# America's 10 Freest and Least Free States



## Redwolf (Nov 29, 2008)

From indelibly American quotations like "Give me liberty or give me death" to the iconic pairing of "liberty and justice" in the Pledge of Allegiance, there's no shortage of examples demonstrating that Americans have historically placed a high value on the concept of freedom.

While the concept of freedom may be in the eye of the beholder, there's no question that each state has done their best to codify what actions they do and do not leave up to their residents' choice. But which states give their citizens the most leeway, and which have them on the tightest leash? A study entitled "Freedom In the 50 States: An Index of Personal And Economic Freedom," published by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, sets out to answer this question. Click through to see which states rank the highest and lowest by their metrics.

Freest: #1 - New Hampshire
Freest: #2 - Colorado
Freest: #3 - South Dakota 
Freest: #4 - Idaho
Freest: #5 - Texas

Least Free - #5: Maryland 
Least Free - #4: California 
Least Free - #3: Rhode Island
Least Free - #2: New Jersey
Least Free - #1: New York

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/lists/freest-least-free-states/intro.html?state=stop

Interesting but not surprizing


----------



## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

Interesting, but this one statement in the NC summary makes me question the accuracy of the whole report.


> On personal freedom,the state could improve by reducing gun control
> (particularly ending handgun licensing),


?? What "licensing" are they referring to? Other than a Concealed Handgun "Permit" I have no handgun "license" nor is any required by NC.


----------



## Redwolf (Nov 29, 2008)

Could be that you have to get a permit to buy a handgun rather then pay for it and do your NIC check and leave.


----------



## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

Redwolf said:


> Could be that you have to get a permit to buy a handgun rather then pay for it and do your NIC check and leave.


To call it a license is an inaccurate description of the process.

My point is we shouldn't have to guess what the report refers to.


----------



## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

Redwolf said:


> Least Free - #1: New York


We're number 1!!! We're number 1!!!!

Oh.....


----------



## kg333 (May 19, 2008)

bruce333 said:


> To call it a license is an inaccurate description of the process.
> 
> My point is we shouldn't have to guess what the report refers to.


Probably, but it doesn't seem that far off the mark to call "a permit to buy handguns" "handgun licensing" instead.

KG


----------



## Steve2112 (Nov 19, 2008)

I wish they would post all 50 states. I would like to see where my state ranks. We're fairly lax on gun laws, but we have a ton of taxes, relative to the average income.


----------



## Kyle1337 (Mar 22, 2008)

I'm surprised New Mexico isn't on one of the most freest, however our small business and eco laws are stringent, and we have next to no gun laws, just federal gun laws.


----------



## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

I was almost surprised to see NJ wasn't higher on the list of least free.


----------



## jump15vc (Feb 24, 2009)

yeah i really feel like if we try hard we can give ny a run for its money and really take a run at #1


----------



## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

Colorado rules! :mrgreen:


----------



## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

I'd of liked to have seen more states too. We have it pretty good here in the hills. Been cool to see where we ranked on this type of list.:smt1099


----------



## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

BeefyBeefo said:


> Colorado rules! :mrgreen:


Especially after living in the gun-friendly state of Illinois, huh? :smt033


----------



## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

Todd said:


> Especially after living in the gun-friendly state of Illinois, huh? :smt033


:anim_lol::anim_lol:

Gee...Colorado is more gun friendly? I had no idea...:smt083

I'm actually surprised that Illinois isn't one of the bottom 5...


----------



## Marcus99 (Apr 23, 2008)

yeah yeah I remember hearing about this. No surprise with NY as #1, Bloomberg has been hard at work eroding gun ownership in his territory, although I find it disappointing that my little neck of the woods didn't make it onto the top 5 least free, I could swear I heard another study rank MA as 2nd. Oh well, luckily I spend alot of time in NH


----------



## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

Steve2112 said:


> I wish they would post all 50 states. I would like to see where my state ranks. We're fairly lax on gun laws, but we have a ton of taxes, relative to the average income.





DevilsJohnson said:


> I'd of liked to have seen more states too. We have it pretty good here in the hills. Been cool to see where we ranked on this type of list


If you click the link on the page that says "All data from the Mercatus Center of George Mason University " it takes you to the full report.


----------



## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

Wow we overall at 35th. Mainly higher corporate taxes and smoking bans in restaurants. Lot of good info though :smt023


----------



## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

I love this...



> Illinois is one of the worst states to live in from
> a personal freedom perspective (#49).


:anim_lol:


----------



## tekhead1219 (May 16, 2008)

Well, Texas is 5th overall. Doggone too many liberals moving into this state.:buttkick:


----------



## Kyle1337 (Mar 22, 2008)

tekhead1219 said:


> Well, Texas is 5th overall. Doggone too many liberals moving into this state.:buttkick:


Yup, the Austin bug is moving in on the rest of the state. If that keeps up it will be just steers and.....:mrgreen: jk.


----------

