Which state is the freest state?

The John Locke Foundation in North Carolina recently did a study that ranked the states in order of their level of freedom. You can see a bigger version of the map by clicking its image. The thing that was amazing to me was that North Carolina was so low at 23 and Oregon and Washington were so high at 34 and 37. It absolutely seems like we are living in Mordor here in Oregon with the draconian land use laws and the heavy-handed enforcement of unnecessary “environmental” laws. Arizona was no surprise at No. 2 with some of the best gun and education laws in the country. I hope they start doing this every year because it was very enlightening.