Gun Laws and Life Choices

Yosemite Sam and I are not big fans of gun laws, as you might have gathered. But there are times when they’re more onerous than others. Yosemite and I left Texas for me to accept a dream job in Massachusetts. It paid almost double what I was getting before and I’ve had raises every year since then.

In other words, career-wise it was a great move, but we lost a lot of freedom when we lived in Massachusetts. We changed that by moving to New Hampshire. I have a 40-mile one-way commute and Yosemite’s drive’s even longer. Our rights to enjoy shooting, collecting, and owning guns without fear outweighs the inconvenience of the commute.

Now I’m facing another decision complicated by gun laws. I know anti-gunnies would say, "Don’t own guns and you won’t have these problems." Owning guns is a human right and I won’t give it up. That’s all there is to it.

My decision revolves around my career again. There’s a job opening that’s right up my alley and it pays slightly better. More importantly, its main duties are the things I enjoy most about my career. I’d love to apply for the job, but there're quality of life issues revolving around hostile gun laws. The job’s in Maryland and I know that their gun laws are draconian and likely to get worse. They’re not as bad as laws in Massachusetts, but I no longer live there.

Yosemite Sam and I could live in Virginia and commute. But it’s a butt-breaking commute. I know the Capitol Beltway is congested and miserable. The Metro is a possibility, but I would need to look into that further. Also, housing in Virginia within commuting distance of D.C. and Maryland isn’t exactly cheap.

We’ve played around with the idea of me telecommuting part time and flying down for three days of the week (if the employer would allow it). Given the cost of flying and then staying overnight for three nights (or renting a studio apartment), I doubt that would be possible on anything but a short-term basis.

I’d love to be able to take that job, if offered, but I don’t want to live in Maryland and face the same problems with gun ownership that we faced in Massachusetts. Why can’t these damn states just let up live in peace?