Don't Panic
I'm a little more sanguine about the prospects of gun rights in the US than some. A recent article by Cam Edwards in Bearing Arms is concerned at the amount of money the Bloomberg machine is pumping into Virginia
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/10/17/virginia-canary-coal-mine-election-us-gun-owners/
As for the idea that Virginia is some sort of "Canary in the coal mine", I have a somewhat contrary viewpoint. If you look at the national trends in actual State legislatures over the past 25 or so years, you might get a more rosy picture. In the mid 90s, only a handful of states had any kind of concealed carry. Now it's what, 48? 10 years ago you only had a handful of states that did not restrict carry at all, e.g. Vermont, then Alaska. Now we're at 17 or so.
Add in a couple of monumental SCOTUS decisions in Heller and McDonald, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the 2A movement is not actually losing ground.
The dominoes are falling, but they are falling the "right" way, and that's what has Bloomberg in a panic.
My point here is the reality of firearms rights in the US is trending the OPPOSITE of what Bloomberg wants, which is why he is desperately throwing good money after bad in supporting Moms, etc. Remember, Moms is the latest incarnation of several national level anti-gun groups like HCI, Brady Center, etc. that folded. Meanwhile, NRA (yes with all its problems), SAF, GOA, NSSF, etc are still going strong. I'm not disagreeing with Cam that it's *a* concern that Bloomberg is leaning on Virginia to complete it's "blue" transition; I'm just not sure it matters so much on the national level.
It doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels, but let's not panic just yet, either.
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/10/17/virginia-canary-coal-mine-election-us-gun-owners/
So gun control groups are outspending pro-gun groups 10-to-1, which is probably to be expected when the gun control groups are bankrolled by a billionaire like Michael Bloomberg. That money is being concentrated on about a dozen different campaigns across the state, for both the House of Delegates and the state Senate. As WAMU notes, Democrats don’t have to win every district targeted by Bloomberg and his gun control groups. In fact, just a couple of victories in each chamber is all that’s needed to turn Virginia into the next California, New Jersey, or Maryland.A couple of points. As Virginia has more and more "urbanized" around the Beltway North, the electorate has predictably shifted towards the Democrat Left. Bloomberg's money may have enough of an effect to tip the balance, but that's not a great endorsement of Bloomberg's financial influence over elections in general.
As for the idea that Virginia is some sort of "Canary in the coal mine", I have a somewhat contrary viewpoint. If you look at the national trends in actual State legislatures over the past 25 or so years, you might get a more rosy picture. In the mid 90s, only a handful of states had any kind of concealed carry. Now it's what, 48? 10 years ago you only had a handful of states that did not restrict carry at all, e.g. Vermont, then Alaska. Now we're at 17 or so.
Add in a couple of monumental SCOTUS decisions in Heller and McDonald, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the 2A movement is not actually losing ground.
The dominoes are falling, but they are falling the "right" way, and that's what has Bloomberg in a panic.
My point here is the reality of firearms rights in the US is trending the OPPOSITE of what Bloomberg wants, which is why he is desperately throwing good money after bad in supporting Moms, etc. Remember, Moms is the latest incarnation of several national level anti-gun groups like HCI, Brady Center, etc. that folded. Meanwhile, NRA (yes with all its problems), SAF, GOA, NSSF, etc are still going strong. I'm not disagreeing with Cam that it's *a* concern that Bloomberg is leaning on Virginia to complete it's "blue" transition; I'm just not sure it matters so much on the national level.
It doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels, but let's not panic just yet, either.
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