Moving to Alpine Area

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Hello Utah OC'ers,

My name is Porter. I have been OCing for just about a year here in the Boise area. Although I was Born in Logan, Utah, I grew up in North Carolina before moving back west to Idaho. My wife and I have been married just over a year and have been living here in Caldwell, Idaho. Life has recently thrown us a curve ball, so my wife, Rachel, and our 7 week old son are going to be moving to Alpine, Utah mid-June. My wife is originally from Utah, so we're moving there to be closer to her family (I'm so excited for that part I could just :banghead:...) and so I can go back to college. I've OC'd a few times during our visits to Utah without any reactions or noteworthy experiences other than a few odd looks. I've carried in the Alpine, Highland, Lehi areas only a few times, so I'm still a little curious as to how OC is received in the area. I'll also have to study up on the laws and code ya'll have that differ from Idaho. I've always carried a list of the Utah codes with me when I've been visiting

I've been fairly active in the OC forum, but work has prevented me from attending too many events (shoots, picnics, 'tea parties', etc...) in the area, here. But, I hope I'll be able to meet some of you and attend any such events once we're settled into Alpine. I'm also curious as to any near by areas open to shooting - preferably middle-of-no-where, free-type ranges or spots.

I just wanted to say hi. hope to see you around!

-porter.

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Welcome, what part of North Carolina did you live in? I lived there for awhile.

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Welcome.

In most cases, you will find that OC is not noticed by most of the populace. If there is something about your personal appearance that draws attention, your mileage may vary.

You are most likely to have issues with OC if you chose to openly carry on a college campus. Sometimes folks will have a store employee make an issue in a Costco or Walmart.

Please remember that the Utah definition of a gun free school zone is more expansive (restrictive) than the federal definition. Our gun free school zone includes all K-12 schools, plus all preschools and daycares, plus all post secondary schools (includes colleges, universities, trade schools, vocational schools, etc), PLUS any location being used for a school activity. (We've got to get this fixed.) These locations plus 1000' (nearly 1/4 of a mile) from them (as the crow flies) are off limits to guns unless an exemption applies.

If you have a permit to carry (issued by anywhere in the nation) you are exempt and can freely carry (openly or concealed, though colleges are trying to make a case that you must conceal). If you are in a private car you can carry in these areas even without a permit. Ditto if you are on your private property that happens to otherwise fall in one of these zones.

As I'm sure you know, we have lots of kids in Utah and so lots of schools, pre-schools, daycares, and so on.

I highly encourage anyone who is going to OC in any urban or suburban area of Utah to get a permit. A Utah permit has other advantages and is pretty inexpensive in both time and money. With a permit there are very few places off limits and life is pretty easy.

I also encourage you to visit the webpages of Gun Owners of Utah (GOUtah!) www.goutahorg.org and the Utah Shooting Sports council (http://utahshootingsports.com/) and sign up for legislative alerts.

All the best.

Charles Hardy

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Welcome from SLC!

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I grew up in Cary, NC. around 20 minutes from Raleigh.

Thanks for the welcomes so far! any more advice or tips are still appreciated.

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Welcome!!

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Since nobody else has done so, I will answer the other part of your question.

A lot of people drive around the other side of the lake (Utah lake, not salt lake) from where you will be living to the old dump. There you will find a LOT of people out on the weekend shooting ALL manner of firearms. You cannot miss it unless you are just totally blind (in which case, make your wife spot for you), so just drive on the highway next to the lake until you see all the people out there shooting.

Be sure to build yourself a nice target stand to mount your targets. preferably one that will stand on it's own since the ground is real hard up there. That will enhance your enjoyment tremendously.

If you want to shoot indoors, I recomend the Orem recreational/fitness center. It is cheap and it is usually easy to get in. They have a pully system for sending and retrieving targets, and I think 5-6 lanes for shootin out to about 25 yards.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

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Awesome, thanks for the info!!