Hello from a new MD shooter + couple of Q's

[GOG-MD]

The word "voluntary" is a fiction, registering your handgun(s) , and grandfathered Evil Rifles is mandatory.

Depending on where you locate, you will have Gun Club options, albeit with a few caveats :

Be prepared to spend more than you did in NM.

Be prepared to have different concept of "nearby-ish".

And 50/50 chances of waiting list to join .

But you will also have additional options for pay by hour/ session operations, albeit not offering all of your interests at the same time.

Yeah, I don't think they understand what "voluntary" is supposed to mean. Maybe we should send a dictionary to the state house.

The rest of what you said sounds about in line with what I've read so far too. Here in NM, I have a great sportsmen's club right in town (10 minute drive from my house) nestled in a canyon with spectacular mountain views, 4 outdoor pistol pits, an indoor pistol range, a trap shoot range, bench-rest rifle range out to 300 yards, and an archery range. Great hours, only common-sense rules, no waiting list, and dues are just $132 a year for NRA members. Good class and competition offerings, no capital fees, no initiation fees, and if you join partway through the year, your dues are even pro-rated. Sounds like that's just not going to happen in MD.

 

[GOG-MD]

Slightly off-topic: Sorry to burst your commute bubble, please allow me to give you some helpful advice (at least I think it is). "Doable at least on weekends"?? Being from NM, you've probably never been over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on a weekend (making assumption). Especially during the warmer weather months (roughly May to October), unless you cross East extremely early Sat AM or relatively late Sat afternoon, you'll be in simply awful traffic . Sunday AM's would be more "doable" heading over, but then coming home Westward is a nightmare on Sunday afternoon. I think something like 60 trillion (+/- a few) folks head to the Shore/Beach every weekend during the fair weather days. Forget Friday PM's too, there you have beachgoers & daily work commuters heading home/east starting at about 1 pm.

Seriously though, welcome ahead of time to MD. Even with comically silly stupid gun laws & a generally toxic political environment, it really is a great place to live and work (despite the ruling majority's best efforts).

Again, I really didn't wanna discourage you, but if you settle on the Western Shore, then weekend Eastern Shore options for ranges will require a little compromise and/or extra planning on your part. Other folks on here might be able to give some fantastic tips on finding that sweet spot in timing your Bay Bridge/Shore trips. It does loosen up a bunch after early-mid October usually, until it warms up again in late April or May. Personally I'd find a range on whatever side of the Bay you end up on.

BTW, as far as work commuting goes - everyone I know that works in AA Co and lives in QA, works some version of irregular hours so they can either telecommute, be off, or leave way early on Fridays to beat or eliminate the rush (summer peak rush hour on Fridays starts at about 1pm). Not trying to sway you either way, just would hate to see you find this out the hard way. Much luck.....

Wow, thanks for the heads-up. I was certainly leaning towards joining a range on whichever side of the bay we end up living, but the traffic situation you describe sure drives home that point. I grew up in a small town, then lived in various big cities (with horrendous traffic) for over a decade, so moving to small town New Mexico was a breath of fresh air. QA county definitely sounds like it's more our speed, but that commute across the bridge is something we're going to have to consider. It's a wonder they haven't built another bridge yet to relieve some of that traffic pressure.

I'm not looking forward to being back in a land of heavy traffic (and the comically silly gun laws you mentioned), but I'm sure there will be parts of living in Maryland that will be nice.

 

[GOG-MD]

What AlBeight said about the William Preston Memorial Bridge (although everyone around here calls it the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, that is actually the bridge that connects the Va Eastern and Western shores and some will probably give a blank stare if you refer to the Preston Bridge). It is so bad that some people commuting from the Eastern shore do not make the commute Fridays during the summer months. Thursdays have become almost as bad due to the rental agreements for vacationers.

This same thing can be said for some eastern parts of AA county coming from a western origin such as DC since they share the same main roads and pretty much a single bridge to reach them (shared with the beach goers) unless you want to take massive detours through similarly clogged roads.

I would personally avoid PG. Look at the taxes for starters compared to your other choices and definitely look at the crime reports for any place you want to move into. That goes for some areas of northern AA and close to Annapolis as well.

So, as a couple of examples, I asked Google Maps for travel times right now (Thursday around noon) vs. 5:00 on a Friday from Annapolis to the other side of the bridge and from DC to the other side of the bridge. It claims 20 minutes from Annapolis now, vs 25-45 minutes at 5:00 on Friday. From DC, an hour, rising to 1h10m to 1h50m at 5:00 Friday. I think I could deal with 45 minutes of very slow traffic, but almost 2 hours one way would drive me nuts! Are there any alternate routes that save time in situations like that, or are you just stuck?

Also, thanks for the tip on PG county. We eliminated a few houses from our list already based on what we saw on spotcrime.com, including all the ones we otherwise liked in Pasadena. I think we're leaning towards AA or QA county, but with those commute times, maybe we should rethink QA too.

 

[Matlack]

Where is your job located, that will help with suggestions on where to move. Generally speaking, whatever side of the bridge your job is on is where you want to live. Bridge traffic can back up for hours both ways. Not to mention the tolls.

 

[Doobie]

I didn't see it mentioned, but getting a concealed carry permit(MD calls it "wear and carry permit) is very easy...about as easy as winning the Powerball lotto 4 weeks in a row.

 

[GOG-MD]

Do not use the MD State Police's website as a legal reference. They have often gotten it wrong. Look up the actual Annotated Code of MD and read it for yourself.

When you come to MD, you are going to experience culture shock. MD is a liberal nanny state consisting of a lot of highly educated people with elitist attitudes mixed with a high number of 'new americans' that take advantage of idealistic and generous aid programs from those that never enter the neighborhoods that their tax dollars are supporting. It is a failed system, not unlike California where the unproductive flock in and the productive leave.

Welcome. Put on a helmet and tighten your chin strap. Good luck.

I lived in Ontario for 30 years - trust me, I know all about liberal nanny states. Haha. In Ontario, you can't even buy alcohol unless you go to a government store, where price minimums are set to ensure people don't buy too much. And believe it or not, it actually used to be worse. As for buying/owning guns? Well, at least the last prime minister scrapped the long gun registry, but gun ownership is still highly restricted. When we moved to New Mexico, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

You talk about "new Americans" though? I'm not even an American yet. Another couple of years before I can apply for that. But I love this country, work hard, pay taxes, support the constitution, and don't take a dime from any aid program. Never have, never will. Not all of us immigrants are bad.

 

[GOG-MD]

Welcome. Here's a couple of things to think about given the area you're looking to move.

1) If you can't find one "do-all" club to join, take a look at the public ranges or even public range days at private ranges to fill in the gaps. For example, if you find a club that offers rifle and pistol within your budget, there's PG Trap and Skeet (Trap, Skeet, Wobble Trap, International/Bunker Trap, Sporting Clays, etc) which is a public range managed by the Maryland National Capital-Area Parks and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) and is well maintained, well staffed, and very reasonably priced ($6/round for trap and skeet for example). In addition, if you're willing to trek south a bit to practice with your bow, Myrtle Grove WMA has an archery range including elevated shooting platforms for tree-stand practice (about 1 hour in good traffic from Annapolis) and is inexpensive as well ($5 range fee daily, or $20 annually).

2) Use Google Maps real-time traffic to research what the commute will be like from home to work when deciding on where to look for a house or apartment. It's either all green, or all red. Figure out what time you need to be at your job and use their trip planning tools to see what time you'd need to leave on average from any prospective place of work. Commutes can be insane in the Baltimore-DC corridor. I have a young woman who is coming to work for me in a lower-ranking position than she currently holds and at $10k/year less salary simply because her commute goes from 2 hours each way to 15 minutes each way.

3) Definitely check crime reports. Some areas will look nice, but hide lots of criminal activity behind the nice-looking facade. Germantown in Montgomery County, for example, looks nice to the casual observer, but has major issues with crime. General advice is that if there's a major bus terminal/transit mall nearby, you don't want to live there. Same with major metro stops. Public transit can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

4) PG county on a whole is to be avoided when considering where to live. Yes, there are some decent places to live there, but if you aren't going to stay there permanently, good luck getting your money back on any house you buy there. I have relatives who are facing that issue in Cheverly right now.

Good luck in your house/apartment hunt and welcome to the forum. It's a great group of people.

Thanks for the great tips!

 

[GOG-MD]

You join one of the affiliated clubs (I think there are around 20-25, don't remember exactly) and then purchase your range badge from AGC directly. Baltimore rifle is probably the cheapest at $25/year plus the range badge which is $175/year I believe. (I might be off by $5 with those numbers)
To join Baltimore rifle you contact one of the club officers, schedule a walk through (takes about 60-90 min, pay for your club membership and then you can get your range badge. Membership starts on Jan 1st or if it's after the start of July you can get a 1/2 year badge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That sounds pretty good to me. Thanks!

 

[MikeTF]

I lived in Ontario for 30 years - trust me, I know all about liberal nanny states. Haha. In Ontario, you can't even buy alcohol unless you go to a government store, where price minimums are set to ensure people don't buy too much. And believe it or not, it actually used to be worse. As for buying/owning guns? Well, at least the last prime minister scrapped the long gun registry, but gun ownership is still highly restricted. When we moved to New Mexico, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

You talk about "new Americans" though? I'm not even an American yet. Another couple of years before I can apply for that. But I love this country, work hard, pay taxes, support the constitution, and don't take a dime from any aid program. Never have, never will. Not all of us immigrants are bad.

I'm absolutely fine with legal immigrants to the USA and those that are here legally. "New Americans" = illegal immigrants.

 

[outrider58]

Man, they sho is alotts of wirds in this thred!

 

[K31]

So, as a couple of examples, I asked Google Maps for travel times right now (Thursday around noon) vs. 5:00 on a Friday from Annapolis to the other side of the bridge and from DC to the other side of the bridge. It claims 20 minutes from Annapolis now, vs 25-45 minutes at 5:00 on Friday. From DC, an hour, rising to 1h10m to 1h50m at 5:00 Friday. I think I could deal with 45 minutes of very slow traffic, but almost 2 hours one way would drive me nuts!

I would by nothing that is going on before rush hour to judge your commute. Add a few of these in at various times. They close one of the lanes of the bridge. Some one's car is stopped on the side of the road for any reason (on the Capitol Beltway one morning I sat in a God-awful backup one day because the passenger in a car that was completely off the road at the time was brushing her teeth and I'm not making that up). And God help you if an real accident occurs in traffic besides traffic both ways will stop and gawk and the first responders will close anywhere between 2 and all lanes even if the accident is only in the far right one.

Add to this the typical self-important, self absorbed, area driver who you are probably not likely to have encountered outside of LA, NYC or Bangladesh.

Are there any alternate routes that save time in situations like that, or are you just stuck?

First, everyone who commutes on those roads knows all the ways around which are typically already over crowded, overused, and may be denied to you (but not arrogant shiite heads) such as the access roads beside Rt 50 before Preston Bridge. Second, you then who have the sheeple who when they see the slightest backup, bailout and follow someone assuming that that person is going in their direction as well. Spreading the joy.

Also, thanks for the tip on PG county. We eliminated a few houses from our list already based on what we saw on spotcrime.com, including all the ones we otherwise liked in Pasadena. I think we're leaning towards AA or QA county, but with those commute times, maybe we should rethink QA too.

If you are commuting to DC I would suggest you look at southern AA county and northern Calvert. They are an easy commute to DC unless you are going to NW, plus they are good areas to live in. Again, barring one or two areas.

 

[Michigander08]

Don't get me start on the "Bay Bridge". I have had been stuck on that traffic for years traveling back and forth between DE and MD.

We can spend trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan but we can't build another bridge.

We have given billions in foreign aid for years but we can't spend a few billions to build another bridge!

The stupid law makers of MD can tell us what guns we are allowed to have but can't build another bridge!

 

[GOG-MD]

Where is your job located, that will help with suggestions on where to move. Generally speaking, whatever side of the bridge your job is on is where you want to live. Bridge traffic can back up for hours both ways. Not to mention the tolls.

I work from home for now, so zero commute. But my wife will be working in AA county and I'll likely end up working in or around DC or Baltimore in the relatively near future.

So, living in AA county would make the most sense from a commuting standpoint - homes are just less expensive in QA county, and the area seems quieter. If it means four hours to get to work and back each day though, then maybe it's not worth it...

 

[GOG-MD]

I didn't see it mentioned, but getting a concealed carry permit(MD calls it "wear and carry permit) is very easy...about as easy as winning the Powerball lotto 4 weeks in a row.

Yeah, I heard they're extremely difficult to get. NM is shall-issue and you can carry concealed in your vehicle even without a permit. And "vehicle" includes anything with wheels, even a bicycle. Hahaha. Not so much in MD.

 

[GOG-MD]

I'm absolutely fine with legal immigrants to the USA and those that are here legally. "New Americans" = illegal immigrants.

Ah, I get what you're saying. Makes sense, and I agree with you. If people want to move to another country, fine - but do it legally.

There's a problem with that in Canada too.

 

[GOG-MD]

And God help you if an real accident occurs in traffic besides traffic both ways will stop and gawk and the first responders will close anywhere between 2 and all lanes even if the accident is only in the far right one.

Add to this the typical self-important, self absorbed, area driver who you are probably not likely to have encountered outside of LA, NYC or Bangladesh.

Yeah, cities like Toronto and Montreal are exactly like that. Construction, accidents, rubberneckers making it worse, and overall some of the worst drivers you've ever seen in your life. People in Albuquerque complain about traffic and I just laugh.

First, everyone who commutes on those roads knows all the ways around which are typically already over crowded, overused, and may be denied to you (but not arrogant shiite heads) such as the access roads beside Rt 50 before Preston Bridge. Second, you then who have the sheeple who when they see the slightest backup, bailout and follow someone assuming that that person is going in their direction as well. Spreading the joy.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Usually when highway traffic is bad, the surface roads are completely clogged too.

If you are commuting to DC I would suggest you look at southern AA county and northern Calvert. They are an easy commute to DC unless you are going to NW, plus they are good areas to live in. Again, barring one or two areas.

We looked at northern Calvert, but the house prices there were pretty high unless you're willing to do a gut job. Most of the places we liked in northern AA county that were within our budget were surrounded by crime. So it's looking like central to southern AA or cross the bridge to QA. And with the bridge traffic how you all have been describing, maybe QA is off the table too. Decent homes for decent prices in decent areas seem to be in short supply in that corner of MD.

 

[GOG-MD]

Don't get me start on the "Bay Bridge". I have had been stuck on that traffic for years traveling back and forth between DE and MD.

We can spend trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan but we can't build another bridge.

We have given billions in foreign aid for years but we can't spend a few billions to build another bridge!

The stupid law makers of MD can tell us what guns we are allowed to have but can't build another bridge!

Yeah, I can't believe that's the only bridge to the eastern shore unless you want to detour 75 miles north or 230 miles south. In as busy an area as that, it's absolutely ludicrous.

I get that the distance across the water is much greater in MD, but look at the St. Lawrence River. In the 175 mile stretch between Kingston (at Lake Ontario) and Montreal, you have 10 bridges with no longer than a 40 mile stretch between bridges. And there are far fewer people living along that corridor than there are in MD.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Strictly speaking, we already have two bridges, the 1952 span, and the 1973 span .

In 2004, Gov Bob formed a committe to study additional crossings. The report was issued in 2005. It listed 4 possibilities, but declined to make recomendations.

1. Baltimore to Kent Co
2. Additional span current location.
3. South AA or North Calvert to Worchester.
4. South Calvert to Dorchester.

( My commentary ) #2 would be best probability to actually get approved to build .But the approach corridors are already close to capacity, and an up to 50% increase in bridge capacity would shift the choke point from the actual Bridge(s), the US 50, etc as a whole.

The other plans would totally transform the Eastern Shore county(s) in question into unregognizable developement and sprawl . Beachgoers from western shore would enjoy faster trips to Ocean City, But the particular Counties involved, and much of the Eastern Shore in general would fight this to the death. The current resident either actually farm ( as a verb) , or made delibert decisions to move to a slower paced rural area.

Construction workers and real estate speculators would welcome a finiancial windfall, but overwhelming of the rest would think that if they wanted to live in Silver Spring, they would be living there instead. They don't want Silver Spring to follow them, and replace their rural/ small town environment.

 

[AlBeight]

Yeah, I can't believe that's the only bridge to the eastern shore unless you want to detour 75 miles north or 230 miles south. In as busy an area as that, it's absolutely ludicrous.

I get that the distance across the water is much greater in MD, but look at the St. Lawrence River. In the 175 mile stretch between Kingston (at Lake Ontario) and Montreal, you have 10 bridges with no longer than a 40 mile stretch between bridges. And there are far fewer people living along that corridor than there are in MD.

The problem started when they started (about 15 yrs ago roughly) developing rural Eastern Shore near the bridge with pretty nice housing on good-sized lots way cheaper than anything on the Western Shore. People ran over there like rats off a sinking ship. I was almost one of them. This exacerbated the ages old weekend Shore/beach goers traffic, obviously didn't help. It's gotten worse every year.

I gave up my Dorchester County hunting lease because of the traffic. Early season is tough with beach & commuter traffic on Friday afternoons when I would head over. Once it gets cold, the remaining commuter traffic had gotten bad enough by itself after a while that it didn't matter it was off-peak season for travelers.

BTW, pay ZERO attention to those Google traffic times, even the local TV news traffic airheads are a thousand percent wrong two thousand percent of the time. I have a 37.3 mile (one way) daily commute. The worse stretch where I hit the most traffic is the West Side of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695), from I-795 to the I-95 exit, only 11 or 12 miles. Normal drive time is 11 min from all accounts, when traffic is bad they say about 25 min thru that stretch. So you'd think an extra 14 min, right? WRONG, my overall 40 min commute becomes 1hr-45 min to 2 hrs. So where does the other 60 to 70 min come from when the only traffic I hit is that stretch they claim to be backed up only 14 min?

Don't listen to these traffic reports, just plain WRONG. Wish they could be prosecuted for that.

 

[Mark75H]

GOG if you are going to work somewhere right off of MD Route 32, there are good neighborhoods on the eastern side of central AA Co that are a much shorter commute than "south county" as the lower part is known. Broad Neck peninsula and Arnold have some decent houses and occaisionally a reasonable fixer upper. QA Co/Kent Island is already sucking salt from the Bay into drinking water wells and crying for water from the mainland; also, there's not a lot of really high ground on KI ... hasn't really been a "real" hurricane since most of those houses were built ... and they are still building more.