San Luis Obispo Count...Gun friendly?

[guitartguy]

I just moved up to San Luis Obispo county last weekend. I'm in Nipomo and I'm interested to know what the political climate towards 2nd Amendment issues is here. Also, where do people go to shoot around here?

[slickjoesd]

Not to hijack your threed, but I drive 2 hours just to eat in Nipomo at JOCKOS steak house... If your in the area and you like steak go there!

[mightymike]

I know that SLO is a pretty conservative county. There is a shooting range off Highway 1 just befor Morro Bay.

[goose]

Not to hijack your threed, but I drive 2 hours just to eat in Nipomo at JOCKOS steak house... If your in the area and you like steak go there!


That was my first thought when I saw Nipomo. My folks used to live in Atascadero and we would drive down to Jockos for dinner. A long drive home when your fat and happy.

[AJAX22]

It's not publicised but the sherif is pretty much a will issue guy (or he used to be, I haven't been looking to closely recently) I knew a few guys who had them with almost no justification beyond being well spoken and articulate writers. He wants to see that you arn't a dumb jacka** before he'll give it to you but not much beyond that.

and yeah Jockos rocks

[bear93445]

This county is predominantly an agricultural county and as such is mostly2A friendly. There is a fairly large amount of liberals in the city of San Luis Obispo, it is a college town. As for places to shoot, indoors there are two places Range Masters of San Luis and Range Masters of Santa Maria (different owners now). The outdoor range is the San Luis Obispo Sportsmen’s Association (http://slosa.org/index.htm) off Hwy 1 toward Morro Bay. There is something going on at SLOSA almost every weekend.

[kenc9]

I have been in the north county since the middle 80's. The coast area with alot of people coming and going I think they are a little tuffer. But make no mistake if they see a gun in your car your going to be questioned about them.
But if they are unloaded and you don't get a complex you shouldn't have a problem here.

I never let a cop see my guns and I have only been asked about a shotgun in my back seat once coming home from Turkey hunting but they only asked to be able to check to see if it was unloaded then I was on my way.

They are building an indoor range in Atascadero off Del Rio and there is a nice range there also on El Camino Real 70.00 a year and there are always open benches.

This is a nice place to live, I have had several guns in my office looking at them and taking pictures and such over the last 4 years and never had a problem.

You'll like it here! Welcome to SLO-Town County!

-ken

[383green]

Not to hijack your threed, but I drive 2 hours just to eat in Nipomo at JOCKOS steak house... If your in the area and you like steak go there!

That's nothing... I gotta drive 4 hours to get there! :D

My favorite is the Spencer cut steak. Mmmmm....

[Jack_Bauer]

+1 for SLO SA, great place to shoot and great people there. Steve sometimes brings his SBR (He's .mil) and he let me handle it once. I hated rangemaster. People were rude, expensive, and made my friend take the HSC (test only so no charge) because she didn't have an HSC card.

Back to your question, SLO is fairly conservative because of all the older and wealthier people. The students I would say are about 60/40 rep/dem since it IS an ag school. When I was going to poly, I saw some people from my classes at the range and we would talk about guns all day in class and no one cared. I also believe SLO is a friendli-er CCW issuing county.

[bear93445]

The people at the Range Masters in Santa Maria are good people, but the one in SLO never treated me good. They are not owned by the same person. The one SLO actually told me I couldn't shoot there because I was by myself. They told me that their insurance mandated shooting partners.

[Pokey]

The people at the Range Masters in Santa Maria are good people, but the one in SLO never treated me good. They are not owned by the same person. The one SLO actually told me I couldn't shoot there because I was by myself. They told me that their insurance mandated shooting partners.

The reason for that rule is that they had someone cap themself with at rented gun a few years back. It used to only apply to rented guns, not sure with the new owners. Get to know them and they usually don't have a problem.

For any of you in SLO there is a CMP match, Sun 3/25 at the Santa Lucia range in Atascadero. Starts 8 am. $25 for sign up, rifle, and 65 rnds ammo. Good match. If you need more info let me know. If you go ask for Dennis, be nice to attach faces to some of the names.:D

[n6nvr]

I would expect that almost everybody in CA who has ever heard of Nipomo is because of Jocko's. And when you say Nipomo, Jocko's is the Pavlovian response (and probably the drooling too)

[1hkfan]

Welcome to San Luis Obispo County! I live in Santa Barbara County but work in North SLO County and would actually consider both counties fairly gun friendly.

As far as the gun shops go, there are several to choose from but my favorite would have to be Professionals Choice in Atascadero. Friendly staff, reasonable prices and no "gun store commandos." They are also in the process of building a new indoor range in Atascadero. The new owners of RangeMaster in SLO are very friendly but prices are a little on the high side. They still get my business because they provide good customer service. RangeMaster in Santa Maria doesn't get my business but I wish them well.

As for Law Enforcement's attitude toward gun owners? A couple of years ago, a buddy and I were on private property just outside of Atascadero doing some target shooting. The particular spot we were shooting in was a small valley and our back stop was a huge dirt mound free of rocks so the chance of richochets was minimal. The nearest house was about a half mile away in the opposite direction of where we were shooting. About an hour into the shoot, we turn to see a SLO Sheriff's patrol car driving down the dirt road toward us. We put our guns down on the bench and walked toward the deputy to see what he was looking for. The deputy told us, the owner of the nearest house had called to report that someone was "recklessly" discharging a firearm in a "residential neighborhood." We invited the deputy over to where we were shooting and showed him our range. After chatting for a few minutes about our guns and his guns he explained that the homeowner was a recent transplant to SLO county from the Bay Area and probably didn't understand our lifestyle or sport. The deputy wished us a good day and said he would go and explain to the gentleman that it was legal and safe to target shoot or hunt in the area we were shooting.

I've shot in this same spot dozens of times since then and have never had any more problems. As long as your not shooting where you shouldn't be you won't have any problems with Law Enforcement here.