New to Arizona

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forums and new to Arizona. I am currently visiting from Canada and am recently engaged and visiting my fiancee. I would much prefer to live in America as Canada has ridiculous laws around firearms. Shortly after I got here I proposed to her by getting her a Glock 27 and myself a Ruger SR9 instead of the traditional rings. We will be going through the motions for the fiancee VISA and will be getting married hopefully before the year is out.

So I have a couple of questions. I know that there are no required permits for open and concealed carry (I am 27 years of age) and am well aware of the restrictions concerning places that serve alcohol and gov't buildings, schools, etc.

What I have not been able to find is whether or not I need to be a resident / citizen before I can OC here in Arizona. Not sure if it matters but I am living in Yuma. I always carry my Canadian identification with me and if I were to OC i would also have my passport as universal ID. Any responses would be great and thanks in advance.

Well welcome, while IMNAL my understanding is that as long as your are here legally you can OC.

Thanks for the reply Phoenix Dave. Does anyone else with any experience on the matter have anything to add? And Yes I am here legally, I also kept my stamped boarding pass that I carry with my passport.

Please stand by - I type slow

From the book: Arizona gun owners guide by Alan Korwin 1-800-707-4020 (which I suggest you buy ASAP).
Fair use quote : Chapter 2, page 57 "Firearms maybe carried either openly or discreetly in Arizona, loaded or unloaded, by any adult legally in the state, who is not banned from possessing arms. Special rules for youngsters, and places where guns may not be carried are described later. We have in essence extended the Second Amendment to the entire planet. "

Good to go ! Of course watch out for posted places & places that serve alcohol for consumption by the glass.

Thank you so much FreeInAZ. That helps a lot. I was reading the Open Carry experience thread earlier and am pleased to see the posts in there where people carry and are pretty well left alone. This is as it should be and i respect the people who exercise that right. I will be proud to be part of the people who will keep on exercising that right and I thank you for the response. Growing up in Canada and being so pro self defense and not being able to carry was really wearing on me. Maybe when I go to run some errands tomorrow I will get to test drive my new Blackhawk Serpa holster with my SR9.

Hey Weado - what part of the "village" (Canada translated) do you hail from? I spent many days in Windsor Ont. when I lived in little IRAQ aka Detroit.

I live more inland Ontario. A place called Peterborough. It is about 2.5 hours NE of Toronto. It is full of less than admirable people and they use it as a drop off city when they release people from jail. I was constantly surrounded by addicts and hookers and people dealing crack and heroin. This all from a city of 80,000 people. I couldn't take it anymore, so here I am in the great state of Arizona and I am loving it here in Yuma.

*Edited for some silly spelling mistakes.

Weado said:

Thank you so much FreeInAZ. That helps a lot. I was reading the Open Carry experience thread earlier and am pleased to see the posts in there where people carry and are pretty well left alone. This is as it should be and i respect the people who exercise that right. I will be proud to be part of the people who will keep on exercising that right and I thank you for the response. Growing up in Canada and being so pro self defense and not being able to carry was really wearing on me. Maybe when I go to run some errands tomorrow I will get to test drive my new Blackhawk Serpa holster with my SR9.

Click to expand...

Please post how uneventful it is for you in the experience thread. +1
Now do be advised in the more "upity" area's there are tons of people from california (some still think they are there) so you may get some looks. Just smile & go about your business & they usually get over their angst.

Weado said:

I live more inland Ontario. A place called Peterborough. It is about 2.5 hours NE of Toronto. It is full of less than admirable people and they use it as a drop off city when they release people from jail. I was constantly surrounded by addicts and hookers and people dealing crack and heroin. This all from a city of 80,000 people. I couldn't take it anymore, so here I am in the great state of Arizona and I am loving it here in Yuma.

*Edited for some silly spelling mistakes.

Click to expand...

Oh now you are making me homesick for Detroit ...LOL ...not.

I think being from Canada will help with the over all cheeriness. I have yet to come across anyone that I haven't had a good experience with. If I can smile and nod while crack heads and hookers yell at me when I working, I should have no problem giving a big smile and a "how are you today?" while exercising the rights that have so graciously been extended to me in this great country. I need to do some groceries at the Fry's here (not in the foothills) the ghetto (as it is referred to not by me lol) one on 24th. I have never noticed any signs that say I can't carry, but I will find out tomorrow I guess and report back in the experience thread.

Well the Fry's by me (2) are not posted. Their parent company Kroger's (midwest) based co, has a policy of "we follow state law." I have never seen a Fry's posted no firearms? Let's hope it stays that way.

Very good to hear. My fiancee has also noted some places that are posting the opposite signs that read "We respect the 2nd amendment rights of everyone to bear arms". Hopefully more businesses will realize that as soon as Open carriers and Discreet carriers see the "No weapons sign" they might as well be posting "We don't accept the business of free people here". It's sad to see people who claim they are freedom lovers so easily proclaim that an attack on our freedom to bear arms is reasonable in the same breathe. C'est la vie I guess, as long as we keep up the good fight and exercise our right to carry as we see fit as law abiding, free people.

Weado said:

Very good to hear. My fiancee has also noted some places that are posting the opposite signs that read "We respect the 2nd amendment rights of everyone to bear arms". Hopefully more businesses will realize that as soon as Open carriers and Discreet carriers see the "No weapons sign" they might as well be posting "We don't accept the business of free people here". It's sad to see people who claim they are freedom lovers so easily proclaim that an attack on our freedom to bear arms is reasonable in the same breathe. C'est la vie I guess, as long as we keep up the good fight and exercise our right to carry as we see fit as law abiding, free people.

Click to expand...

You Sir are way ahead of a lot of our (US) population when it comes to understanding what freedom means. I look forward to the day you become a citizen of USA/AZ.

Thank you very much. You almost wouldn't know I was Canadian and my Fiancee and friends here can all attest that I was born in the wrong country haha. I was the exception in Canada, owning a Kel-tec SU 16 (with the adustable stock of course), mossberg 500, SKS with the ATI polymer stock, a Ruger M77, and a marlin 795 was not the norm :lol: Now the only hassle will be getting them down here when I go back to finalize my Fiancee VISA and come back across the border. At least I will be flying and can just get 2 double rifle cases and get them as checked baggage. That's after the **** storm of paper work I will have to do to get my authorization to transport. That's life in Canada, where you are "free" to do anything you want. As long as you get permission from big daddy government.