UPDATE: Your Gun Rights and Freedom Are Under Assault

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UPDATE 2.23.21: You’ve read here recently that Montana and Utah have recognized their citizens’ inalienable rights to self-defense, and passed laws protecting their rights to carry a firearm without a permit.

Indiana could be the next state to join the “Freedom Corridor” by doing the same. The Indy Star reports (abridged):

The Indiana House on Monday voted to eliminate the license to carry a handgun in Indiana.

House Bill 1369 passed the House by a 65-31 vote and now heads to the Senate, where its already picked up key endorsements. Under the legislation, sometimes called “constitutional carry,” certain offenders still could be prohibited from carrying handguns.

“This bill is for the lawful citizen in the state of Indiana,” said bill author Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn. “This bill is for the person who obeys our laws who right now has to jump over the hurdles to be the person that gets the permit.”

Originally posted February 22, 2021.

Has there been a better-performing state through Covid-19 than Florida? The RED STATE led by Gov. Ron DeSantis shows the stark contrast in staying open for business compared to Cuomo’s heavy-handedness in New York. Is DeSantis the counter to Biden’s overreach? There are a lot of reasons to believe he is.

What’s key for us to focus on today is what states are working for you as opposed to against you. Which states are operating as a virtual panopticon compared to states protecting your constitutional rights? The corridors of constitutional freedom are right in front of our eyes.

Gov. DeSantis has instructed that flags be flown at half-staff to honor the passing of freedom-loving radio host, Rush Limbaugh. NBC Miami reports:

Speaking at an event in West Palm Beach Friday, the Republican governor said the state would bestow the honor on the conservative talk show host, who died Wednesday at age 70 after a battle with lung cancer.

“The guy was an absolute legend,” DeSantis said.

Limbaugh’s longtime producer, James “Bo Snerdley” Golden appeared at the event with DeSantis, who said he had been friends with Limbaugh.

Limbaugh lived in Palm Beach, where his radio shows were broadcast from.

You’re free to move about your country, as Montana becomes the 18th state to abolish its concealed carry permit requirement. According to the NRA, the other states with permitless carry are:

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Idaho
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • New Hampshire
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

Every state that borders Montana now has permitless carry. With the signing by Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah of his state’s permitless carry bill, Montanans can now carry from the Canadian border, all the way to the Mexican border in Arizona without a permit. The Intermountain West is now not only a “growth corridor,” but is also a freedom corridor.

Montana and the states around it are a great place to live like a billionaire while you build an island of safety for you and your family. Putting space between you and your neighbors, and between politicians and your freedoms, should be a priority for every patriotic American. It’s quickly becoming a red state paradise.

Interestingly enough New Hampshire, my favored RED STATE New England paradise is bordered by Maine and Vermont. All three have permitless carry. They’re not quite as big, and not quite as red, as the Intermountain West, but there’s plenty of room in the far Northeast to build your island life.

The only state in the Deep South with permitless carry is Mississippi, but Florida’s gun laws are friendly to gun owners, and the state has distinguished itself with the nation’s best approach to COVID-19. Jennifer Cabrera reports for the Alachua Chronicle, that Florida’s response has outperformed that of the “lockdown states.” She writes:

According to data released today by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office, Florida is outperforming lockdown states like California and New York on all metrics. Florida has lower per-capita mortality, higher availability of in-person education, and a lower unemployment rate.

Excess deaths

  • Compared to Florida, 34 states had a higher rate of all-cause mortality from 2019 to 2020, per capita. Higher-than-average increases indicate that states probably had extra deaths resulting from lockdown policies, not just from COVID-19.
  • Compared to Florida, 38 other states rank higher for per-capita COVID-19 mortality among seniors 65 and older.

Florida has fewer pediatric COVID-19 cases while having the highest rate of in-person instruction offered.

  • Schools have been open in Florida, and Florida still has fewer COVID-19 cases among kids when compared to other large states on a per capita basis. (New York is not included because they don’t make pediatric cases publicly available).

From the beginning, Governor DeSantis has emphasized nursing homes and protecting the most vulnerable.

  • California and New York had significantly higher rates for new COVID-19 cases per 1 million compared to Florida.
  • California and New York had significantly higher hospitalizations per 1 million compared to Florida.
  • Governor DeSantis acted early in the pandemic to protect the state’s most vulnerable, and his actions saved lives:
    • Governor DeSantis established 23 COVID-19 dedicated nursing facilities across the state to prevent spread within long-term care facilities, help with hospital decompression, and protect long-term care patients. The Governor also required hospitals to test all individuals discharged to long-term care facilities and required these facilities to transfer COVID-19 positive residents if the facility was not equipped for appropriate care.
    • Governor DeSantis issued an executive order putting Seniors First and prioritizing seniors 65 and older to receive the vaccine. To date, 40% of Florida’s nearly 4.5 million senior population have received a vaccine.
    • Governor DeSantis deployed Florida National Guard and Florida Department of Health Strike Teams to nursing homes and assisted living facilities for testing throughout the pandemic, and now for vaccine distribution.
    • Governor DeSantis launched a pilot program for homebound seniors, including Holocaust survivors, WWII and Korean War veterans, and anti-communist Bay of Pigs veterans, to prioritize and protect our Greatest Generation.

Florida’s economic recovery is leading the nation.

  • Florida leads the nation’s most populous states in unemployment rate for December 2020, and Florida was well below the national average.

While Red States are working hard to maximize the freedom of their citizens, in blue D.C., the Biden administration is working hard to reward illegal immigrants first. Anna Giaritelli reports in the Washinton Examiner on Democrats’ disastrous plan for immigration amnesty. She writes:

Democrats are introducing an extensive immigration bill Thursday that has the backing of the White House and the potential to overhaul decades of existing policy while creating an“earned roadmap” to citizenship formillions of people who are illegally residing in the United States.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Rep. Linda Sanchez of California unveiled the sweeping piece of legislation Thursday as the Biden administration grapples with a mounting crisis on the southern border as thousands of migrants are turned away or released into the U.S. each day.

The bill was first announced hours after President Biden’s inauguration. Its debut in Congress will begin a set of challenges in getting through a gridlocked Congress, where Democrats will need 10 Republicans in the Senate to back the bill and every party member in the House to support it. Menendez said his colleagues will not know if the bill can pass the Senate until they try and vowed against making concessions “out of the gate.”

Individual Democratic lawmakers have already introduced piecemeal versions of the bill if pushing through the main package proves too difficult. Administration officials told reporters in a call Wednesday night that Biden is open to negotiating on the details and breaking it down into smaller bills.

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would create a new system to manage and secure the border, keep immigrant families and U.S. communities safe, and address root causes that prompt irregular migration surges in the Western Hemisphere so that fewer people would attempt to seek asylum in the U.S.

“It’s our vision of what immigration reform should look like,” Menendez said in a virtual press briefing Thursday morning. “It will modernize our system, offer a path to citizenship for hardworking people in our communities, reunite families, increase opportunities for legal immigration, and ensure America remains a powerhouse for innovation and. a beacon of hope to refugees around the world.”

Contrasting the exemplary performance of Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, is the possible criminal activity of Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York. You may remember Cuomo from the fawning media coverage he received in the early days of COVID-19 panic. What Americans didn’t know then, was that Cuomo was shuffling sick elderly folks off to nursing homes, where they infected others and caused a wave of deaths. Now even Democrats are coming around to the idea that the man they idolized is actually not so great after all. The New York Times reports:

The Democratic leaders of the New York State Senate are moving to strip Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of unilateral emergency powers granted during the pandemic, setting up a remarkable rebuke for the governor from members of his own party.

The Senate’s measures, which could be voted on as soon as next week, underscore the deepening division between Mr. Cuomo and state lawmakers since the governor admitted to intentionally withholding critical data on virus-related deaths from the Legislature.

The moves came even as it emerged that the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York had opened an inquiry into the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. It was not known whether the inquiry, which was confirmed by three people familiar with the matter, was focused on Mr. Cuomo or any individual, only that it was in its earliest stages.

The inquiry was another clear indication of how the climate has shifted dramatically for Mr. Cuomo since March, when he emerged as a prominent voice in the health crisis, using his daily briefings and invocations of his family to inform and calm a nation of viewers who turned to him as the virus began to spread. Now, much of that good will has evaporated.

Cuomo isn’t the only Democrat governor who went wild with power and is now facing the consequences. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a recall for his mishandling of COVID-19 restrictions. And Biden administration nominee for Commerce Secretary, Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, is facing a barrage of criticism for mishandling her state’s vaccine rollout. The chickens are coming home to roost.

Action Line: Find your Red State paradise and build your island life. Look for a better America, today.