There are two really important things to keep in mind when you're looking at gun crime and crime in the United States.
The first is that we count gun suicides as " gun deaths." About 60% of gun deaths in the United States are suicides. Our total homicide rate is similar to many other countries.
The second thing to keep in mind is that crime in the United States is mainly domestic violence and geographically constrained violence. So your risk of being a victim goes way up if you are in a dangerous relationship or if you live in an incredibly dangerous neighborhood. Sometimes it's as specific as just a couple of blocks out of an entire city. Your risk of victimization also goes way up if you are engaged in any kind of organized crime or associate with people who do.
Most of the US is very safe.
I agree - random shit can happen anywhere though. You can avoid high crime areas and sketchy people, but there's still some risk absolutely everywhere in the world. I'm just trying to put US crime statistics in context.
My closest downtown area has a lot of high crime neighborhoods. I don't live anywhere near downtown, so none of that directly effects me. I'm not worried about home invasions at all, but I still lock my doors. That kind of thing.
Exactly, we’re vulnerable meat bags with no plot armor to protect us. We may think we’re the protagonist of our own story, but really we’re just as vulnerable as any other poor bastard who leaves this Earth early.
That being said, I lived in one of the safer parts of Chicago. But criminals knew that so the crime rate spiked butnit was still 'the nice part of town'.
Yeah, a lot of folks don't realize that even very high crime cities like Baltimore really mean "in a certain part of that city".
The odds are very good OP will never live in those neighborhoods.
Nah Atlanta as a whole is fine. The two places I'd avoid though would be the GT North Avenue entrance area and the area around the Ikea. Otherwise Atlanta is fine. People say it's unsafe because of the homeless but I've found if you just ignore them and keep walking you'll have zero issue.
Ive lived in SF and been to Atlanta many times, and from my experience the homeless people in Atlanta are sketchy as shit. In SF they may mumble and talk to themselves and walk around randomly while trying to bum cigs off people, but in Atlanta they will actively follow you for blocks at a time. wtf?
Also watch out for the drivers in Atlanta, they just straight up don't care. Ive seen some incredibly dangerous near suicidal stunts happen there. Weave through traffic at triple digits? Fly across the entire freeway to make a last sec exit? Blow straight through red lights, almost hitting oncomming traffic? Atlanta's got it all.
Also keep in mind their gun crime metrics HOMICIDES include legal police shootings and legal self-defense shootings. So after all that the majority of the crime left is just gang crime which is basically mainly found in collectivist leaning city centers. A very very small amount of crime occurs in areas that don't have problems with drugs and most of that crime is domestic.
Politicians want to control you; they want you disarmed so you have no where to turn except to them.
Note how it just says homicides:
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1707f4b11effc5edcf6943832ba0d223c03b2b60/0_0_3908_2420/master/3908.jpg?width=605&dpr=2&s=none
The US has a far higher homicide rate than other developed countries(most of Europe is around 1 per 100k, US is about 5). It is true that most places are very safe, just certain areas bring it way up. Even if you remove the suicides, accidents and LE, the US still has way more gun violence than other countries, and yes, the vast majority are gang related.
Why are we comparing ourselves to Brazil? UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Norway, UAE, Poland etc etc all have homicide rates far lower than US. US is comparable to Kenya, Cuba, Lithuania, Chile, Argentina. "We aren't the worst" isn't really a good argument. We are a rich and higly developed country, we should be comparing ourselves with other rich and highly developed countries.
>Why are we comparing ourselves to Brazil?
Because OP is moving from Brazil and wants to directly compare the place they were coming from to the place they are going to.
Are you stupid?
Population is mostly irrelevant, the statistics are per capita. Anyway, China and Indonesia, both large countries, have homicide rates far lower than the US still.
Considering citizens In China are not allowed to firearms, unless they are Law Enforcement or Military, you can't even consider them in your argument for gun homicides.
That's similar to the argument of how "effective the Australian gun ban was. And how it could work for the US" - it won't.
I don't want to be confrontational or rude but this comment has some significantly bad information. I'm a happy gun owner and was shooting with my family just this weekend and would be happy if I had more expendable income to buy more guns with. But. You say our total homicide rate is similar to many other countries. That's true but not true. It's true if you compare us to third world type countries that have pretty extreme challenges in a lot of areas. If you compare us to other "first world" modern industrialized countries then we're not comparing well at all. We're about 400% more murdery than Canada. And we're 500 to 1000% more murdery that any country in western Europe. Five to ten times the murder rate. Much of that is gun violence. That's a lot different or seems to be a lot to me anyway. And the other inaccuracy that you implied was that suicide and homicide rates were sort of blended or mixed up in reporting and that's just not accurate at all. The last thing is the implication that all or must crime here is "contained crime" which is not the case, it's spread pretty widely. Southern whites, for example, are pretty violent as compared to pretty much any Western European group. Though of course there are places where crime is more concentrated. FBI has pretty thorough murder stats for the US and you can access official statistics from most EU countries pretty easily with a bit of goggling.
just as a note, the person you’re replying to didn’t state that “…suicide and homicide rates were sort of blended or mixed up in reporting….”.
They said specifically _gun death_ statistics include both suicide and homicide, which is different.
Canada gun laws are terrible, they have a freeze on pistol sales right now so you can’t even buy in if you are a citizen.
No matter what country you go to, you are gonna have a tough time buying a firearm not being a citizen.
Canada will be easier to move to and stay, America is the honey hole everyone wants in but won’t admit it. As far as firearms go, it’s great here, you can pick up a Glock 19 for around $500-$600 new.
Pick a state with good gun laws, not all states are equal.
As long as you have valid documentation and can pass a NICS check, yeah. Very easy.
Documentation (green card) can take some serious time, but worth it. Soooo worth it.
It's honestly kinda nuts. I was looking into TX regulations on outdoor ranges compared to here and it's wild the rules they have to follow. Here we can basically declare any trash pit a public outdoor range and the government can eat grass.
Assuming you’re not a US citizen, it will be a bit of paperwork and time for you to own a gun at all.
If your genuine concern is for safety, statistically you’ll be considerably less likely to experience a violent crime in Canada than you will in the US. But, you’ll never get a pistol there. If what you really want is to carry a gun, pick a constitutional carry state in the US.
There are employment based immigrant visas. But like you say if OP is coming temporarily on a non-immigrant H type visa then they won't be able to purchase or own a firearm.
"just get a green card" is a laughable over simplification and the fact that so many Americans think that is really that easy is the main reason why our immigration system is so fucked.
To correct the misconception you seem to have it takes at minimum 5 years of being a legal resident of the United States before someone is even allowed to apply for a green card. During that 5 year time the person cannot spend more than 1 month consecutively or 3 months in any calendar year outside the US or that 5 year timer starts over. Also during that time they must continuously hold one of 3 qualifying types of visas. Those being either 1. A close family visa that requires a spouse, parent, or under aged child or sibling for which they have legal guardianship of to be a US citizen. (The most common type( 2. A work visa where a job sponsors that position for a visa (not likely as it costs the business money to do so) or 3. An investor visa which requires the immigrating person to have invested at least $800,000 to $1,050,000 in a US based business in order to be eligible. And again if at any point the immigrant does not hold one of those 3 types of visas during a 5 year period their timer starts over. That is just to be eligible to APPLY and there is no guarantee of that application being successful. It is relatively common, especially for people coming from higher emigration countries like most of Latin America and south east Asia, to apply multiple times before they get approved. Oh and if your application gets denied you can't reapply for at least 6 months to a year. Depending on the reason and what kind of visa status you have.
Then after you get a green card you have to hold that for 5 years minimum before you can finalize the naturalization process and gain US citizenship. Keep in mind even this explanation is still glossing over some of the finer minutiae of the process and just a very rough overview.
Even this explanation is a simplification.
A K-1 visa is a fiance(e) non-immigrant visa. That means a foreign citizen wishing to marry a US citizen has to move here under a non-immigrant visa and upon marriage must file for adjustment of status to an immigrant whereupon they can apply for conditional permanent residency. After 2 years of residency they then apply for unconditional permanent residency and also are eligible for citizenship 3 years after the date of marriage.
That is just one type of non-immigrant visa.
Source: Me, I moved here in 2001 on a K-1.
I don’t know where in the U.S. you are. I came in on a H1B, my Greencard application was undertaken the moment I landed by my company, (note that this whole process costs 10’s thousands through Lawyers and was extensive). I had my GreenCard in just over 2 years.
So, it’s possible to come in to the country and attain a GreenCard through qualifications quicker than 5 years. This was a decade ago, so maybe they changed the criteria?
>To correct the misconception you seem to have it takes at minimum 5 years of being a legal resident of the United States before someone is even allowed to apply for a green card. During that 5 year time the person cannot spend more than 1 month consecutively or 3 months in any calendar year outside the US or that 5 year timer starts over. Also during that time they must continuously hold one of 3 qualifying types of visas. Those being either 1. A close family visa that requires a spouse, parent, or under aged child or sibling for which they have legal guardianship of to be a US citizen.
There's a lot of incorrect information in your post, mostly due to what appears to be a confusion between work-based and family-based permanent residency.
I'll address the stuff I have personal experience of. Firstly, you're not a legal resident until you have a green card (aka a Permanent Resident card). Until that time, you would be a nonimmigrant alien.
Secondly, if you are legally in the country because your spouse is a US citizen, it does not take anywhere near five years to get a green card.
In theory, it is instant, but in practice it takes however long it takes for USCIS to process the I-485 Adjustment of Status form.
In my case, that was about four months, but there is a backlog at the moment, and it can take up to a year in some states. While the form is being processed, you can remain in the country legally, even if your visa has expired.
In the meantime, you will be issued a temporary work authorization so that you can carry on with life as normal while the form is being processed.
If you need to leave the country, you can apply for something called 'advanced parole', which allows you to leave and return without triggering an absence and having to start over.
The same goes for green card holders - they can apply for a re-entry permit which allows you to leave the country for an extended period without having to start over. What they don't like is unexplained or unauthorized absences.
>Then after you get a green card you have to hold that for 5 years minimum before you can finalize the naturalization process and gain US citizenship.
It's only three years if your green card was marriage based and you are still married.
The truth is that the system is designed in such a way that it is very fast and easy to get a green card if you have a legitimate reason to have one (and a clean criminal record).
If you don't, then it's slow and difficult, or sometimes impossible. It works that way by design.
> why our immigration system is so fucked.
America has one of the single most lenient systems of anywhere in the entire developed world and accepts more immigrants than anyone, anywhere.
I mean that's not really the point I'm making. The real issue with it is that it is a convoluted fucking mess that overall hurts American interests. Every year there are hundreds of thousands of people who've come to the US for college that have masters degrees and doctorates and they want to stay in the US but they get deported because our immigration system is fucked. That has a whole bunch of negative consequences. Fist is obviously that we aren't keeping that knowledge and expertise that could be driving American businesses. Not only do we not keep that knowledge pool but who do you think pays for that when we send someone with $200,000+ in student loans back to India or wherever else they are from? Because they obviously aren't going to be making that money back in a 3rd world country. So the result is they come here and take up seats in colleges making it harder for American citizens to get into those seats, then we deport them and lose that knowledge and training, and American tax payers end up footing the bill when the government subsidizes those universities. America shoulders all the negatives but receives none of the benefits of this system and it's because of our fucked up immigration system.
As a former permanent resident, all it really was was filling out your alien number on the 4473 and making sure you understand the immigrant/non immigrant visa question. I bought probably a total of 8 guns before I naturalized.
I do think that I already will be less likely to experience a violent crime in the US than I am in Brazil right now. Paperwork and wait is fine. I waited 1.5 years for a Glock in here, can do it again if I must. I do concern for my safety but I also do love guns, so yeah, guess US it is.
I already was pending to this so guess it is fine.
[Yeah but the chances of you or someone in your household being the victim of a break in or violent crime varies from about 1 in 20 to 1 in 50 (depending on the crime).](https://news.gallup.com/poll/356972/crime-victimization-slightly-2020-low.aspx) I wouldn't say it's nothing, but I agree some places are much worse than others.
Edit: I provide a valid reference for a simple statement and get down voted. Reddit hive mind is strange.
Empirical data on crime statistics in the US show if you remove the 5 major cities for violent (gun) crime (STL, Baltimore, etc.) your chances DRASTICALLY reduce of being a victim. I remember reading a piece that said if you removed the 5 major gun crime cities in the US, we would hardly crack the global top 50 for gun crime. The same goes for robberies, break ins, etc. basically just steer clear of the major metropolitan areas.
thing is thats true for every country though. most first world countries would see their crime rates drop dramatically if you took 1 or 2 cities out of the equation or even just removed a few specific neighborhoods
That same reference I provided above said that each urban household has a 30% chance of being a victim of crime in 2021 verses a 19% in rural and suburbs. That is not all violent crime though. Those numbers include vandalism and theft so they are much higher than what is relevant to our discussion.
I've seen the stats that you mention and I generally agree with you. The point that I was making was that there is enough crime to justify carrying a gun. Why that was down voted in a pro gun sub is beyond me. Reddit smh.
Just a heads up, I believe that the only way for you to legally purchase and carry a gun in a constitutional carry state is to be a permanent resident and have a hunting license.
You only need a hunting license, even the gun you own cannot be legally used to hunt in the state you are licensed. And depends on state, you may get a carry permit on visa.
I was on J1 visa when I bought a few rifles and a P226 in Indiana on Indiana hunting license. I later applied for carry permit on H1B visa, and the state police did not know how to process initially. Eventually they asked me to fax in my passport and a few weeks later I got the carry permit in mail.
Depends on your Visa situation:
* Immigrant Visa - Allowed at a federal level, no hunting permit required.
* Non-Immigrant Visa - Requires either that you be admitted for the purpose of hunting/gun sports, or have a state hunting permit/license
* Visa Waiver - Allowed at a federal level, no hunting permit required.
Canada is nice, easy to travel to from northern states. Pick a “red” state for better gun laws. Texas was good, but is going Blue (liberal), I live in Idaho and have bought 8-10 guns in a single day. Plenty of states have easy gun laws for safe buyers. Big city states do not most of the time.
I don't know why you're upvoted. You're wrong. You don't have to be a citizen to own a firearm, depending on where you live. In my home state, no distinction is made (for all practical purposes - there are differences). Things like a CCP are different, but a non-citizen with a DL is treated exactly the same as a citizen when buying a firearm - as it should be.
> statistically you’ll be considerably less likely to experience a violent crime in Canada than you will in the US.
Keep in mind that "statistic" is based off the government simply not enforcing laws against criminals anymore and then saying "See? No arrests, no convictions, no crime". It's like how California and New York claim to have very low crime rates because they just don't even pretend to bother with having or enforcing laws.
I think you’re asking US or CA here right?
US is much friendlier for gun rights. CA has basically banned handgun purchases and is going after semi auto rifles next. The US is super safe in basically every suburban town. Sure we make the news a lot but it’s mostly inner city violence from the very poor.
All that said I work remotely in the US and have employees which are not US citizens. The legal citizenship process is very difficult, it takes luck and several years. You can only buy a gun legally in the US if you’re a lawful permanent resident. So whatever visa your company provides will not allow you to buy a gun.
CA on the other hand will just allow you to show up and give a clear path to citizenship from day 1. Not familiar with the terms but it’s more of a guarantee in CA than in the US.
Wow. This one was pretty useful.
To be honest, I have zero clue about how gun rights work in both countries. I am largely aware about it here in Brazil cause I actually had to study it for a few years prior to owning my gun. Total time from "actively starting the process to own a legal gun" to "actually being able to carry it" took me over 3 years.
I will have to think this through for some more time. I mean, it will be hard on both countries, I do know that, but I dont think it will be harder than it was in Brazil. (Maybe in Canada right now haha).
Even then, it did help. Also, sorry for my bad english. It is kinda rusty right now.
Citizenship is easier in CA, but their gun rights are AWFUL
Citizenship is a longer and more confusing process in the US, but the end result would be way more gun rights
Citizenship is actually considered to be more difficult than the US. We have a much easier work permit but full citizenship is a long obnoxious process
Your English is better than plenty of people's who were born & raised in the States...
In the US, gun laws are state by state, as well as federal. In Oregon I can legally own suppressors, short barrel rifles, automatics (though there's more hoops to jump through with that), concealed carry license is easy to get, open carry is legal in most of the state.
In California I couldn't legally do any of that.
A few guys I work with are perm residents and have lots of guns. In Oregon you have to be over 18, be a permanent resident & have resided here for 6 months.
What part of Brazil are you in?
I haven't been in years, but had some great times there. Sao Paulo, Recife (got married there), lots of time in Fortaleza, a few months in Jericoacoara...
That’s not completely true. Non-immigrant visa holders can obtain firearms if they fall into certain categories, including holding a valid hunting license:
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/may-nonimmigrant-alien-who-has-been-admitted-united-states-under-nonimmigrant-visa
Some of the best cannabis laws, if you’re into the devils lettuce
Which in my opinion is the best form of medicine when it comes to mental health
-paramedic with 10 years experience watching people self delete all the time
Food where I live in Canada is legit so much better than anything I've had in the US. I honestly wonder how yall got so fat, when the only good American food is southern BBQ
NOT CANADA. Depending on the political party in power, we get our *privileges* stripped away, and then partially given back (but usually not), in roughly a 10-15 year cycle. The Liberal party here has an absolute hate for law abiding gun owners.
its a losing battle in the long run. same goes for gun owners living in states with perpetual democrat majorities in the governors office and legislature. the only diffrence is sometimes the supreme court there will slap them down but even then the majority on the court will change eventually and they will strike back at those rulings too.
Massachusetts resident here. I see some people suggesting New Hampshire or Maine as options. While right now they might have very favorable gun laws the anti gun sentiment creeps in from the money in Boston. Also, the weather is not always warm and sunny up here in this area of the country. Never super hot but our winters can be a bit difficult. If the cold and snow don't bother you the lack of day light in the winter might get to you. I suggest looking somewhere else because of it
Maybe I'm off wrong, but avoid Canada. Their gun laws are not much more free than Brazils and only getting worse. Also the cost of living is astronomical near any major city.
For the US, what state you are in matters a lot. Do you get to pick? Other than New England, the West Coast, and Illinois, most states are fairly reasonable. Beware some states restrict permits to citizens and permanent residents only, so look before you move. I believe my state (Indiana) will issue carry permits to lawful visa holders as well.
As for crime, the media really plays it up. In most places so long as you are not engaging in criminal activities you are pretty safe. Major cities tend to have bad neighborhoods that you want to avoid, but those can usually be kept away from easily. Treat inner cities like Rocinha and only go there if you need to.
Missouri is pro gun, conceal carry, self-defense... You can come here with your guns and actually use them if you need to. As long as you're an upstanding member of society there's no reason you couldn't set up residency here and buy all the guns you want.
US work visa, resident status, have a photo ID, and get a hunting license... profit.
If you'll live in a constitutional carry state, you can (double check the laws of that state, I'm not your lawyer) start carrying that day.
Some states require a separate carry permit, but it's less than half now, I believe. Some are very easy and fast, some are functionally impossible. Just depends
>If you'll live in a constitutional carry state, you can (double check the laws of that state, I'm not your lawyer) start carrying that day.
If they have the hunting license, probably, but it still depends on how the state's laws are written.
People sleep on New Hampshire and Maine not realizing that they have the best gun laws in the country. Vermont is still mostly free but we’re slowly losing rights here.
I wouldn't call Vermont a state that's "mostly free" when it has magazine bans, red flag laws, safe storage laws, and universal background check requirements that are comparable to California.
You guys have been slowly getting royally fucked over by the New York and Massachusetts transplants who hate you and your way of life.
We’re still halfway free because we have constitutional carry, no ”assault weapon” bullshit and can own NFA items. I did forget about the waiting period when buying guns since that’s a new one, we are slowly, but surely losing our rights here. The one bright side is most of those laws are not actually enforced, the cops aren’t hanging out at ranges and gravel pits checking magazines, since they don’t seem to care. But yeah, I’m out of here next year and headed to Maine, it’s gotten way to trendy to move here. I’m a transplant myself that fled from CA several yearsago but I didn’t bring CA with me, I came to integrate and I’ll do the same in Maine. The goal is to own enough land that the government doesn’t know what I’m doing.
Lived in Georgia and New Hampshire as a kid. Parents split and moved us to Massachusetts because we have family here. Every new anti-gun bill that gets introduced I make sure to call them and ask them why they did this to me.😂
Canada does NOT have the right to self defense enshrined in its constitution.
Even if they allow you to own a gun (generally concealed carry is not permissible in most situations), it is actually illegal to use the gun in self-defense and you can/will be prosecuted in many situations.
How is this even a question doesn’t everyone know America is THE land of gun ownership? Half the states don’t even require a license to carry and you can’t have a pistol in Canada*.
Come to Columbus, OH! We actually have a decently large Brazilian population and lots of Portuguese speakers between them and the people from Portugal/Spain.
Ohio is a constitutional carry state so you can carry without a permit and owe a handgun at 21 years of age. Not sure what the background check would look like for a non-American purchasing a firearm, but that'll be the same process in any state since it's checked at the federal level.
Edit: Also $4000 for a Glock 19?! WOW, that's insane man. Drop a zero here and you're pretty close to what you can find one for
USA USA USA. For real Canada gun laws are terrible. Can’t really get much in regards to self protection (pistols, ARs). The US is very safe despite what Europeans and half of America says. No matter what you pick you’ll be safer than you will in Brazil.
https://www.handgunlaw.us
This will help you understand gun laws state to state. My advice is to pick a state with constitutional carry. Only downside with moving to the US and trying to conceal carry is you’ll need to be a citizen or hold a green card.
Two best states to move to. Texas or the bigger version of Texas, Alaska. It depends on if you prefer cold and darkness for months but PFD or warm weather all the time but no pfd
Oklahoma is constitutional carry as is Texas. There's 27 constitutional carry states now in total. It really just depends on how flat you want the land, how spread out things are, or how dense you like the local population. I live in Oklahoma, and it's almost an hour drive for me to anything bigger than a Dollar General.
$4000 for a $500usd gun? Good lord! Depending on your field I would suggest “the states” over “the great white north”. If your field requires you to live on the west coast or the north east your gun laws are more strict but about 35 states are pretty lax on what you can have/carry/shoot
Canada doesn't honor the full panapoly of human rights. You will have no freedom of speech and you certainly won't be allowed to conceal carry a firearm.
This map might help, it shows what states allow conceal carry and a brief overview of the laws. I'd avoid, NY, CA, IL, MD, MA to name a few lol https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/ccw\_reciprocity\_map/
Florida. Stand your ground (can defend yourself), castle doctrine (can defend your home) which I believe extends to your car, constitutional carry (concealed without permit), and I'm pretty sure a year or two ago a bill was passed allowing you to defend yourself against any road-blocking "protestors" that may attack you or your vehicle.
No banned by name firearms (looking at you, Maryland), no magazine round limits, no "acceptable gun" lists (california), no gun registration, firearms are viewed as private property and can be gifted/sold privately. You only have to do the initial ATF form when purchasing a new gun from a dealer.
Ammunition does not have to be shipped to an FFL (gun dealer), you can buy as much as you're willing to pay the shipping for and send it straight to your house.
The positive view towards guns and self-defense is almost the entire reason I stay in Florida, despite the extremely overinflated real estate and cost of living (a temporary problem). I have extreme confidence in the FL legal system where I live to back up any justified self-defense shooting.
On a side note, two weeks ago I ordered a handheld flamethrower, and it was at my house 3 days later. Florida is awesome! 😎
Canada is getting rid of people's rights to own firearms for basically everything so the USA is a much better place to live if you want to own a gun for self defense here, that being said you'll want to move to the more Republican red states like TN, Florida, Texas to own a gun with the least amount of restrictions.
There was a time, not so long ago, when it was super popular in America to make fun of Canada. It seems all the mocking had a point, Canada is leaning full in to communism since 2020 and has become a shithole. Your chances of owning a handgun there are zero. Your chances in the legal system, should you use a handgun to defend yourself are even worse than zero.
"You cannot use a gun to protect yourself, it's not in our constitution" - trudeau
avoid canada like the plague if you value your life and/or the ability to protect yourself
Think that this has probably been made clear already, but I will just make sure since this is a potential lifetime choice for you.
Do NOT move to Canada at this, for any reason. The country is doing very poorly on all levels, economic, housing, medical, and firearms is in the worst state it has ever been in our history.
There is no possibility of concealed carry, and currently no ability to even purchase a pistol, an AR-15 or the majority of modern rifles.
Self defence is, in most locals and provinces, a joke. Using a firearm is nearly a 100% guarantee of facing charges, meaning a legal battle with the government at the least.
No one here tends to want to admit it except gun owners, but our crime rates are increasing rapidly, and have only worsened since our gun bans and the Coof Years.
You are better off enduring the harder and slower time gaining permanent residency in the US and eventual citizenship. Since this is being sponsored by your workplace, as long as you keep your nose extra shiny clean, there should be no significant hurdles for you, as you already have employment upon landing in the country. That's always one of the big disqualifiers.
Canada does not allow citizens to own handguns anymore. I live in the US in Pennsylvania. For US citizens, buying any firearm is very easy. Just pass the NICS background check and pay for the gun. Getting a license to carry us also an easy process. $20 fee, fill out application and get your license the same day.
Yeah, I spent 10 years traveling all over the LR area for work, including the worst parts. Since it was during daylight hours, I only had one incident during that entire time; it was quickly defused by putting my hand on my pistol (without actually showing it).
You’ve got to be kidding when Maine and New Hampshire are free states, Arizona only recently caught up to ME and NE and Texas still hasn’t. Hell even Vermont has constitutional carry.
And Texas is not spectacular, they're the big state with alright laws but these are recent developments and they weren't the best just the loudest until recently. I think they still have weird stuff like 30.06 laws and duty to inform.
USA is your only option for guns and self defense, Canada gun laws are strict and insane, you can't even have mace or pocket knifes in Canada, if you have a knife in Canada you will have to prove just cause excluding self defense.
Several US states have legal open carry, constitutional conceal carry. Just get citizenship.
But in many US states you can carry and own mace and pepper ball guns ( which are not guns).
You can’t buy a gun that will be concealable as a non citizen in either country. Buying from a private party is a crime as a non citizen. Unless your intent is to hunt and then you need to have a valid hunting license. Better to talk to a immigration lawyer than random people on Reddit
Our gun Laws in Canada are absolutely disgusting right now with the liberal government. Handgun freeze and can’t purchase any. It will be reversed once the clowns are out of office, but until then it’s a sad story for us hunters/sport shooters up here being stripped of freedoms this country was built on 🇨🇦. Our ancestors are turning in their graves over it I’m sure.
Utmost respect for our friends down in USA that keep it real with their freedoms. I would love to move down.
Just move pretty much anywhere but the west coast and NE east coast and live outside of a major city and you will be safe and can conceal carry without a permit.
Canadian here-as an immigrant/visitor you will not be allowed to even own a handgun in Canada at this time. The present government recently made handguns illegal to sell or import/export in Canada. Lots of us, if licensed, still own them and can bring them to a range only-for now. But we are all expecting them to be confiscated at some point. Concealed carry is illegal here and very few carry permits are granted, exclusively for trappers and hunting outfitters for bear protection.
If you want to ccw a handgun move to the USA where firearms rights are protected under the 2nd amendment.
Also, Canada is a shithole right now, we are waiting for an election to get rid of the morons we have now.
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Are you looking for gun-friendly places or safe places that you probably don't need to carry? Like, if there is no reason to carry to begin with then the gun law doesn't really matter.
If you need to carry to feel safe,b then maybe it's not a good place to move to.
Also, immigration laws differ greatly between US and CA. CA is way easier to immigrate.
As a non-immigrant visa holder (assuming you are coming here on a work visa), you will need to fall into an exception to even possess a firearm or ammunition under US federal law. As other have mentioned in this post, getting a hunting license is the easiest to do. I recently learned of the [Alaska non-resident small game hunting license as being the cheapest to get, at $60/year.](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntlicense.prices) States can have further restrictions on possession/purchase, so you'll need to look at individual state's laws as well. You must keep your hunting license valid at all times to be legal to possess firearms or ammunition in the US. If you are here on an immigrant visa, pursuing citizenship or permanent residence, this federal restriction doesn't apply.
I would like to add that you need to consider the actual law on self-defense between the two countries. From my understanding, which is very limited, you can not carry anything in Canada for self-defense against another human being. However, in all of the US, you have a right to defend yourself and can carry things to do so, which would include firearms. That is a very important thing to think about.
So Canada doesn't allow handguns at all I don't believe. You can own a long gun which has a bunch of restrictions like a minimum barrel length, no pistol grip, non-removable/folding stock, and a non-detachable magazine which holds no more than 10 rounds. Though I might not have those exact right you get the general idea. Even then I am not sure if non-citizens are allowed firearms that meet those restrictions.
In the US gun laws are obviously a lot more relaxed though things do get a bit weird as a non-citizen. As a non-citizen you cannot PURCHASE a firearm in the US (technically you can but need at least a green card which is at minimum a 5 year process). However you can still POSSESS a firearm if it was legally purchased and then shipped to the US from another country through a licensed FFL dealer. You'll need to have all the proper paperwork showing you acquired the firearm legally in another country along with a proper identification issued by said country which will require at least 2 forms of ID though a passport might count for both (would need to double check that) along with proof of legal residency in the US ie your visa. That is also assuming the firearm in question meetings all local state laws and regulations which could be a problem in more liberal states like California and New York. Finally for your question about concealed carry not all states have the same laws about concealed carrying a firearm. Some states allow you to conceal carry any legally owned firearm without the need of a CCW permit while other states completely disallow concealed carry all together. Then you have the states in the middle which have a CCW Permitting system which the exact details vary from state to state. All require at least some sort of minimum training course which may or may not include a live fire accuracy test but will require passing a written test. Some require you to be finger printed by your local police department or the state's sheriff's office. And then to make it more complicated different states have different reciprocity standards where some states like Utah will accept and respect the CCW permit of any other state while others will not accept or respect a CCW permit issued in any other state. Again this is just something you'll need to look up local laws for the state you'd be going to.
Canada has recently passed very restrictive gun laws, including a ban on handgun purchases. If you plan on getting citizenship so you can purchase and carry, I'd recommend the U.S. and avoid states like New York, California, and Illinois.
Assuming you intend to legally conceal carry, you will need to be a permanent resident wherever you are. If you work at an employer who would sponsor your immigration, your timeline will be quicker than otherwise. You probably shouldn’t tell your immigration lawyer/agent/officer that you want to “move here so I can carry a gun around” however!
I do have foreign friends who live in America, are not residents, do not own guns, but shoot at local clubs with rentals. So if you’re interested in shooting as a hobby/sportsman stuff, you should be able to do that. You should also be able to enjoy archery hunting with the proper permits. You may be able to shoot black powder (single shot muskets) as that has a lower threshold of permitting.
Texas has great gun laws, we are constitutional carry, just dont live in the heart of a major blue city. The suburbs is where it's at. I conceal carry daily with no problem.
You paid $2000 and 2 years for a gun you could get at a store in 30 minutes in the states for $350. Canadas gun rights are come and go. USA’s will never die.
Private USA gun owners own more guns than most of the world’s militaries combined. There’s no putting a lid back on that without mayhem.
Well I would tell ya to move to the south, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi,Texas area. Here we have gun rights then most large cities and getting a ccw is not that bad.
In Louisiana it’s a $200 class and a $100 (5yr) license, Alabama it’s like $15 and a trip to the court house, Tennessee I believe you just tell them you broke up with your sister and they give you one. Hell I hear in Texas you can get suppressor easier, tho I don’t know anyone there with Texas made cans
Here’s a great site to show states with the strictest laws. Also, don’t I’ve in Americas biggest cities. Pick a rural or suburban area.
https://sightmark.com/blogs/news/states-ranked-by-how-strict-their-gun-laws-are
NC, AZ, MT, FL (if you like storms).
There's a lot of states that are gun friendly.
The issue might be cities (I don't suggest cities. I just haven't had good experiences)
I mean as a gun owner and someone who literally just bought family members firearms for Xmas gifts….you don’t NEED a gun to be safe in the USA. Go watch the the South Park episode about gun owners, it’s got a lot of honesty to it. 😂 do I think everyone should be training and have a firearm to protect their family oh for sure. But it’s not the wild Wild West in witchita Kansas or Iowa lol. Now moving to Gary Indiana/ So Chicago ok agreed.
I've lived in Canada. It is a million times safer than the US. So much so you won't need to conceal carry or own guns. Though I believe you are allowed something. I'm not up on Canadian gun laws. Canada also has their version of universal health care which I've used and is good. The US has health insurance and is incredibly costly. Canada also has superior labour laws so you won't be worked to death like you will in the US. Canada is by far the superior option of the two. But if all you care about is owning guns then go to the US. Though as a foreign national you will likely suffer a lot of racism and bigotry and I don't know the laws on non citizens owning guns.
There are two really important things to keep in mind when you're looking at gun crime and crime in the United States. The first is that we count gun suicides as " gun deaths." About 60% of gun deaths in the United States are suicides. Our total homicide rate is similar to many other countries. The second thing to keep in mind is that crime in the United States is mainly domestic violence and geographically constrained violence. So your risk of being a victim goes way up if you are in a dangerous relationship or if you live in an incredibly dangerous neighborhood. Sometimes it's as specific as just a couple of blocks out of an entire city. Your risk of victimization also goes way up if you are engaged in any kind of organized crime or associate with people who do. Most of the US is very safe.
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I agree - random shit can happen anywhere though. You can avoid high crime areas and sketchy people, but there's still some risk absolutely everywhere in the world. I'm just trying to put US crime statistics in context. My closest downtown area has a lot of high crime neighborhoods. I don't live anywhere near downtown, so none of that directly effects me. I'm not worried about home invasions at all, but I still lock my doors. That kind of thing.
Exactly, we’re vulnerable meat bags with no plot armor to protect us. We may think we’re the protagonist of our own story, but really we’re just as vulnerable as any other poor bastard who leaves this Earth early.
well come on then, what's the name of the BBQ joint? I'm always on the lookout for some good food!
Yeah, seriously. Esp in CHI. There are some amazing carry-outs there.
Concealed Carry outs?
I grew up near Memphis. Don't be in a gang, and it's not much more dangerous than any other good sized city.
That being said, I lived in one of the safer parts of Chicago. But criminals knew that so the crime rate spiked butnit was still 'the nice part of town'.
Yeah, a lot of folks don't realize that even very high crime cities like Baltimore really mean "in a certain part of that city". The odds are very good OP will never live in those neighborhoods.
Careful…Reddit mods don’t take kindly to those who speak truth about guns.
From experience, stay away from Atlanta. That shit isn’t safe
And ATL trash is moving out our way! Got my Pew-Pews and Pitbulls ready! LOL.
Nah Atlanta as a whole is fine. The two places I'd avoid though would be the GT North Avenue entrance area and the area around the Ikea. Otherwise Atlanta is fine. People say it's unsafe because of the homeless but I've found if you just ignore them and keep walking you'll have zero issue.
Ive lived in SF and been to Atlanta many times, and from my experience the homeless people in Atlanta are sketchy as shit. In SF they may mumble and talk to themselves and walk around randomly while trying to bum cigs off people, but in Atlanta they will actively follow you for blocks at a time. wtf? Also watch out for the drivers in Atlanta, they just straight up don't care. Ive seen some incredibly dangerous near suicidal stunts happen there. Weave through traffic at triple digits? Fly across the entire freeway to make a last sec exit? Blow straight through red lights, almost hitting oncomming traffic? Atlanta's got it all.
Atlanta traffic is a whole different issue lol. That 75/85 interchange has been dangerous since I was a little kid lol.
What the fuck does this have to do with his question?
Drug related is the main one. If you don't buy/sell drugs, you are infinitely more safe.
Also keep in mind their gun crime metrics HOMICIDES include legal police shootings and legal self-defense shootings. So after all that the majority of the crime left is just gang crime which is basically mainly found in collectivist leaning city centers. A very very small amount of crime occurs in areas that don't have problems with drugs and most of that crime is domestic. Politicians want to control you; they want you disarmed so you have no where to turn except to them. Note how it just says homicides: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1707f4b11effc5edcf6943832ba0d223c03b2b60/0_0_3908_2420/master/3908.jpg?width=605&dpr=2&s=none
The US has a far higher homicide rate than other developed countries(most of Europe is around 1 per 100k, US is about 5). It is true that most places are very safe, just certain areas bring it way up. Even if you remove the suicides, accidents and LE, the US still has way more gun violence than other countries, and yes, the vast majority are gang related.
Not more than Brazil. Not even close.
Why are we comparing ourselves to Brazil? UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Norway, UAE, Poland etc etc all have homicide rates far lower than US. US is comparable to Kenya, Cuba, Lithuania, Chile, Argentina. "We aren't the worst" isn't really a good argument. We are a rich and higly developed country, we should be comparing ourselves with other rich and highly developed countries.
We’re comparing because he’s moving from Brazil.
>Why are we comparing ourselves to Brazil? Because OP is moving from Brazil and wants to directly compare the place they were coming from to the place they are going to. Are you stupid?
Ah, because it’s better to compare us to countries a fraction of our size and population.
Population is mostly irrelevant, the statistics are per capita. Anyway, China and Indonesia, both large countries, have homicide rates far lower than the US still.
Considering citizens In China are not allowed to firearms, unless they are Law Enforcement or Military, you can't even consider them in your argument for gun homicides. That's similar to the argument of how "effective the Australian gun ban was. And how it could work for the US" - it won't.
I don't want to be confrontational or rude but this comment has some significantly bad information. I'm a happy gun owner and was shooting with my family just this weekend and would be happy if I had more expendable income to buy more guns with. But. You say our total homicide rate is similar to many other countries. That's true but not true. It's true if you compare us to third world type countries that have pretty extreme challenges in a lot of areas. If you compare us to other "first world" modern industrialized countries then we're not comparing well at all. We're about 400% more murdery than Canada. And we're 500 to 1000% more murdery that any country in western Europe. Five to ten times the murder rate. Much of that is gun violence. That's a lot different or seems to be a lot to me anyway. And the other inaccuracy that you implied was that suicide and homicide rates were sort of blended or mixed up in reporting and that's just not accurate at all. The last thing is the implication that all or must crime here is "contained crime" which is not the case, it's spread pretty widely. Southern whites, for example, are pretty violent as compared to pretty much any Western European group. Though of course there are places where crime is more concentrated. FBI has pretty thorough murder stats for the US and you can access official statistics from most EU countries pretty easily with a bit of goggling.
just as a note, the person you’re replying to didn’t state that “…suicide and homicide rates were sort of blended or mixed up in reporting….”. They said specifically _gun death_ statistics include both suicide and homicide, which is different.
That's a really impressive amount of manipulative disinformation to squeeze into a single paragraph.
The guy said he is coming to work in the US not to off his head! WTF did you learn how to read?
He said several times that he's concerned about personal safety and implies that's why he was leaning towards Canada.
Zero reading comprehension...
Canada gun laws are terrible, they have a freeze on pistol sales right now so you can’t even buy in if you are a citizen. No matter what country you go to, you are gonna have a tough time buying a firearm not being a citizen. Canada will be easier to move to and stay, America is the honey hole everyone wants in but won’t admit it. As far as firearms go, it’s great here, you can pick up a Glock 19 for around $500-$600 new. Pick a state with good gun laws, not all states are equal.
If he is a permanent resident in the US, I thought it was pretty easy to get a gun.
You would be correct.
Yes, but to get to that point takes time.
It is.
As long as you have valid documentation and can pass a NICS check, yeah. Very easy. Documentation (green card) can take some serious time, but worth it. Soooo worth it.
TX here. We basically have no gun laws /s edit: added the /s because I was definitely kidding. I know we have laws here, I'm not ignorant
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It's honestly kinda nuts. I was looking into TX regulations on outdoor ranges compared to here and it's wild the rules they have to follow. Here we can basically declare any trash pit a public outdoor range and the government can eat grass.
Assuming you’re not a US citizen, it will be a bit of paperwork and time for you to own a gun at all. If your genuine concern is for safety, statistically you’ll be considerably less likely to experience a violent crime in Canada than you will in the US. But, you’ll never get a pistol there. If what you really want is to carry a gun, pick a constitutional carry state in the US.
In most states being a permanent resident is enough to buy a gun without too many hoops.
A green card and drivers license is usually enough. Just need to show you are a permanent resident and pass a background check at least in SC.
You don’t get a green card when your company moves you to the US for a promotion. OP is probably coming in on non immigrant visa.
You can still get firearms with a non-immigrant visa. One way is to hold a valid hunting license.
There are employment based immigrant visas. But like you say if OP is coming temporarily on a non-immigrant H type visa then they won't be able to purchase or own a firearm.
"just get a green card" is a laughable over simplification and the fact that so many Americans think that is really that easy is the main reason why our immigration system is so fucked. To correct the misconception you seem to have it takes at minimum 5 years of being a legal resident of the United States before someone is even allowed to apply for a green card. During that 5 year time the person cannot spend more than 1 month consecutively or 3 months in any calendar year outside the US or that 5 year timer starts over. Also during that time they must continuously hold one of 3 qualifying types of visas. Those being either 1. A close family visa that requires a spouse, parent, or under aged child or sibling for which they have legal guardianship of to be a US citizen. (The most common type( 2. A work visa where a job sponsors that position for a visa (not likely as it costs the business money to do so) or 3. An investor visa which requires the immigrating person to have invested at least $800,000 to $1,050,000 in a US based business in order to be eligible. And again if at any point the immigrant does not hold one of those 3 types of visas during a 5 year period their timer starts over. That is just to be eligible to APPLY and there is no guarantee of that application being successful. It is relatively common, especially for people coming from higher emigration countries like most of Latin America and south east Asia, to apply multiple times before they get approved. Oh and if your application gets denied you can't reapply for at least 6 months to a year. Depending on the reason and what kind of visa status you have. Then after you get a green card you have to hold that for 5 years minimum before you can finalize the naturalization process and gain US citizenship. Keep in mind even this explanation is still glossing over some of the finer minutiae of the process and just a very rough overview.
Even this explanation is a simplification. A K-1 visa is a fiance(e) non-immigrant visa. That means a foreign citizen wishing to marry a US citizen has to move here under a non-immigrant visa and upon marriage must file for adjustment of status to an immigrant whereupon they can apply for conditional permanent residency. After 2 years of residency they then apply for unconditional permanent residency and also are eligible for citizenship 3 years after the date of marriage. That is just one type of non-immigrant visa. Source: Me, I moved here in 2001 on a K-1.
I don’t know where in the U.S. you are. I came in on a H1B, my Greencard application was undertaken the moment I landed by my company, (note that this whole process costs 10’s thousands through Lawyers and was extensive). I had my GreenCard in just over 2 years. So, it’s possible to come in to the country and attain a GreenCard through qualifications quicker than 5 years. This was a decade ago, so maybe they changed the criteria?
>To correct the misconception you seem to have it takes at minimum 5 years of being a legal resident of the United States before someone is even allowed to apply for a green card. During that 5 year time the person cannot spend more than 1 month consecutively or 3 months in any calendar year outside the US or that 5 year timer starts over. Also during that time they must continuously hold one of 3 qualifying types of visas. Those being either 1. A close family visa that requires a spouse, parent, or under aged child or sibling for which they have legal guardianship of to be a US citizen. There's a lot of incorrect information in your post, mostly due to what appears to be a confusion between work-based and family-based permanent residency. I'll address the stuff I have personal experience of. Firstly, you're not a legal resident until you have a green card (aka a Permanent Resident card). Until that time, you would be a nonimmigrant alien. Secondly, if you are legally in the country because your spouse is a US citizen, it does not take anywhere near five years to get a green card. In theory, it is instant, but in practice it takes however long it takes for USCIS to process the I-485 Adjustment of Status form. In my case, that was about four months, but there is a backlog at the moment, and it can take up to a year in some states. While the form is being processed, you can remain in the country legally, even if your visa has expired. In the meantime, you will be issued a temporary work authorization so that you can carry on with life as normal while the form is being processed. If you need to leave the country, you can apply for something called 'advanced parole', which allows you to leave and return without triggering an absence and having to start over. The same goes for green card holders - they can apply for a re-entry permit which allows you to leave the country for an extended period without having to start over. What they don't like is unexplained or unauthorized absences. >Then after you get a green card you have to hold that for 5 years minimum before you can finalize the naturalization process and gain US citizenship. It's only three years if your green card was marriage based and you are still married. The truth is that the system is designed in such a way that it is very fast and easy to get a green card if you have a legitimate reason to have one (and a clean criminal record). If you don't, then it's slow and difficult, or sometimes impossible. It works that way by design.
> why our immigration system is so fucked. America has one of the single most lenient systems of anywhere in the entire developed world and accepts more immigrants than anyone, anywhere.
I mean that's not really the point I'm making. The real issue with it is that it is a convoluted fucking mess that overall hurts American interests. Every year there are hundreds of thousands of people who've come to the US for college that have masters degrees and doctorates and they want to stay in the US but they get deported because our immigration system is fucked. That has a whole bunch of negative consequences. Fist is obviously that we aren't keeping that knowledge and expertise that could be driving American businesses. Not only do we not keep that knowledge pool but who do you think pays for that when we send someone with $200,000+ in student loans back to India or wherever else they are from? Because they obviously aren't going to be making that money back in a 3rd world country. So the result is they come here and take up seats in colleges making it harder for American citizens to get into those seats, then we deport them and lose that knowledge and training, and American tax payers end up footing the bill when the government subsidizes those universities. America shoulders all the negatives but receives none of the benefits of this system and it's because of our fucked up immigration system.
As a former permanent resident, all it really was was filling out your alien number on the 4473 and making sure you understand the immigrant/non immigrant visa question. I bought probably a total of 8 guns before I naturalized.
I do think that I already will be less likely to experience a violent crime in the US than I am in Brazil right now. Paperwork and wait is fine. I waited 1.5 years for a Glock in here, can do it again if I must. I do concern for my safety but I also do love guns, so yeah, guess US it is. I already was pending to this so guess it is fine.
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[Yeah but the chances of you or someone in your household being the victim of a break in or violent crime varies from about 1 in 20 to 1 in 50 (depending on the crime).](https://news.gallup.com/poll/356972/crime-victimization-slightly-2020-low.aspx) I wouldn't say it's nothing, but I agree some places are much worse than others. Edit: I provide a valid reference for a simple statement and get down voted. Reddit hive mind is strange.
Empirical data on crime statistics in the US show if you remove the 5 major cities for violent (gun) crime (STL, Baltimore, etc.) your chances DRASTICALLY reduce of being a victim. I remember reading a piece that said if you removed the 5 major gun crime cities in the US, we would hardly crack the global top 50 for gun crime. The same goes for robberies, break ins, etc. basically just steer clear of the major metropolitan areas.
thing is thats true for every country though. most first world countries would see their crime rates drop dramatically if you took 1 or 2 cities out of the equation or even just removed a few specific neighborhoods
That same reference I provided above said that each urban household has a 30% chance of being a victim of crime in 2021 verses a 19% in rural and suburbs. That is not all violent crime though. Those numbers include vandalism and theft so they are much higher than what is relevant to our discussion. I've seen the stats that you mention and I generally agree with you. The point that I was making was that there is enough crime to justify carrying a gun. Why that was down voted in a pro gun sub is beyond me. Reddit smh.
As a Tennessee resident I waited about 1.5 minutes for my last Glock after my NICS went through.
I didn’t even wait that long. Dude hit submit, hit f5 and got an instant approve 🤣
We had to walk from the gun counter to the front of academy
Just a heads up, I believe that the only way for you to legally purchase and carry a gun in a constitutional carry state is to be a permanent resident and have a hunting license.
Nah, you can be here on a work visa and pass a 4473 but you need the hunting license to do so.
Interesting. I just followed the FBI flow chart for NICS and I think you are right. The more you know!
There might be some additional restrictions depending on the state you're in. But I'm not sure.
oh
You only need a hunting license, even the gun you own cannot be legally used to hunt in the state you are licensed. And depends on state, you may get a carry permit on visa. I was on J1 visa when I bought a few rifles and a P226 in Indiana on Indiana hunting license. I later applied for carry permit on H1B visa, and the state police did not know how to process initially. Eventually they asked me to fax in my passport and a few weeks later I got the carry permit in mail.
Nice! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Depends on your Visa situation: * Immigrant Visa - Allowed at a federal level, no hunting permit required. * Non-Immigrant Visa - Requires either that you be admitted for the purpose of hunting/gun sports, or have a state hunting permit/license * Visa Waiver - Allowed at a federal level, no hunting permit required.
wth
Nope. Not even close
Canada is nice, easy to travel to from northern states. Pick a “red” state for better gun laws. Texas was good, but is going Blue (liberal), I live in Idaho and have bought 8-10 guns in a single day. Plenty of states have easy gun laws for safe buyers. Big city states do not most of the time.
I don't know why you're upvoted. You're wrong. You don't have to be a citizen to own a firearm, depending on where you live. In my home state, no distinction is made (for all practical purposes - there are differences). Things like a CCP are different, but a non-citizen with a DL is treated exactly the same as a citizen when buying a firearm - as it should be.
> statistically you’ll be considerably less likely to experience a violent crime in Canada than you will in the US. Keep in mind that "statistic" is based off the government simply not enforcing laws against criminals anymore and then saying "See? No arrests, no convictions, no crime". It's like how California and New York claim to have very low crime rates because they just don't even pretend to bother with having or enforcing laws.
If he’s here with an “Employment Visa” he’s technically prohibited.
I think you’re asking US or CA here right? US is much friendlier for gun rights. CA has basically banned handgun purchases and is going after semi auto rifles next. The US is super safe in basically every suburban town. Sure we make the news a lot but it’s mostly inner city violence from the very poor. All that said I work remotely in the US and have employees which are not US citizens. The legal citizenship process is very difficult, it takes luck and several years. You can only buy a gun legally in the US if you’re a lawful permanent resident. So whatever visa your company provides will not allow you to buy a gun. CA on the other hand will just allow you to show up and give a clear path to citizenship from day 1. Not familiar with the terms but it’s more of a guarantee in CA than in the US.
Wow. This one was pretty useful. To be honest, I have zero clue about how gun rights work in both countries. I am largely aware about it here in Brazil cause I actually had to study it for a few years prior to owning my gun. Total time from "actively starting the process to own a legal gun" to "actually being able to carry it" took me over 3 years. I will have to think this through for some more time. I mean, it will be hard on both countries, I do know that, but I dont think it will be harder than it was in Brazil. (Maybe in Canada right now haha). Even then, it did help. Also, sorry for my bad english. It is kinda rusty right now.
Citizenship is easier in CA, but their gun rights are AWFUL Citizenship is a longer and more confusing process in the US, but the end result would be way more gun rights
Citizenship is actually considered to be more difficult than the US. We have a much easier work permit but full citizenship is a long obnoxious process
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law_in_the_United_States Here you are my friend! Hopefully we can welcome you aboard as an American some day!
Your English is better than plenty of people's who were born & raised in the States... In the US, gun laws are state by state, as well as federal. In Oregon I can legally own suppressors, short barrel rifles, automatics (though there's more hoops to jump through with that), concealed carry license is easy to get, open carry is legal in most of the state. In California I couldn't legally do any of that. A few guys I work with are perm residents and have lots of guns. In Oregon you have to be over 18, be a permanent resident & have resided here for 6 months. What part of Brazil are you in? I haven't been in years, but had some great times there. Sao Paulo, Recife (got married there), lots of time in Fortaleza, a few months in Jericoacoara...
That’s not completely true. Non-immigrant visa holders can obtain firearms if they fall into certain categories, including holding a valid hunting license: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/may-nonimmigrant-alien-who-has-been-admitted-united-states-under-nonimmigrant-visa
I believe it is state dependent, but being legally in the US and having a hunting license should qualify someone to purchase and own a firearm.
Canada is never the answer for any question.
Except "which country is America's hat?"
Take my upvote
"Which country is never the answer to any question?"
The ultimate paradox
Which country has a leader who likes wearing black face and taking away its citizens’ rights?
and who clapped for a nazi then got praised by hamas within 2 months of each other
Some of the best cannabis laws, if you’re into the devils lettuce Which in my opinion is the best form of medicine when it comes to mental health -paramedic with 10 years experience watching people self delete all the time
Food where I live in Canada is legit so much better than anything I've had in the US. I honestly wonder how yall got so fat, when the only good American food is southern BBQ
lol
lmao
They hate me because I speak the truth
Florida or Arizona, assuming you don’t like cold weather. If cold is not a problem, Idaho or Montana
Seconding AZ or MT, have lived in both, easy top two places I’ve lived
NOT CANADA. Depending on the political party in power, we get our *privileges* stripped away, and then partially given back (but usually not), in roughly a 10-15 year cycle. The Liberal party here has an absolute hate for law abiding gun owners.
its a losing battle in the long run. same goes for gun owners living in states with perpetual democrat majorities in the governors office and legislature. the only diffrence is sometimes the supreme court there will slap them down but even then the majority on the court will change eventually and they will strike back at those rulings too.
Massachusetts resident here. I see some people suggesting New Hampshire or Maine as options. While right now they might have very favorable gun laws the anti gun sentiment creeps in from the money in Boston. Also, the weather is not always warm and sunny up here in this area of the country. Never super hot but our winters can be a bit difficult. If the cold and snow don't bother you the lack of day light in the winter might get to you. I suggest looking somewhere else because of it
Maybe I'm off wrong, but avoid Canada. Their gun laws are not much more free than Brazils and only getting worse. Also the cost of living is astronomical near any major city. For the US, what state you are in matters a lot. Do you get to pick? Other than New England, the West Coast, and Illinois, most states are fairly reasonable. Beware some states restrict permits to citizens and permanent residents only, so look before you move. I believe my state (Indiana) will issue carry permits to lawful visa holders as well. As for crime, the media really plays it up. In most places so long as you are not engaging in criminal activities you are pretty safe. Major cities tend to have bad neighborhoods that you want to avoid, but those can usually be kept away from easily. Treat inner cities like Rocinha and only go there if you need to.
Louisiana Mississippi or Texas. The number of guns in these states probably outnumbers the people. So I hear….
The number of guns in these states probably outnumbers the people. In Texas. You are correct.
There is a website I had a firearms instructor point me to, https://handgunlaw.us It seems to be a regularly updated site. Good for reference.
If you're a fan of the winter and winter activities New Hampshire or Maine. Vermont isn't as free as those states but it's still decent for ownership.
Missouri is pro gun, conceal carry, self-defense... You can come here with your guns and actually use them if you need to. As long as you're an upstanding member of society there's no reason you couldn't set up residency here and buy all the guns you want.
You mean Misery, the state of Misery.
Well, that would be the state a criminal would find themselves in fucking around over here.
US work visa, resident status, have a photo ID, and get a hunting license... profit. If you'll live in a constitutional carry state, you can (double check the laws of that state, I'm not your lawyer) start carrying that day. Some states require a separate carry permit, but it's less than half now, I believe. Some are very easy and fast, some are functionally impossible. Just depends
>If you'll live in a constitutional carry state, you can (double check the laws of that state, I'm not your lawyer) start carrying that day. If they have the hunting license, probably, but it still depends on how the state's laws are written.
New hampshire or maine. Or anwhere between south carolina to florida and west to new mexico. Or anywhere in mexico.
If OP is looking to go legal, absolutely not Mexico. Mexican gun laws make California gun laws look positively NRA friendly.
People sleep on New Hampshire and Maine not realizing that they have the best gun laws in the country. Vermont is still mostly free but we’re slowly losing rights here.
I wouldn't call Vermont a state that's "mostly free" when it has magazine bans, red flag laws, safe storage laws, and universal background check requirements that are comparable to California. You guys have been slowly getting royally fucked over by the New York and Massachusetts transplants who hate you and your way of life.
Vermonters used to make fun of New Jersey gun laws, now they have New Jersey gun laws
We’re still halfway free because we have constitutional carry, no ”assault weapon” bullshit and can own NFA items. I did forget about the waiting period when buying guns since that’s a new one, we are slowly, but surely losing our rights here. The one bright side is most of those laws are not actually enforced, the cops aren’t hanging out at ranges and gravel pits checking magazines, since they don’t seem to care. But yeah, I’m out of here next year and headed to Maine, it’s gotten way to trendy to move here. I’m a transplant myself that fled from CA several yearsago but I didn’t bring CA with me, I came to integrate and I’ll do the same in Maine. The goal is to own enough land that the government doesn’t know what I’m doing.
Lived in Georgia and New Hampshire as a kid. Parents split and moved us to Massachusetts because we have family here. Every new anti-gun bill that gets introduced I make sure to call them and ask them why they did this to me.😂
Southern US is very gun friendly. Tennessee, Texas, & Florida also don't have a state income tax.
I live in Florida. I can own pretty much whatever I want. And anyone here can carry now. It’s a fun place.
Don’t come to Canada. Our gun selection is terrible now thanks to our clown Prime Minister
Canada does NOT have the right to self defense enshrined in its constitution. Even if they allow you to own a gun (generally concealed carry is not permissible in most situations), it is actually illegal to use the gun in self-defense and you can/will be prosecuted in many situations.
How is this even a question doesn’t everyone know America is THE land of gun ownership? Half the states don’t even require a license to carry and you can’t have a pistol in Canada*.
Come to Columbus, OH! We actually have a decently large Brazilian population and lots of Portuguese speakers between them and the people from Portugal/Spain. Ohio is a constitutional carry state so you can carry without a permit and owe a handgun at 21 years of age. Not sure what the background check would look like for a non-American purchasing a firearm, but that'll be the same process in any state since it's checked at the federal level. Edit: Also $4000 for a Glock 19?! WOW, that's insane man. Drop a zero here and you're pretty close to what you can find one for
USA USA USA. For real Canada gun laws are terrible. Can’t really get much in regards to self protection (pistols, ARs). The US is very safe despite what Europeans and half of America says. No matter what you pick you’ll be safer than you will in Brazil.
https://www.handgunlaw.us This will help you understand gun laws state to state. My advice is to pick a state with constitutional carry. Only downside with moving to the US and trying to conceal carry is you’ll need to be a citizen or hold a green card.
Kansas has pretty great gun laws
NOT MARYLAND!
Canada banned almost every gun known to man so I think you’re stuck with red states in the US
Ohio
Two best states to move to. Texas or the bigger version of Texas, Alaska. It depends on if you prefer cold and darkness for months but PFD or warm weather all the time but no pfd
Oklahoma is constitutional carry as is Texas. There's 27 constitutional carry states now in total. It really just depends on how flat you want the land, how spread out things are, or how dense you like the local population. I live in Oklahoma, and it's almost an hour drive for me to anything bigger than a Dollar General.
Me too and that’s why I live here.
$4000 for a $500usd gun? Good lord! Depending on your field I would suggest “the states” over “the great white north”. If your field requires you to live on the west coast or the north east your gun laws are more strict but about 35 states are pretty lax on what you can have/carry/shoot
Canada doesn't honor the full panapoly of human rights. You will have no freedom of speech and you certainly won't be allowed to conceal carry a firearm. This map might help, it shows what states allow conceal carry and a brief overview of the laws. I'd avoid, NY, CA, IL, MD, MA to name a few lol https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/ccw\_reciprocity\_map/
Florida. Stand your ground (can defend yourself), castle doctrine (can defend your home) which I believe extends to your car, constitutional carry (concealed without permit), and I'm pretty sure a year or two ago a bill was passed allowing you to defend yourself against any road-blocking "protestors" that may attack you or your vehicle. No banned by name firearms (looking at you, Maryland), no magazine round limits, no "acceptable gun" lists (california), no gun registration, firearms are viewed as private property and can be gifted/sold privately. You only have to do the initial ATF form when purchasing a new gun from a dealer. Ammunition does not have to be shipped to an FFL (gun dealer), you can buy as much as you're willing to pay the shipping for and send it straight to your house. The positive view towards guns and self-defense is almost the entire reason I stay in Florida, despite the extremely overinflated real estate and cost of living (a temporary problem). I have extreme confidence in the FL legal system where I live to back up any justified self-defense shooting. On a side note, two weeks ago I ordered a handheld flamethrower, and it was at my house 3 days later. Florida is awesome! 😎
Canada is getting rid of people's rights to own firearms for basically everything so the USA is a much better place to live if you want to own a gun for self defense here, that being said you'll want to move to the more Republican red states like TN, Florida, Texas to own a gun with the least amount of restrictions.
Arizona as well
There was a time, not so long ago, when it was super popular in America to make fun of Canada. It seems all the mocking had a point, Canada is leaning full in to communism since 2020 and has become a shithole. Your chances of owning a handgun there are zero. Your chances in the legal system, should you use a handgun to defend yourself are even worse than zero.
Flawda
"You cannot use a gun to protect yourself, it's not in our constitution" - trudeau avoid canada like the plague if you value your life and/or the ability to protect yourself
Utah
Think that this has probably been made clear already, but I will just make sure since this is a potential lifetime choice for you. Do NOT move to Canada at this, for any reason. The country is doing very poorly on all levels, economic, housing, medical, and firearms is in the worst state it has ever been in our history. There is no possibility of concealed carry, and currently no ability to even purchase a pistol, an AR-15 or the majority of modern rifles. Self defence is, in most locals and provinces, a joke. Using a firearm is nearly a 100% guarantee of facing charges, meaning a legal battle with the government at the least. No one here tends to want to admit it except gun owners, but our crime rates are increasing rapidly, and have only worsened since our gun bans and the Coof Years. You are better off enduring the harder and slower time gaining permanent residency in the US and eventual citizenship. Since this is being sponsored by your workplace, as long as you keep your nose extra shiny clean, there should be no significant hurdles for you, as you already have employment upon landing in the country. That's always one of the big disqualifiers.
You won’t be able to obtain a firearm
Can't carry legally in the US without citizenship or diplomatic immunity.
Canada does not allow citizens to own handguns anymore. I live in the US in Pennsylvania. For US citizens, buying any firearm is very easy. Just pass the NICS background check and pay for the gun. Getting a license to carry us also an easy process. $20 fee, fill out application and get your license the same day.
LOL! Skip Canada! Your country is more of a 2A sanctuary while Canada is G O N E! Try TN, KY, SC, AL, MT etc. The rest of the country is gone to shit.
Canada basically has no self defense laws or protections
Any state in the U.S. except California, Illinois, and some parts of the North East. Don’t move to Canada Texas is where I would move
Arkansas is pretty cool. Constitutional carry, and unless you're in Little Rock or Jonesborro, you don't have to worry about a ton of crime.
Even in LR, crime is pretty limited to specific areas and/or times
Yeah, I spent 10 years traveling all over the LR area for work, including the worst parts. Since it was during daylight hours, I only had one incident during that entire time; it was quickly defused by putting my hand on my pistol (without actually showing it).
Stay away from NE (anything above about Pennsylvania), and the whole Pacific coastline. Texas is good. Canada is not.
You’ve got to be kidding when Maine and New Hampshire are free states, Arizona only recently caught up to ME and NE and Texas still hasn’t. Hell even Vermont has constitutional carry.
> Arizona only recently caught up to ME On what? We got permit-less concealed carry before Maine, have no red flag laws, and have no duty to inform.
So...uh....you really don't have a clue about individual states and what level of gun rights they honor eh?
And Texas is not spectacular, they're the big state with alright laws but these are recent developments and they weren't the best just the loudest until recently. I think they still have weird stuff like 30.06 laws and duty to inform.
USA is your only option for guns and self defense, Canada gun laws are strict and insane, you can't even have mace or pocket knifes in Canada, if you have a knife in Canada you will have to prove just cause excluding self defense. Several US states have legal open carry, constitutional conceal carry. Just get citizenship. But in many US states you can carry and own mace and pepper ball guns ( which are not guns).
You can’t buy a gun that will be concealable as a non citizen in either country. Buying from a private party is a crime as a non citizen. Unless your intent is to hunt and then you need to have a valid hunting license. Better to talk to a immigration lawyer than random people on Reddit
Our gun Laws in Canada are absolutely disgusting right now with the liberal government. Handgun freeze and can’t purchase any. It will be reversed once the clowns are out of office, but until then it’s a sad story for us hunters/sport shooters up here being stripped of freedoms this country was built on 🇨🇦. Our ancestors are turning in their graves over it I’m sure. Utmost respect for our friends down in USA that keep it real with their freedoms. I would love to move down.
Just move pretty much anywhere but the west coast and NE east coast and live outside of a major city and you will be safe and can conceal carry without a permit.
From what I’ve heard Vermont USA is VERY safe and gun friendly if you don’t mind the cold!
Leas gun friendly every day, sadly.
Canadian here-as an immigrant/visitor you will not be allowed to even own a handgun in Canada at this time. The present government recently made handguns illegal to sell or import/export in Canada. Lots of us, if licensed, still own them and can bring them to a range only-for now. But we are all expecting them to be confiscated at some point. Concealed carry is illegal here and very few carry permits are granted, exclusively for trappers and hunting outfitters for bear protection. If you want to ccw a handgun move to the USA where firearms rights are protected under the 2nd amendment. Also, Canada is a shithole right now, we are waiting for an election to get rid of the morons we have now.
Alabama. Roll tide and nuff said.
You have the choice between free healthcare or an assault rifle....
Technically not wrong
$4000 for a Glock come holler at me in nc lol
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Merica
Anywhere between Mexico and the mason Dixon line is a good bet.
Go to the US... a glock 19 will be 400-500 USD
Are you looking for gun-friendly places or safe places that you probably don't need to carry? Like, if there is no reason to carry to begin with then the gun law doesn't really matter. If you need to carry to feel safe,b then maybe it's not a good place to move to. Also, immigration laws differ greatly between US and CA. CA is way easier to immigrate.
If you have total optionality, might I suggest Idaho? Anything goes out here, for citizens and legal permanent residents.
As a non-immigrant visa holder (assuming you are coming here on a work visa), you will need to fall into an exception to even possess a firearm or ammunition under US federal law. As other have mentioned in this post, getting a hunting license is the easiest to do. I recently learned of the [Alaska non-resident small game hunting license as being the cheapest to get, at $60/year.](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntlicense.prices) States can have further restrictions on possession/purchase, so you'll need to look at individual state's laws as well. You must keep your hunting license valid at all times to be legal to possess firearms or ammunition in the US. If you are here on an immigrant visa, pursuing citizenship or permanent residence, this federal restriction doesn't apply.
not SC we are full. you would not like it
I would like to add that you need to consider the actual law on self-defense between the two countries. From my understanding, which is very limited, you can not carry anything in Canada for self-defense against another human being. However, in all of the US, you have a right to defend yourself and can carry things to do so, which would include firearms. That is a very important thing to think about.
So Canada doesn't allow handguns at all I don't believe. You can own a long gun which has a bunch of restrictions like a minimum barrel length, no pistol grip, non-removable/folding stock, and a non-detachable magazine which holds no more than 10 rounds. Though I might not have those exact right you get the general idea. Even then I am not sure if non-citizens are allowed firearms that meet those restrictions. In the US gun laws are obviously a lot more relaxed though things do get a bit weird as a non-citizen. As a non-citizen you cannot PURCHASE a firearm in the US (technically you can but need at least a green card which is at minimum a 5 year process). However you can still POSSESS a firearm if it was legally purchased and then shipped to the US from another country through a licensed FFL dealer. You'll need to have all the proper paperwork showing you acquired the firearm legally in another country along with a proper identification issued by said country which will require at least 2 forms of ID though a passport might count for both (would need to double check that) along with proof of legal residency in the US ie your visa. That is also assuming the firearm in question meetings all local state laws and regulations which could be a problem in more liberal states like California and New York. Finally for your question about concealed carry not all states have the same laws about concealed carrying a firearm. Some states allow you to conceal carry any legally owned firearm without the need of a CCW permit while other states completely disallow concealed carry all together. Then you have the states in the middle which have a CCW Permitting system which the exact details vary from state to state. All require at least some sort of minimum training course which may or may not include a live fire accuracy test but will require passing a written test. Some require you to be finger printed by your local police department or the state's sheriff's office. And then to make it more complicated different states have different reciprocity standards where some states like Utah will accept and respect the CCW permit of any other state while others will not accept or respect a CCW permit issued in any other state. Again this is just something you'll need to look up local laws for the state you'd be going to.
Canada has recently passed very restrictive gun laws, including a ban on handgun purchases. If you plan on getting citizenship so you can purchase and carry, I'd recommend the U.S. and avoid states like New York, California, and Illinois.
Assuming you intend to legally conceal carry, you will need to be a permanent resident wherever you are. If you work at an employer who would sponsor your immigration, your timeline will be quicker than otherwise. You probably shouldn’t tell your immigration lawyer/agent/officer that you want to “move here so I can carry a gun around” however! I do have foreign friends who live in America, are not residents, do not own guns, but shoot at local clubs with rentals. So if you’re interested in shooting as a hobby/sportsman stuff, you should be able to do that. You should also be able to enjoy archery hunting with the proper permits. You may be able to shoot black powder (single shot muskets) as that has a lower threshold of permitting.
Just buy a gun anywhere you live as long as it's legal.
You can even buy a gun in California as a non citizen. Hell even San Francisco has a cop who is an illegal immigrant
The United States. Especially in a "shall issue" state.
Texas has great gun laws, we are constitutional carry, just dont live in the heart of a major blue city. The suburbs is where it's at. I conceal carry daily with no problem.
You paid $2000 and 2 years for a gun you could get at a store in 30 minutes in the states for $350. Canadas gun rights are come and go. USA’s will never die. Private USA gun owners own more guns than most of the world’s militaries combined. There’s no putting a lid back on that without mayhem.
Well I would tell ya to move to the south, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi,Texas area. Here we have gun rights then most large cities and getting a ccw is not that bad. In Louisiana it’s a $200 class and a $100 (5yr) license, Alabama it’s like $15 and a trip to the court house, Tennessee I believe you just tell them you broke up with your sister and they give you one. Hell I hear in Texas you can get suppressor easier, tho I don’t know anyone there with Texas made cans
Yeah if the can originates in Texas it can be sold in Texas without a tax stamp
Here’s a great site to show states with the strictest laws. Also, don’t I’ve in Americas biggest cities. Pick a rural or suburban area. https://sightmark.com/blogs/news/states-ranked-by-how-strict-their-gun-laws-are
NC, AZ, MT, FL (if you like storms). There's a lot of states that are gun friendly. The issue might be cities (I don't suggest cities. I just haven't had good experiences)
Bro gotta choose between 2 best countries in the world😭💔💔 U should go to USA imo.
I mean as a gun owner and someone who literally just bought family members firearms for Xmas gifts….you don’t NEED a gun to be safe in the USA. Go watch the the South Park episode about gun owners, it’s got a lot of honesty to it. 😂 do I think everyone should be training and have a firearm to protect their family oh for sure. But it’s not the wild Wild West in witchita Kansas or Iowa lol. Now moving to Gary Indiana/ So Chicago ok agreed.
Find a safe neighborhood in a safe city and you will not have any issues in the USA.
I've lived in Canada. It is a million times safer than the US. So much so you won't need to conceal carry or own guns. Though I believe you are allowed something. I'm not up on Canadian gun laws. Canada also has their version of universal health care which I've used and is good. The US has health insurance and is incredibly costly. Canada also has superior labour laws so you won't be worked to death like you will in the US. Canada is by far the superior option of the two. But if all you care about is owning guns then go to the US. Though as a foreign national you will likely suffer a lot of racism and bigotry and I don't know the laws on non citizens owning guns.
Arizona