By: Teresa Mull

Coronavirus and its ensuring mandates may have put a dent in a lot of summer plans – ending international trips, plane rides, etc. – but if you’re up for a roadtrip, Nucla, Colorado, may be a place you, as a gun lover, may want to check out.

Nucla, population 717, is nearly a seven-hour drive from Denver, but not far from picturesque places such as Ouray, Telluride, and Silverton. What makes Nucla special? The Guardian reports:

Nucla became nationally famous when it passed an ordinance requiring every household to own a gun [in 2013].

Not surprisingly, Nucla has been under attack in recent years, but according to The Guardian,

… Nucla’s commitment to gun ownership is no joke. There’s a tiny pink sign decorated with pistols at the local sheriff’s department – it reads: “We don’t call 911.” The town has no bars, no liquor stores, no movie theaters or malls, but it does have its own public gun range, free for use by all.

Here’s how the town describes itself on its website:

A secluded little town of about 700 people nestled in the southwest mountains of Colorado. From here you can see the San Juan mountain range to the south, the Lasal mountain range to the west and the Uncompaghre Plateau just north of us. Our ancestry is rooted in ranching and mining and as the saying goes “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going” that’s who we are. We stand by each other through it all and if anyone is truly in need we pull together to help and to get things done. We believe our town is the only place to live and that knowing all your neighbors is still the way it should be. We are an old west frontier where you can ride your horse or your tractor to town and to church and no one blinks an eye. Where no one cares if the road is blocked by cattle and their cowboys, in fact it’s to be expected and the tourists love it too. This is just a few things to know about Nucla, if you want more you’ll have to come for a visit.

Teresa Mull ([email protected]) is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.