we could still bring bows, rifles, and shotguns to school to go hunting after school. We even had archery in gym class. Opening day was also an excused absence. I'm sure this has all dramatically changed.

I have to agree though spending time outside of this state is a wonderful thing. The locals in those areas are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

 

 

[mcbethr 42]

18 years ago when I was in high school, in NJ, we could still bring bows, rifles, and shotguns to school to go hunting after school. We even had archery in gym class. Opening day was also an excused absence. I'm sure this has all dramatically changed.

I have to agree though spending time outside of this state is a wonderful thing. The locals in those areas are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

 

I think some schools are bringing back archery - more of a nod to the popularity of "The Hunger Games," than any other kind of thinking.

 

I'll admit that I was uncomfortable with how nice people were.  I couldn't figure out why they were bring nice and what they wanted from me.  It was very strange to have a bartender ask me what my name was - I mean, why does he care?  

 

I guess I'm just used to New Jersey, where everybody has an ulterior motive.

[67gtonut 847]

Very true.... when I travel to see family in N.Carolina and Florida..... I have to "turn off" the Jersey in me.... 

[Maksim 1,504]

You can also go NH. Quite a few bigger towns and still as friendly.

 

Our friends live up there and while there are perks, real estate still seems to be about what we have here due to supply, but it is freaking cold.

[RecessedFilter 222]

I go to VT for a few weeks every year...and I'm sure I will end up moving there at some point in my life. I absolutely love the way of life and the people up there.

[fishnut 2,358]

I go to VT for a few weeks every year...and I'm sure I will end up moving there at some point in my life. I absolutely love the way of life and the people up there.

I agree 100% but I will move to NH to retire because the taxes are less than VT otherwise everything is mostly the same

[Night Prowler 0]

Way upstate NY is awesome but the gun laws there are way to messed up.

[Maksim 1,504]

Way upstate NY is awesome but the gun laws there are way to messed up.

 

That is the crazy part, upstate NY is like Alabama, but still governed by the city.  I would absolutely love to buy land there, but it is NYC.  

[RS1200XL 4]

There's only one reason I stick with the job I have.  I get to travel to Maine and Alabama.  The work in the shipyards tends to suck; but the people are so nice, as is the scenery.  Gun laws in Bama are great too, its funny seeing bilboards for Gun stores and shows everywhere.  The best was "100% financing!"

[ryan_j 0]

You can also go NH. Quite a few bigger towns and still as friendly.

 

Our friends live up there and while there are perks, real estate still seems to be about what we have here due to supply, but it is freaking cold.

 

Only problem is if you're going to visit, no CCW since they now require a home state permit. But you can still OPEN carry... Evan Nappen lives up there. 

[maintenanceguy 510]

That is the crazy part, upstate NY is like Alabama, but still governed by the city.  I would absolutely love to buy land there, but it is NYC.  

 

That's exactly how we feel in Cumberland and Salem Counties.  It's more like Alabama than NYC here too.

[tblant 6]

We have rented a cabin a few times in VT ad will likely do it again in 2014. The only problem for me was that I can not legally transport through NY...so no CCW for me while up there...love the lifes style though.

[maintenanceguy 510]

We have rented a cabin a few times in VT ad will likely do it again in 2014. The only problem for me was that I can not legally transport through NY...so no CCW for me while up there...love the lifes style though.

 

As long as you're not stopping in NY, you're covered by federal FOPA and good to go through NY.  You need to follow FOPAs transport rules which are similar but a little different than NJ.

[ryan_j 0]

Yeah I transport through NY on my way to CT and PA all the time. No issues whatsoever. Apart from FOPA, just use common sense and don't drive like an idiot.

[Maksim 1,504]

VT is great.... But it's a hard way of life... Most flatlands can't handle it.....

 

 

Isn't Nick a greenmtn boy? South Burlington bred..?

 

Been going there twenty odd-yearsr to the Champlain valley.. Love it.. Could live there.. Except for the cold..

 

Gun friendly sure.... But that is not the end all and be all.. But check-out parros in Waterbury just north on rt 2

 

How is it a harder life just living in VT?  Besides weather. hehe.

[halbautomatisch 60]

#6. I didn't see a single gun store.  I think business can't afford to specialize in one thing up there.  That's why the gas station sold wine and JB Weld.  I think the hardware stores double as gun shops or people just purchase guns from each other.

 

 

I've been to a few gun shops in Vermont and went to a gun show in Burlington, I wasn't very impressed.

 

Talking to the locals, everyone owns guns up there, but like the OP, I've never seen anyone carrying any -outside of a guy or two hunting in the woods. I did also notice the general stores usually had some ammo.

 

As others have mentioned, the people are very friendly but also very laid back, if you're a NJ go getter, you might find this distressing. And the work situation there is dismal, as bad as NJ is for overregulation, at least you can make good money here - which is why I haven't left - yet. Would love to move to NH if I could figure out a way to make good money from there.........

[mcbethr 42]

Yeah I transport through NY on my way to CT and PA all the time. No issues whatsoever. Apart from FOPA, just use common sense and don't drive like an idiot.

 

If you are a NY police officer and you are trying to stop gun crime by profiling two people with expensive hybrid bikes on a Thule rack in a luxury car from NJ ... you're going to be waiting a long time.  Seriously, her bike cost 3x as much as the Kel Tec I carried.

 

But that being said, I did carry my PF9 which was buried under about a ton of my beloved's luggage - and the magazines were empty.  So if in the event I did get pulled over by some strapping young superhero, he wasn't going to get me with violating the 7 round provision of the SAFE Act.

[acuevo 0]

looks beautiful, i'd still rather live in wyoming basically the same/slightly better gun laws and even more beautiful. less people too lol.

[ryan_j 0]

I love Vermont, but as you said work is slim and i'm sure the pay scale is way off NJ.

 

Pay scale is aligned to cost of living.

 

I'm sure if I move somewhere else I will lose pay but I will have more house and more everything else for my money. And I won't be sending so much of my paycheck to the Government anymore. 

[ryan_j 0]

If I could move I could move to NC. There are jobs in my field there and pay is decent, cost of living is decent, and of course good respect of 2nd amendment rights.

[Newtonian 453]

My experiences concur with yours. We were there in February, the same day the big blizzard hit. The next day I was too chicken-shit to ski so my wife and I drove around.

 

Over the course of 3 hours I did not see a single gun shop. There was a WalMart, which I didn't go into, and lots of hardware/general stores, but no signs like you see down here ("GUNS").

 

I also didn't see anyone carrying, but we were staying in a ski town and it was 5 below zero.

 

Vermont is indeed beautiful. They have crazy laws about blight and billboards, but I secretly like them. Just spend a bit of time in the Towns that Everyone Forgot, across the border in New York, and you'll see what I mean.

 

Also, how ironic that the first (and until recently the only) constitutional carry state is one of the few places in this country where you really and truly do not need to carry a gun. The last statistics I saw, from 2010: 9 murders, 7 of them with knives, out of about 660,000 people.