#Gun Safety Course Maryland

[ptpgunmedia]

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[mariacallous]

Supporters of gun safety legislation held rallies across the state of Michigan this week, including one in Oxford, a northern Detroit suburb that was the site of a high school massacre in November 2021.

Among the speakers there was Madeline Johnson, a survivor of the shooting who saw her best friend die. She talked about the fear of public speaking she once had ― and how that fear was “ripped away from me, along with my childhood, the second I heard the first round of bullets ringing in my ears.”

“There are much scarier things in this world than giving speeches,” she said, according to an account in The Detroit News. “I no longer have room in my life to be a kid, but I will gladly sacrifice that, and I will gladly talk until you listen, so that no one else has to grow up overnight.” The frustration from Johnson and other gun legislation advocates was palpable, and a reflection of what’s transpired ever since the Oxford shooting ― when, despite the familiar outpouring of “thoughts and prayers,” the Republicans who controlled the state legislature refused to act.

But that may be about to change, because Republicans don’t control the legislature anymore. Democrats do. In the midterm elections, they won majorities in both Michigan’s House and its Senate, something they haven’t had since the 1980s.

Democratic leaders have made it clear they want to pass a trio of gun laws: universal background checks, new gun storage requirements, and so-called “red flag” laws meant to keep firearms out of the hands of people who pose an immediate threat to others or themselves. Newly reelected Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said these are high priorities for her too.

These reforms are part of a broader agenda that Whitmer and the newly empowered Democrats hope to pass, now that they can finally act. It includes everything from a boost in tax credits for working families to codifying protections for reproductive rights. And it’s not just Michigan where this kind of activity is likely to take place. You’ll hear similar plans from Democratic officials in other states where they have the power to pass laws ― especially the three others (Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota) where, as in Michigan, Democrats are getting that power for the first time in years.

Of course, passing laws is never as easy as promising them. The exercise of moving from slogans to specifics ― of translating abstract concepts into statutory details ― is inevitably difficult, especially on issues where the opposition is well-financed and well-organized.

But in today’s political environment, Democrats have a big advantage: On many of the key issues they are tackling at the state level, they appear more in step with mainstream popular opinion than the Republicans.

Gun safety is one of those issues.

[beardedmrbean]

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a state law requiring Marylanders to obtain a handgun qualification license before purchasing or receiving a firearm is unconstitutional.

“This is a significant ruling for the Second Amendment and every American who cherishes our constitutional freedoms,” said Randy Kozuch, the executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, in a statement.

In a split 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found a portion of the state’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013 to be unconstitutional. That part of the law prohibits Marylanders from purchasing, renting or receiving a handgun unless they have received a valid handgun qualification license.

It is also illegal to sell, rent, gift or transfer a firearm to a person without a license under that law.

To receive a handgun qualification license, applicants must be Maryland residents aged 21 or older. They are required to pass a firearm safety course and undergo a background check to ensure they aren’t prohibited from owning a gun under state or federal law. The licenses are issued by the Maryland State Police. The application review process can take up to 30 days.

The case, brought on behalf of the firearms rights organization Maryland Shall Issue, two individual plaintiffs and a gun store, was filed initially against former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican. Hogan met his term limit earlier this year and was replaced by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who is now considered the defendant in the case.

Moore said he is “disappointed” by Tuesday’s decision.

“This law is not about stripping away rights from responsible gun owners — it’s about every Marylander having the right to live free from fear,” the governor said. “I am determined to do more than just give thoughts and prayers and attend funerals — and that’s why this law is vital to our administration’s commitment to keeping guns out of the wrong hands and saving lives.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, said he is “incredibly frustrated,” and that Tuesday’s ruling “threatens the safety of our communities.”

State Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, called the ruling “crazy.”

“Every responsible gun owner supports basic firearm training and keeping guns out of criminals’ hands,” Ferguson said. “This decision will unequivocally lead to more gun violence and firearm-related deaths.”

The law was upheld when it was initially challenged in 2016.

Tuesday’s opinion, written by U.S. Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, reversed that ruling. Richardson, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who clerked for former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which overturned New York state’s gun licensing policy and disrupted the licensing process in Maryland, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The state has two weeks to ask for a review of the decision by the entire 14-judge 4th Circuit. It also may ask the Supreme Court to review the decision.

The New York law that the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in 2022 required people applying for permits to carry guns in public to demonstrate “proper cause” to successfully receive a concealed carry permit.

In his opinion, Richardson wrote that the Bruen decision “effected a sea change in Second Amendment law” and that, in order for the law to be constitutional, the state must demonstrate that the challenged law is similar enough to “a historically recognized exception to the right to keep and bear arms.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said that the ruling is “yet another disastrous consequence of the absurd new Supreme Court standard that today’s gun laws need to match those from centuries ago.”

In a statement issued after the release of the opinion, William Taylor, the deputy director of Second Amendment litigation at Everytown Law, a group that advocates for gun safety, said that the now-stricken licensing process is “not only common sense, it is entirely consistent with the Second Amendment and the new test established by the Bruen decision.”

“While today’s decision is a setback to public safety, we fully expect that the full 4th Circuit, or if necessary, the Supreme Court, will reverse this dangerous decision and uphold Maryland’s critical gun safety law,” he said.

The three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the state’s argument for upholding the law did not meet the Bruen case’s historical standard.

“The 4th Circuit Court’s decision to overturn Maryland’s restrictive gun license law sends a clear message: Law-abiding Marylanders’ fundamental right to self-defense must not be infringed,” Kozuch said.

[mspfirearmstraining]

Common Myths About Maryland HQL Classes

When it comes to firearms training in Maryland, particularly Handgun Qualification License (HQL) classes, there are numerous myths and misconceptions that can mislead prospective students. As a leading provider of firearms training in Maryland, including Handgun Qualification and Concealed Carry programs, we aim to clarify these myths and provide accurate information. Here’s a breakdown of some common myths about Maryland HQL classes and the reality behind them.

Myth 1: HQL Classes Are Only for Experienced Shooters

Reality: Training for All Levels

One of the most persistent myths about Maryland HQL classes is that they are only necessary for experienced shooters. In truth, these classes are designed for all levels of experience. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned firearm owner, Maryland HQL classes are structured to ensure that everyone understands the legal requirements and safe handling of handguns. The curriculum includes basic firearm safety, legal responsibilities, and practical handling skills, making it suitable for novices and experienced shooters alike.

Myth 2: The HQL Course Is Just a Formality

Reality: Comprehensive Training

Another common misconception is that the HQL course is merely a formality and doesn't offer substantial training. This myth undermines the importance of the HQL classes, which are rigorous and comprehensive. The Maryland HQL classes cover essential aspects such as firearm safety, legal regulations, and the ethical considerations of handgun ownership. These courses are not just a checkbox but a crucial step in ensuring responsible firearm use and ownership.

Myth 3: You Can Complete the HQL Training Online

Reality: In-Person Instruction Required

While many aspects of training can be conducted online, Maryland HQL classes require in-person instruction. This is due to the hands-on nature of the training, which includes practical demonstrations and exercises that cannot be effectively completed online. For example, live-fire exercises and hands-on safety training are integral components of the course, ensuring that participants gain practical experience in a controlled environment.

Myth 4: HQL Classes Are Too Expensive

Reality: Cost vs. Value

Cost is often a concern for many, but the investment in Maryland HQL classes is justified by the value they provide. The training is an investment in safety, legality, and responsible firearm ownership. Moreover, many providers, including us, offer competitive pricing and various payment options. It's important to view this as a long-term investment in both personal safety and compliance with Maryland's firearm regulations.

Myth 5: You Don’t Need HQL Classes for Concealed Carry

Reality: Separate Requirements

Some believe that obtaining a Concealed Carry Permit in Maryland negates the need for HQL classes. However, the HQL is a separate requirement that all handgun purchasers in Maryland must fulfill, regardless of whether they are seeking a Concealed Carry Permit or not. The Concealed Carry Permit requires additional training beyond the HQL, including specific instruction on carrying a concealed weapon. Therefore, completing Maryland HQL classes is a prerequisite for those looking to pursue further firearm training.

Myth 6: HQL Classes Are Only Required for First-Time Gun Owners

Reality: Ongoing Education for Everyone

While first-time gun owners are a primary audience for Maryland HQL classes, these courses are also beneficial for experienced gun owners who are new to Maryland or who want to refresh their knowledge. Laws and regulations can change, and ongoing education ensures that all gun owners stay current with the latest legal requirements and safety practices.

Myth 7: HQL Classes Provide No Practical Benefit

Reality: Essential Practical Skills

This myth overlooks the practical benefits of HQL classes. Beyond fulfilling legal requirements, these classes provide practical skills that enhance the safety and effectiveness of firearm use. Participants learn about safe handling, storage, and transportation of handguns, which are crucial for preventing accidents and ensuring responsible ownership. The skills gained in Maryland HQL classes contribute significantly to the overall safety of firearm handling and use.

Myth 8: Completing an HQL Course Means Immediate Approval

Reality: Process Beyond the Course

Completing a Maryland HQL class is a significant step, but it is not the final step in obtaining a handgun license. After completing the course, you must still go through the application process, which includes background checks and additional paperwork. The HQL course prepares you for this process and equips you with the knowledge needed to navigate it successfully, but it does not guarantee immediate approval or issuance of a license.

Conclusion

Understanding the facts behind these myths can help demystify the process and underscore the importance of Maryland HQL classes. As a leading provider of firearms training in Maryland, including Handgun Qualification and Concealed Carry programs, we are committed to ensuring that all participants receive accurate and thorough training. Whether you're located in Brandywine MD, Annapolis MD, or any of the other states where we offer training, our goal is to provide high-quality education that supports responsible firearm ownership and compliance with the law.

If you have any questions about Maryland HQL classes or need to enroll in a course, feel free to contact us. We are here to assist you in achieving your firearm training goals with clarity and confidence.

Original Sources: https://mspfirearmstraining.blogspot.com/2024/08/common-myths-about-maryland-hql-classes.html

[higherground-1]

BETHEA_JRN661_Field Assignment 3: Civic/Public Journalism

Maryland Governor Aims to Improve State by Signing New Legislation

MARYLAND (2024)—Gov. Wes Moore (D) is convinced that public safety in Maryland needs a change. Moore introduced three legislative bills during a press conference at the governor’s reception in Annapolis on January 9, 2024.  

Moore addressed these bills before Attorney General Anthony Brown (D), Maryland public defender Natasha Dartigue, and many other state officials and community activists.

The governor stands on the brink of constructing stronger state laws and has proposed public safety measures to uphold immediate family members who are victims of violent crimes. This first proposal led Moore to sign the Victim Compensation Reform Act, which helps victims get the support they need to recover fully.

The governor said that recent public safety actions assisted in reducing the homicide rate in Baltimore last year to less than 300 in almost 10 years. “There’s more work to do,” he said.  

Moore said, “This inexcusable fact that 75% of all homicides are committed with a gun. This is a public safety crisis. But it’s also a public health crisis.” He also thanked State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) and Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates (D) for their efforts in developing the Victim’s Compensation Reform Act.

“His proposals are a start. You have to begin first by getting going. His initiatives will prove or disprove whether they were the right initiatives once enacted. If you do nothing, you get nothing,” said an anonymous retired Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BG&E) legal secretary.  

His second bill, The Growing Apprenticeship and the Public Safety Workforce (GAPS) Act, ensures that the state of Maryland stabilizes law enforcement by beginning developmental courses that outline an advanced training period and hiring a more robust law enforcement workforce. His third is a comprehensive center, The Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention, to fend off gun violence. Although various officials stated that scarcity remains statewide, the objective is to expand the law enforcement class.   

Deputy Director Rob Wilcox of the White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention said that Maryland is the first state to implement such a proposal for a statewide center and that the Biden administration desires to design similar offices across the country.

When asked about the creation of a new state center to prevent firearm violence, an anonymous Target IT specialist shared, “While yes, these new initiatives will help to alleviate the present issues for some time somewhat, the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, as long as guns remain accessible in any shape or form, they shall continue to present a danger to society.”

Last September, the idea of this center was established by The White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Its objective was to fight gun violence with safe lockers for firearm storage, stronger criminal history checks, and an assault weapons ban.

An anonymous FBI public affairs specialist of 33 years said, “I think the center could potentially become a place where Marylanders can obtain prevention and victim assistance. I do not believe it will help get guns off the street, but it would allow for one cohesive messaging across the state as it pertains to prevention and support for victims.”

She then added, “I think every state should start with a thorough background check on everyone within their ranks. There are entirely too many law enforcement officers who transfer from one state to another with a record full of disciplinary actions, and no one seems to pick up on them until it’s too late. I think there should be a federal database that collects information such as disciplinary actions on bad cops. Each state would have a repository to vet before hiring any Law Enforcement Officer (LEO).”

No monetary estimates were provided on the proposals, but the governor was mandated to release his budget plan accordingly.

“Law enforcement is vital to the safety of our communities. We have a responsibility to recruit, train, and retain quality law enforcement officers,” Moore said. “This legislation will build stronger pipelines for law enforcement jobs for all Marylanders, even those who do not pursue a four-year college degree. As we contend with workforce shortages across our public safety agencies, this bill will help us get more boots on the ground and help us to keep the boots that we already have.”

When asked about the violent crimes committed by law enforcement against our youth, the anonymous Target IT specialist said, “Until we see a change in the way officers are trained to address situations when dealing with citizens, especially minorities, the blood will continue to rain no matter how much we want it to end.”

[ledenews]

Construction on Guntry Club at The Highlands Goes Vertical

Visitors to The Highlands in Ohio County have started see signs that the development of an amenity-filled shooting center is taking place on land between Bob Evans and the Hampton Inn & Suites. Officials with the Guntry Club announced at the end of October their intentions to construct and operate a “high-end shooting range” at The Highlands. JD&E Construction was hired as the general contractor for the $13 million project, and company president Rick Landsman said the goal is open in the Fall of 2024. “We’re working with the architects and the builders, and our building is progressing more and more every day. It’s a very exciting process,” explained Wolf, a 26-year veteran of law enforcement in Baltimore County. “We just met the other day about the design for the lobby area. We know there’s going to be the front desk, but what else? That’s some of the decision that are being made right now. “We’ll continue that through the whole building so we can hopefully be ready to open by early Fall,” he explained. “We’re very anxious to get to the opening so we can starting meeting the residents in that area. We’ve worked with our economic development team there in West Virginia, but when the doors open, we’ll meet the neighbors.” Guntry's location at The Highlands will be smaller than its location in Maryland, but it will feature the same amenities. Guntry was founded in 2018 in a suburb of Baltimore – Owings Mills, Md. – and has attracted more than 2,500 members. The facility features 34 indoor ranges, expert instructors, a fully immersive simulator, and gunsmithing services. “Our facility in Maryland is about 87,000 square feet and our club at The Highlands will be about 44,000 square feet, so that will be the biggest difference in the two locations, but most of everything we have and do in Owings Mills will be in West Virginia, too, but on a smaller scale,” Wolfe explained. “And we will have our ranges. We’ll have a 100-yard range, and, of course, the 25-yard range. “We’ll have the simulator room at The Highlands location, and we’ll have our café and the retail store, too,” he said. “As far as the ranges are concerned, we have five lanes in Maryland and we’ll have four in West Virginia.” Founders Rick Landsman and Brian Wolf plans to hire as many as 35 individuals by the time Guntry opens this far, and membership numbers will dictate how many more will be needed. Wolf and other Guntry officials have been contacting working with members of law enforcement throughout the Upper Ohio Valley because the club also will offer training services for first responders and its local membership. “With us, it’s all about community, and that’s not just a buzzword with us. We want everyone to experience what we teach with safety training and education. We do a lot of that here, and we’re going to do a lot of it at our location at The Highlands,” Wolfe said. “We’re looking forward to working with local law enforcement, and we want to have a lot of fun with the public. “The Guntry Club here in Maryland is a fun place because of everything we have is under one roof, and it’s going to be the same there,” he added. “I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.” Guntry's address at The Highlands will be 45 Caliber Drive. And food, too? “It’s going to be a terrific café that will have people visiting us just for the food. The menu is pretty extensive because you’ll be able to get hamburgers and hot dogs, sure, but also salads and panninis, and even crab cake sandwiches,” Wolfe revealed. “When we all decided to get into this business, we knew we wanted it to be more than a gun range. “I think we’ve accomplished that goal,” he said. “And it’ll be the same at Guntry at The Highlands.” Read the full article

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[zaksnothereanymore-blog]

Hey I hit 500 followers, yay!

   I’m actually super excited about that, but that’s not the point of this post. I want to discuss something I normally hate hearing about. Gun Control. 

   Now let me start by saying this, I am a southern boy, born in Arkansas and lived in Missouri for as long as I can remember. I love guns, shooting them, collecting them, hell I was assistant manager at a gun shop for 2 years, and I sold everything from cheap little pistols to one of a kind collectors weapons. I tell you all this to explain my passion for weaponry, but also to highlight my experience. 

   That out of the way, those of you who saw my recent post about the shooting in Florida may remember that I was worried about what kind of crap would come in the followup of all that, but much to my surprise, I have seen more people discussing the issue bigger than the gun that creep used (still not putting his name on my blog). The real issue is that guy had mental issues. According to news sources, he had been suffering from massive depression and psychotic episodes. He has been having treatment since he was 12, and his mother stated that he had an obsession with video games that was far and away worse than enjoyment. The kid wouldn’t wash himself for days because he was to busy playing games. Add all this to the fact that his parents had issues resulting in an ugly divorce, and it’s safe to say that this guy was a walking time bomb waiting to go off. 

   I highlight this, because I feel it is an important part of what I believe is a serious issue. Like I said above, I sold guns. Lots of em, so I know how it works. Any time you buy a gun from a licensed dealer, you fill out paperwork, and then you wait for the dealer to call the Federal Government and get their approval to sell you that gun. Let me repeat that. The Federal Government has to approve the dealer to sell you a gun. It’s not an automated system, it’s a real person that the dealer speaks to on the phone, standing in front of you, and gives them the information. They process it, and then say either yes you can buy this gun, no you can’t buy this gun, or yes you can, but you must wait a certain amount of time, usually between 3 and 7 days. Now according to the article, the shooter bought two hand guns in his home state of Maryland, and apparently there are additional rules about that.

   “Since 2013, residents in Maryland must obtain a handgun qualification license from the state police before purchasing a pistol or revolver. That means (the shooter) would have submitted his fingerprints, undergone a background check, and passed a firearms safety training course to buy those guns.”

   So how, during all of this paperwork and federal background checks, did someone who has a history of mental illness as well as being prescribed anti psychotics, get approved to buy guns? This is the problem. I think our current system of buying weapons needs an overhaul, and not just on a state level, but a federal level as well. Obviously it would be a bit more nuanced than what I can come up with, but the basics of my idea is this. If you have been diagnosed with mental issues, then your rights to buy a gun should be carefully examined.

   It is in fact a Constitutional Right that we as Americans have the right to bear arms, and it’s a right that I firmly stand behind. As a matter of fact, I believe folks should be more educated in the use of firearms as a country. But, people have issues, and those issues need to be looked at when it comes to weaponry. Again, this wouldn’t apply to everyone, and would be a case by case basis. Someone who had to be prescribed depression medication in their teen years may be a completely different and perfectly sane person now, while the next depressed person may be on the verge of a psychotic break down which will result in death and injury. We can’t blanket fix this issue. That means a revamp of our system, that means more people who can examine gun buying requests on a case by case basis, which means more jobs as well. That’s two birds, one shotgun blast. Is that not how the saying goes? I don’t know. 

   Once again, I’m just a regular guy with some thoughts, and if you disagree with me, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’d be happy to discuss things with you civilly. That’s the key, not just with me, but with everyone, be civil y'all. All this screaming at each other does is sow dissent and give me a damn headache.

[ptpgunmedia]

Gun Safety and Training Classes in Maryland - PTPGUN

Are you a responsible gun owner in Maryland, or are you considering becoming one? Ensuring the safety of yourself and those around you should be your top priority. That's where PTPGUN comes in. We offer comprehensive gun safety and training classes in Maryland to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to handle firearms responsibly. In this blog, we'll explore the importance of gun safety, highlight the benefits of our training courses, and provide you with valuable information on how to get started. Let's dive in!

The Importance of Gun Safety

Gun safety is paramount, whether you're a seasoned firearm enthusiast or a first-time gun owner. Maryland, like all states, has specific regulations in place to promote responsible gun ownership. These regulations are designed to prevent accidents, injuries, and misuse of firearms. It's essential to understand and adhere to these regulations to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you.

Our gun safety courses at PTPGUN focus on the following key principles:

Firearm Safety Rules: We teach the fundamental rules of firearm safety, including always treating every gun as if it's loaded, never pointing a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot, and keeping your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire.

Safe Storage: Proper storage of firearms is crucial to prevent accidents and unauthorized access. Our courses provide guidance on secure firearm storage options and the use of gun safes.

Safe Handling: We emphasize safe handling techniques, including how to load and unload firearms, clear malfunctions, and maintain control of the gun at all times.

Use of Safety Equipment: We educate our students on the importance of using appropriate safety gear, such as ear and eye protection, when handling firearms.

Legal and Ethical Responsibilities: Understanding the legal and ethical aspects of gun ownership is vital. We cover topics like Maryland's gun laws, self-defense, and the use of deadly force.

The Benefits of Our Training Classes

At PTPGUN, we take pride in offering a variety of training classes to cater to gun owners of all levels. Our courses are designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to handle firearms responsibly and confidently. Here are some of the key benefits of enrolling in our training classes:

Safety Assurance: Our courses are built on a foundation of safety, ensuring that you know how to handle firearms without compromising the well-being of yourself and others.

Legal Compliance: Staying on the right side of the law is crucial for gun owners. Our training covers Maryland's specific regulations, helping you avoid legal pitfalls.

Confidence Building: Our instructors are experienced professionals who will guide you in developing the skills and confidence necessary to handle firearms effectively.

Versatility: Whether you're a beginner or an experienced gun owner, our classes are tailored to your needs. We offer basic, intermediate, and advanced courses to match your skill level.

Practical Skills: Our training isn't just theoretical. You'll gain practical skills that you can apply in real-life situations, including home defense, concealed carry, and competitive shooting.

Community: When you join PTPGUN, you become part of a community of responsible gun owners who share your commitment to safety and ethical gun use.

Getting Started

Getting started with PTPGUN's gun safety and training classes in Maryland is straightforward. Here's how to begin your journey:

Select a Course: Browse our course offerings and choose the one that best suits your needs and skill level. We offer a range of courses, from basic firearm safety to advanced tactical training.

Registration: Once you've selected a course, register on our website or contact us directly to secure your spot in the class. Be sure to check for any prerequisites or requirements for the specific course you've chosen.

Prepare and Attend: Before your class, familiarize yourself with any required equipment or materials. On the day of your class, arrive on time and ready to learn.

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[444wreckkate444]

“i just personally believe that having restrictions on the types of weapons available & a database of who owns what weapons will help lessen gun violence. it may not prevent every incident, but i think it would be especially helpful in mass violence incidents & in the buying & reselling of guns that are then used in the commission of crimes like robbery etc.” Canada tried that and it failed. They scrapped the program. Maryland state police did this as well and after over a decade they solved ZERO crimes and spent (wasted) almost a billion dollars doing it. Wonderful and original idea you have here.

Hi anon :) thank u

in a way ur right cause a gun registry alone wouldn’t fix everything… i forgot to mention in my previous post anything about safety courses, background checks & gun licenses…. i should have been way more clear.

Ok so I’ll be honest here, the gun registry in Canada is a bit before my political consciousness. I did more research & I know there were problems with it, a lot of people didn’t register their weapons & there is debate about how effective it was in preventing crime or helping to solve crime — according to a report from the auditor general no data was actually kept in regard to that, so it’s hard to know for sure 🤷‍♀️

I didn’t state I believe that a gun registry would solve crime, but I do have the opinion that a gun registry may help deter licensed people from buying weapons to give or sell to others (this is a growing problem in Canada actually, per CBC).

I do think gun purchases should be registered, as they are when it comes to handguns and other restricted guns in Canada — I understand that an attempt to register all previously purchased guns would be very costly & may not turn up the results desired but we have a choice when it comes to NEW purchases at the very least…

I am of the opinion that some of the gun laws that we have in Canada to acquire weapons (completing & passing a safety course, completing an application for s license & a waiting period) are helpful in keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have them, I am also in favour of magazine capacity limits…

we do have & have had mass casualty incidents in canada (sadly), that’s common knowledge, but gun deaths were literally the leading cause of death in CHILDREN in 2020 in the USA (the majority of these being homicides) (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61192975.amp). Another thing Canada does that the US doesn’t is require firearms to be stored unloaded & locked up. We also have a magazine capacity limit far stricter than most US states — which is relevant as a lot of mass shootings feature weapons with large capacity magazines such as: the pulse nightclub shooting, newtown, ct & parkland, fl… & allegedly the most recent in uvalde… In Texas you don’t need a permit or a license & if you are buying from a private gun dealer you don’t need a background check. You also don’t need a permit to conceal carry. A lot of other US states are like that…

As for Maryland… I don’t know the specifics of the gun registry in that state, but if guns can be brought from the US to Canada, then they can obviously be brought over state lines… for example, it’s kinda well known that chicago has a serious gun violence problem & that the government there has made an effort to combat that by enacting strict gun control laws… part of the issue is that Illinois state is surrounded by states with less strict gun laws & 60 percent of guns used in the commission of crimes in Chicago between 2009-2013 came from outside states, with Indiana & Wisconsin being the biggest contributors… that’s also been noted as a problem in the states of California and also Maryland (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-laws-stop-at-state-lines-but-guns-dont/amp/ ) which have fairly strict gun laws but see guns brought in from surrounding states regularly.

And AGAIN a shitload of weapons used in crimes in Canada come from the USA… including in the Nova Scotia mass shooting where 22 people died in 2020, where it was found 3/5 of the weapons used & the high capacity magazines used came from California & Maine & were smuggled into Canada (the other two weapons were i. Illegally acquired from another Canadian province & ii. A weapon taken from an RCMP officer the shooter killed) (https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5834765).

The US enacting some federal gun laws may help change some of this…

i don’t think gun control efforts in the US would magically cure the issue of gun violence but how would it hurt any more? maybe it won’t solve shit, maybe it would be a bust & a bunch of wasted money but to me the lives of thousands of children each year (& thousands more adults) is worth more than some wasted funds… especially considering the US spends over 700 billion dollars on the military yearly… so like… priorities…

I am not anti-gun, I know tonnes of gun owners (responsible gun owners). I have no problem with people owning guns, or hunting… I just think it makes sense to try & keep track of who owns what & to ensure a gun owner goes through a testing process & background checks & licensing procedures (yes i would prefer a gun registry, at the very least for new purchases & preferably for as many already owned guns as possible). nothing can change my mind on this, i want to see some change — for the us gov to at least try so that maybe we can see some improvements & less atrocities…

[shieldagentscully-blog]

Scalpel & SHIELD: Chapter 4 - An Unexpected Visitor

Georgetown, Washington DC, 2002

William had babbled and gurgled for the first leg of the nearly hour drive back to Georgetown, but had well and truly nodded off by the time that they hit the DC metro limits. As she cruised through the streets towards the same, comfortable apartment she had lived in since she’d moved to the city, she hoped that she’d be able to keep him out long enough to get him inside and into bed. That was getter harder and harder to do now that he was over a year old, growing like a weed. Gone were the days when she could just sneak him in his car seat and slip him into his crib.

She pulled into the quiet drive, the same spot she’d had for years. Scully was a fixture in the building at this point, the crazy FBI agent who always had weirdos breaking into her place. She single-handedly had been the cause for the upgrade in security around the apartment, which in and of itself wasn’t a horrible thing, but she was certain her neighbors felt much better now that she no longer worked a job so dangerous that they had to fear that strangers were lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting targets.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean they weren’t there, either.

She noticed him almost as soon as her headlights ran across the quiet, unmarked sedan sitting serenely by the trash bins. It wasn’t precisely a parking spot there, but visitors often liked to use it if they were only there for a short time, and the manager rarely made a fuss about it. Still, while people liked parking there, it was rare they sat in their cars, slumped in the seat, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Scully may no longer be an FBI agent, but she wasn’t an idiot.

She pulled into her spot, glancing in her rearview mirror towards the car and the occupant. He sat up after she had parked, and she could see at least part of his face through the darkened windshield.

Quietly and as coolly as she could, she reached across to the glove compartment, where her Smith and Wesson lay under a pile of registration papers, a spare diaper, and one of William’s stuffed toys. She carefully pulled it and the holster, clipping it under her light jacket as she stepped out, half an eye on the car in the back as she rounded to where William was still out like a light. As she did, the man in the car opened his door.

She spared him a glance as she opened passenger’s side, busying herself with gathering William’s scattered things. In reality, she was watching the man as she tugged at his sport coat, buttoning it neatly in front of him. He was an inconspicuous enough person, the sort you’d expect in a special agent: pleasant features, serious demeanor, strong jaw, dark haired, not too tall, not too small, the sort of pleasant attractiveness that didn’t draw attention to himself. The typical agent type. But from where? FBI would just call her or show up at her door, they’d not be secretive about it. The CIA, maybe, but why in the world would they want to play cloak-and-dagger games with her? The same applied to the NSA. This left only one group, really, one she’d hoped would leave her the hell alone since she stepped away from the X-files. She had no wish to play in Spender’s sick games anymore, and he’d better stay the hell away from her son.

“Excuse me,” he called, as her hand tightened on the handle of William’s overnight bag. She set it on the ground, looking around her SUV at him.

“Yes?” Her hands wandered to her hips, the impatient mother trying to get her child into the house. She slid the right one ever so closely to the small of her back, where her holster lay.

He smiled, a pleasant smile, all things considered. “I saw you driving up with the little one. I thought I could help.”

Little one? Scully doubted there was any way in hell he could have seen William’s car seat in the back, especially in the twilight. “I think I’m good, thanks.”

“You sure? I mean, I can help carry something inside.” He continued forward, all careful concern. Scully didn’t hesitate to let her right hand whip behind her back. Before he had another step, her weapon was trained on him, pointed right in the middle of his kindly, concerned face.

“You can also stop where you are and tell me who you work for.” She barely raised her voice above a whisper, desperate to keep William asleep and not in the middle of this. Her heart thumped painfully as she stepped away from the car, closer to the stranger who took a step back, hands slowly moving upwards, palms out.

“Easy! I was just offering to help.”

“Convenient, as you were also hiding out in an unmarked sedan behind my building, waiting for me to arrive back home. Why?”

Something flickered across his stoic face for a moment, but he only sighed. “Look, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Do I look scared?” She flicked the safety off her gun. The man swallowed hard.

“I’d read your file. I knew you were good, but...perhaps I underestimated things.”

“My file?” She knew it. She almost rolled her eyes with the predictability of it. “Who are you with? The CIA? NSA? Can’t be the Bureau, they’d just come by my office to bother me.”

“None of those, no.” His calm demeanor barely flickered as she raised her aim even higher. “I’m not from any US based agency. I work for something more international.”

“Interpol?”

“Close. SHIELD.”

Well, that was unexpected.

She lowered her gun, flicking the safety back on. The man raised a dark eyebrow archly and she wondered if that was what his relieved expression was.

“What does the likes of SHIELD want with me?”

“To talk to you, Doctor Scully. That’s all. Your work has caught our attention and they are interested in you.”

She considered. It was Sunday evening, and here he was, lurking outside of her apartment. If he wanted to kill her and take her son, he could. So far, he seemed on the level.

“Well, if you are offering to help me, you can take the suitcase and his diaper bag.”

This brought a hint of a smile to his expression as he gladly took the items from her, waiting patiently for her to unhook William from his seat. He barely whimpered as she cuddled him close on her hip, keys replacing her hand gun. She jerked her head, a silent request for him to follow her as she led the way to the front of the building, where her apartment door lay.

Once inside, she nodded towards the living room as she carried her sleeping son, warm and snuggly, into his room. Whoever her guest was, he’d have to wait as she stripped William down ,out of his clothes, and changed him into pajamas. William barely woke enough to whine pathetically as she cooed at him, smoothing dark curls off his forehead as she settled him into his bed. He rolled over, asleep again before she even wandered away.

The stranger stood by her fireplace, studying the photos above, a motley collection of pictures of her family over the decades. She noted him studying in particular one of William’s hospital photos, when he was little more than a scrunched up face swaddled in blankets, a tiny hat covering his dark head. The old fear and apprehension rose within her, her fingers itching for her weapon once more.

“What does SHIELD want with the likes of me?”

He spun around, a polite smile on his face. “Why wouldn’t they?” He gestured to her comfortable armchair. “May I have a seat?”

She nodded as he settled across from her couch where she chose to sit, watching him as if he were a suspect, liable to strike at any moment. “I don’t believe you gave me your name.”

“Agent Phil Coulson.” He reached inside his blazer as Scully tensed, but he merely produced a simple card emblazoned with the name ‘Philip Coulson” in black text. To the left, the stylized seal of an eagle was produced in silvery gray, surrounded by the full name of the organization he claimed to be from, the “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division”.

“I always felt it was a long way for you all to go to spell the word ‘shield’.” She murmured, setting the card on the coffee table in front of her, a reminder of who he was.

“It is a bit obvious, but I suppose it expresses our charter nicely.”

“Ahh, yes, an international anti-terror and intelligence agency focused on global security.” She knew of SHIELD by reputation. As an FBI agent, she’d had to deal with them far less than Interpol, but the idea was similar; an extra-government organization centered on the idea of providing intelligence for global protection independent from the agendas of any one particular government or regime. Of course, Scully had found it amusing that was their chartered goal, though they were mostly based in the United States and served a very specific point of view.

“So, again I have to ask, what does SHIELD want with the likes of me?” She returned them to the topic at hand, namely why he was lurking at her apartment on a Sunday evening.

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“I suppose a better question is why you are here at my house this time of night wanting to chat with me about a secret spy organization?”

“I’d have chatted with you during the day, but you were busy.”

She pursed her lips as he smiled at her in his equinaminous way. “Agent Coulson, I am not in the business anymore. In case you haven’t noticed, my priorities have changed. I’m a mother, I’m a teacher, and I don’t go around playing cloak-and-dagger games.”

“You used to. In fact, until you had your son, you were a full FBI agent, working on the X-files.”

“I’m well aware of what I used to do.”

“You asked why SHIELD wants you and I told you.” His fingers steepled as he sank further into her chair, clearly at ease. “You have a background in physics from the University of Maryland and a medical degree from Stanford, and yet you went into pathology with the FBI only to be stuck on the X-files detail with Fox Mulder.”

“I wasn’t stuck. I was assigned.” She bristled, even after all these years.

He at least had the grace to look apologetic before moving forward. “You were assigned. Your cases weren’t unknown to us, nor is the work you and Agent Mulder did; hauntings, alien abductions, the unexplained. I was a particular fan of the flukeman incident.”

“I am glad someone was.” She still had nightmares about it.

He beamed, briefly. Clearly he meant what he said. “You’ve been on SHIELD’s radar for quite some time. Your unique skill set and experience intrigued us.”

“What about alien abductions and ghost sightings could possibly interest SHIELD?”

“We are interested in global security.” His smile was enigmatic. She wondered if he practiced that a lot.

“I have a feeling that’s all classified and you can’t tell me.”

“Let’s just say that you and Agent Mulder were a lot closer than anyone would like to acknowledge to the truth of a lot of things.”

The truth? She smirked, throwing herself deep into the cushions of her comfortable chair. “What truth is that, Agent Coulson? That there are aliens in the universe who have made a habit of making off with ordinary people or that there is a massive conspiracy to experiment on the public in the most grotesque ways?”

“Both. What do you know about HYDRA?”

“You mean the old Nazi organization? I know of it, of course, mostly from history courses ages ago and watching the old Captain America films with my father growing up.”

“I loved those movies.” A hint of delight worked its way through his equanimity.

“I thought HYDRA died off with World War II. Wasn’t that what the Howling Commandos were up to?”

“Yes. But as we both know, conspiracies aren’t easy to kill off like that.”

That caught her attention. A sick feeling rose inside as she processed, both because of what Coulson was saying and what he wasn’t. “Are you implying that they had something to do with the work Mulder and I did?”

“I’m implying they had everything to do with it.”

“And why would you assume that?”

He slipped a hand into his suit coat, pulling out a slim, long white envelope. He passed it over to her as she studied the unlettered outside of it. She stared at it for long moments, before flickering her gaze to his in silent question.

“A photo you might be interested in. We found it recently in some files, ones that were hidden.”

She reached for it, plucking it out of his grasp. Inside she could feel the thicker stock of photograph paper. Flipping open the flap, she pulled out a black and white photo, obviously taken from a concealed camera, perhaps something from a covert operation. The lab they were in was clear enough, subjects being hooked up to machines by technicians, some looking quietly placid, others fearful, even in tears. Above them on an observatory platform stood two men, watching the scene. The shorter man was older, a shock of white, thinning hair stick around him like a halo. She didn’t immediately recognize him. His companion though, that face she would recognize in her nightmares.

“That’s Spender!” She flipped the photo around to point to the tall, lanky man with a mane of dark hair, not yet the grizzled older man she hated.

“Well, Busch to be more precise, but yes.” Coulson leaned forward as he took one corner of the photo. “Carl Gerhard Busch, born October 29, 1926 to German national parents with ties to the growing Nazi party. When his parents divorced, his father returned, but he stayed in America with his mother. She remarried to a man named Spender, hence the name.”

That was far more than Scully had ever found out about the mysterious smoking man who had terrorized her life for so long, and she had the Lone Gunmen looking. “How did you find that out?”

“We have a file on him. We’ve had one since the 1950s, when he first appeared on the scene as a State Department operative working alongside Bill Mulder. The two of them met in the Army. College kids, they got fast-tracked as officers working in the liaison office, then stepped sideways to State. On his own, Bill Mulder wouldn’t have drawn our attention, but Spender did. His biological father, Gerhard Busch, was a high ranking member of HYDRA, key in it’s growth and organization. He disappeared after the death of Schmidt and was never found.”

“And you thought his son knew where he was?”

“It was suspected that the elder Busch fled to America, along with other former HYDRA operatives, perhaps under the protection of his son. We never found Gerhard.”

Perhaps, because his son had killed him, too.

“Who is the other man?”

“His name is Richard Reinhardt, the head of the bioengineering division of HYDRA. He was the former second to Arnim Zola, who headed up much of the scientific research HYDRA conducted.”

“Zola was captured during the war.”

“He was and never saw a day of prison for it.” Only the slightest tick hinted at Coulson’s displeasure at that fact. “After the war he was brought over to the US to do research.”

“Project Paperclip.” Scully spat the words out. She knew that particular Cold War side project all too well. As if by muscle memory, she turned towards the large, plate glass bay window in her apartment, the one Duane Berry had broken through and take her to Skyland Mountain, turning her entire life upside down. She shivered.

If Coulson knew anything about that, he was polite enough not to mention it. “Higher ups championed keeping Zola around after the war, if nothing else because the SSR and later SHIELD could use his research. He died of cancer in 1972. On his death, SHIELD higher ups suggested looking at other options, other scientists brought over by the government and given amnesty.”

“And this is why you looked into Reinhardt?” The pieces began falling into place almost against her will.

Coulson nodded, looking less than pleased by the fact. “That picture was taken by one of ours, doing some reconnaissance work before approaching Reinhardt. We knew he’d been working for years for a US project, deep undercover. It wasn’t clear what or for whom, and SHIELD wasn’t willing to offer him a position without knowing what he’d been up to. That picture was shot at a US Army research facility at April Air Force Base in San Bernardino County, California.

April Air Force Base?

That name rang like a klaxon as Scully scanned the photo again, picking out the individual patients, some with downturned, blurry faces, others whose features came out quite clearly. “When was this taken?”

“August of 1974.”

That was well within the timeframe. Even as that thought floated to the top of Scully’s brain, she found what she was seeking; a young girl, only nine-years-old, dark haired and elvin faced. She recognized her as surely as she’d recognize her own son. William had the same distant, forlorn expression when he was tired or sick, the sort that melted the heart of most anyone who saw it, especially his daycare workers. That familiar ache, the searing pain of Mulder’s loss, roared to life as she held the photograph with shaking fingers, seeing for the first time visual evidence that the girl who had disappeared on that long ago night in 1973 had been alive long after she was thought gone.

“Samantha,” she breathed, reverently touching the glossy face.

“The best we can tell, she was a part of a program being headed up by Reinhardt, research, using alien technologies.”

“And SHIELD did nothing to stop them?” Anger at the sight of this woebegone girl who had cost those who loved her so much flooded her as she snapped back, directing her ire at Coulson.

“SHIELD doesn’t exactly have the capacity to just call out a foreign government without hard evidence of wrongdoing. Not long after this, our agent was compromised, we had to extract. We were never able to get hard evidence again. The operation was kept so tight, we weren’t even able to get a team put together for removal. Contrary to popular belief, while SHIELD is capable, we aren’t all powerful, and HYDRA is very crafty at hiding when they want to.”

“And you are certain it is HYDRA?”

“Well, the remnants, at least. The core died off long ago, but there are still seeds of it all over. SHIELD roots them out where they can. Which is where our interest in you comes in.”

The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place painfully. “You want me to search for Spender.”

“No one knows him better.”

Did anyone really know him at all? Scully wasn’t so sure. She stared at the photo of the younger Spender in stark black-and-white, looking out over his subjects, a curl of smoke circling up over his head lazily. In panic, she dropped the photo on the coffee table, throwing herself up and out of her seat, pacing blindly to the window Duane Berry had come through.

“You don’t know who you are dealing with here.” She turned on Coulson who watched her quietly.

“We’ve followed Spender for years.”

“Yes, but you’ve not had to deal with him.”

“In all fairness, Doctor Scully, SHIELD is well versed with dealing with all matter of demons.”

“Not this one, you aren’t.” She stalked back towards the mantel and the one photograph of Mulder she had up there, a snapshot of him from a Yankees game she’d taken him to, weeks before he disappeared. He had a ball cap on, crunching on his ever-present sunflower seeds, attempting to teach her the finer points of the game and failing. She’d deliberately played at being confused, of course, just to irritate him as he tried, in vain, to explain a box score. He waxed poetic about Derek Jeter at one point, calling him the greatest Yankee since Mantel. He’d been happy that day.

And then he was gone. Vanished, as if he never existed. Just like his sister.

“This man took everything from me,” she murmured into the silence of her apartment. “He had me kidnapped and tested on, gave me cancer, ripped away my life and my choices out of his own cruelty. He killed my sister. He killed my friends. He created my daughter only to die as a lab experiment. He toyed with Mulder for decades, puppetted his life, stringing him along only to rip his hope and his integrity away time and time again, crushing him gleefully, all the while knowing he was his own son. And I can’t tell you what he did to the one son who did carry his name, how he abused him, abandoned him and his mother, using them and discarding them when it suited. He plays his games, acting as if we were nothing, as if we were little more than toys. You say you know what you are dealing with, but do you really?”

“Perhaps not as much as you, but if we did, we wouldn’t be coming to you, asking you to join us.”

He had a point, as much as she hated to admit it. She blinked against the film in her eyes as she turned to face him. His expression was sympathetic, but quietly expectant as well. Did he understand what he was asking of her, approaching her like this?

“If I agree, I am putting my son in danger. I won’t do that.”

“We will work with you to help protect you and your son. Unlike the FBI, we take the threat seriously.”

“That’s what our old boss said, right before Fox Mulder disappeared.”

“I’m well aware that asking you back into this life is dangerous, Doctor Scully. I’m also aware of what you sacrificed for your work before and what we are asking you to do again. But without you, Spender still is running free without any check to his plans. How many other people will he suck up into his machinations by then?”

He was right, but it didn’t make her want to rush back into the breech anymore. “I’ve had an offer from Howard University, full time faculty.”

“We’ve heard. It’s why we moved.”

She wasn’t shocked he knew about the offer, only that they had moved so quickly to try and secure her. “Then you know that it’s a good job, with a possibility for growth. It’s a quiet, sedate job, without the threat of bodily harm or death that would leave my son orphaned.”

“But is it what you want?”

That caught her by surprise. “How would you know if it was or wasn’t?”

“If it was what you wanted, Doctor Scully, you’d have signed the paperwork last week when it was offered to you.”

Coulson wasn’t an idiot, she’d give him that much. “I feel I need to give full consideration to that offer, first.”

“Fair.” He nodded, rising from her sofa. “Whatever you decide, let me know.”

That was it? She had expected more of a high stakes sell from the world’s most secret intelligence organization. “You’ll just let me go, make my own decisions? Won’t make me an offer I can’t refuse?”

“I’m not in the business of making promises I can’t keep or idyll threats to scare people into doing what I’d like.” He buttoned his blazer with a hint of a smile. “Besides, you are right. Coming to work for SHIELD is dangerous, and you have a child to think of. As long as Spender’s alive, he is a threat, and your son will need protection. Either way, you have to choose what is best; working for us to stop him or working far away and hoping he takes no notice. Only you can make the right decision for you.”

As if that made the choice any better.

Clearing his throat, he crossed his hands in front of him respectfully. “I think I’ll leave you with that for the night, Doctor Scully. You can reach me by the information on the card.”

“Thank you,” she murmured quietly as she showed him out the door. She let it click as she locked the door, leaning for long moments against it, listening to his footsteps down the hallway. No matter how hard she tried, Spender kept coming back, like a god damned cockroach. Last time she’d seen him, he said he was dying. He had more than likely been lying. Wherever he was, she had no doubt that he would, eventually, come looking for her - and for his grandson.

As if on instinct, she wandered to William’s nursery. Oblivious to the adult conversation in the living room, he was asleep, laying on his back, one leg cocked sideways as he hugged his toy alien, Spooky, in one chubby arm. Tears stinging, she reached down in his crib to brush his tangle of fine, dark curls from his forehead, chuckling wetly at the little snuffle and snort he loosed before turning away from his mother’s ministrations.

“What are we to do, Will?” She sighed, pulling back to watch him sleep quietly and contently, without a care in the world.

At this moment, she really didn’t know what they would do.

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Are In The United States

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-in-the-united-states/

How Many Republicans Are In The United States

Polling Data Shows Republican Party Affiliation Is Down As Independents Leaning Toward The Democratic Party Surge

Democrats have a nine-percentage-point affiliation advantage over Republicans at the moment.

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The GOP is losing its grip, according to the latest Gallup poll. 

The number of Americans identifying as Republicans or as independents who lean toward the GOP dropped to 40% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the number of Democrats or independents leaning toward the Democratic party hitting 49%. And that nine-percentage-point lead is the greatest Democratic advantage that Gallup has measured since the fourth quarter of 2012, when former President Barack Obama was re-elected. 

Gallup routinely measures U.S. adults’ party identification and the political leanings of independents. The latest poll surveyed a random sample of 3,960 U.S. adults by phone between January and March of 2021. And while Democratic Party affiliation actually dropped by one point from the fourth quarter of 2020, to 30% — where it has hovered for most of the past eight years — the number of Americans identifying as independent rose to 44% from 38% last quarter. And this growing number of independents came at the expense of the Republican party, as 19% of independents said they lean Democrat, compared with 15% leaning Republican. Most of the remaining 11% of independents didn’t swing either way. 

And several events have happened during those three months that could position the Democratic Party more favorably in voters’ eyes, the Gallup report noted. 

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Opinion:

A Different America: How Republicans Hold Near Total Control In 23 Us States

In those states, Republicans hold the governorship and the legislature, giving them the power to take aim at abortion access, trans rights, voting and gun safety

Last modified on Tue 15 Jun 2021 14.38 BST

Democrats across the US cheered last month, as Texas legislators staged a walkout from the statehouse to block the passage of a Republican bill that would enact a number of restrictions on voting access.

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But the victory seemed short-lived, as the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, quickly announced he planned to call a special session to get the legislation passed.

The walkout and the probably only temporary relief it provides for Democrats demonstrated the immense legislative power that Republicans have in dozens of states across the country and the ability that gives them to pass a hard-right agenda on a vast range of issues from abortion to the ability to vote.

In 23 US states, Republicans hold the governorship and the legislature, giving the party near total control to advance its policies. This year, Republicans have used that power to aggressively push their conservative social agenda – taking aim at abortion access, transgender rights and gun safety, as well as voting laws.

During the Texas legislative session, which concluded late last month, Republicans approved bills to allow permitless carry of firearms, ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and increase criminal penalties for protesters who block intersections.

For The First Time There Are Fewer Registered Republicans Than Independents

For the first time in history, there are more registered independents in the United States than there are registered Republicans.

It may not be for the reason you think, though.

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New data from Ballot Access News, which tracks registrations in the 31 states that require voters to register by party, shows that independents account for 29.09 percent of voters in them, compared with 28.87 percent for Republicans. As recently as 2004, Republicans outpaced independents by nearly 10 percentage points.

There are still way more registered Democrats; 39.66 percent of voters are registered with that party.

This marks the first time since party registration began in the early 1900s that the number of registered independents in the United States has surpassed members of either major political party, according to Ballot Access News.

Here’s the data going back to 2004:

But before anybody chalks this up as having to do with the current occupant of the White House, it’s worth parsing the trends.

While independents have surpassed Republicans, there actually hasn’t been a huge drop in GOP party registration since President Trump took office. Since October 2016, GOP registration has dropped by half a percentage point. The number of registered Democrats declined by nearly a full point over the same span. Independents have benefited from both drops.

Republican Lawmakers Push To Cast Vaccine Refusal As A Civil Rights Issue

Bills in several statehouses seek to block employers from demanding Covid-19 immunization, even though few do

Last modified on Fri 16 Jul 2021 19.48 BST

State Republican lawmakers across the United States are pushing forward bills that prohibit vaccine mandates in an attempt to give the refusal to have a Covid-19 vaccine the same sort of legal protections as those often surrounding issues of gender, religion and race.

Many Republican states are introducing bills that outlaw vaccine mandates within state offices, schools and workplaces, even though vaccine mandates are not commonplace among employers. They also come as the vaccine rollout in the US has slowed markedly, even though the more contagious Delta variant is spreading rapidly, especially among unvaccinated people.

Read more

Covid-19 vaccines are life-saving medications whose side effects are generally mild. Independent expert panels have repeatedly found the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risk of potential Covid-19 infection. More than 185 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose.

“It’s sort of a solution looking for a problem,” said Lowell Pearson, a managing partner at Husch Blackwell, a firm that has been tracking the bills. “We’re not seeing really any broad sense that employers are requiring vaccines in office settings, in manufacturing settings and other places like that.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: Us House Votes To Strip Republican Of Key Posts

The US House of Representatives has voted to expel a Republican congresswoman from two committees over incendiary remarks she made before being elected last November.

Marjorie Taylor Greene had promoted baseless QAnon conspiracy theories and endorsed violence against Democrats.

Before the vote, she said she regretted her views, which included claims that school shootings and 9/11 were staged.

Eleven Republicans joined the Democrats to pass the motion by 230-199.

The Republican dilemma, embodied in one politician

It means the representative – who was elected in November, representing a district in the southern state of Georgia – cannot take up her place on the education and budget committees.

This would limit her ability to shape policy as most legislation goes through a committee before reaching the House floor. Committee positions can determine the influence of individual lawmakers in their party.

It is highly unusual for one party to intervene in another party’s House committee assignments.

On Friday, Mrs Greene said that she woke up “laughing” at the situation.

“I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats are for giving some one like me free time,” she tweeted, referencing the 11 Republicans who also voted to remove her.

At a news conference in Washington hours later, Mrs Greene said that Democrats had “stripped my district of their voice” by removing her from the committees.

Why Do I Put My Life On The Line Pandemic Trauma Haunts Health Workers

Many health workers feel disillusioned and underappreciated.

Republican state Sen. Ralph Alvarado of Kentucky, a 50-year-old physician, said instead of shaming people who are reluctant to get vaccinated, it’s crucial to understand their concerns. He said he spends a lot of time dispelling myths about vaccines among his constituents, patients and community.

“As a doctor, I remind my colleagues that when we prescribe or recommend a course of action for somebody, no matter what the disease or prevention is, if people become resistant or hesitant, our medical code of ethics doesn’t say to humiliate,” he said. “You reassure and educate them.”

He added that a lot of people are fearful when politics is involved, because “people pick sides instead of picking the message.”

Public health experts also have stressed the need to focus outreach efforts on science. An analysis published in Health Affairs, a peer-reviewed health journal, stated that when “science and values, not politics, inform public health,” it “unlocks potential for higher vaccine coverage.”

The de Beaumont Foundation, a Maryland-based charitable foundation focused on health solutions, held a two-hour session with a focus group in March that found messaging helps to build trust. The group consisted of almost 20 people who identified as conservative Republicans who supported Trump.

List Of Current Mayors Of The Top 100 Cities In The United States

Municipal partisanship in 2021

This page lists the current mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.

As of 2013, an estimated 62,186,079 citizens lived in these cities, accounting for 19.67 percent of the nation’s total population.

In most of the nation’s largest cities, mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan, though many officeholders and candidates are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia used one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder’s partisan affiliation: direct communication from the officeholder, current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets. As of August 2021, the partisan breakdown of the mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities was 63 Democrats, 26 Republicans, four independents, and six nonpartisans. The affiliation of one mayor was unknown.

Of these cities, there are 47 strong mayor governments, 46 council-manager governments, six hybrid governments, and one city commission.

At the start of 2021…

HIGHLIGHTS

Based on 2013 population estimates, 76% of the population of the top 100 cities lived in cities with Democratic mayors, and 15% lived in cities with Republican mayors.

Allen Joines , mayor of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had been in office the longest; he first took office in 2001.

This page includes:

Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.Submit

100 Largest Cities By Population Rank Strong mayor No

Census Data May Blunt Expected Republican Election Gains In 2022

FILE – This April 5, 2020, photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit.

WASHINGTON – The release of detailed local data from the U.S. census this week demonstrated that the country is diversifying and urbanizing more quickly than many had believed, and those results have real consequences for what Congress will look like throughout the coming decade.

In general, the news was good for the Democratic Party. It suggests that some of the anticipated losses in the 2022 elections may be mitigated slightly by population growth in large metropolitan areas, which tend to vote for Democrats, and a decline in rural populations, which tend to favor the Republican Party.

In his analysis for The Cook Political Report, David Wasserman wrote that “although Republicans hold more sway in redistricting, Democrats have to be pretty happy with today’s results.”

Drawing new congressional maps

The decennial count of the American people is used for many purposes, but one of the most visible is the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives. While every state’s allotment of senators is fixed at two, the size of their respective House delegations varies with population.

Republicans favored to take House

GOP advantage blunted

Inevitable lawsuits

Wasserman also pointed out that the data may also make it more difficult for Republicans to defend especially aggressive redistricting in court.

Map: Republicans To Have Full Control Of 23 States Democrats 15

In 2021, Republicans will have full control of the legislative and executive branch in 23 states. Democrats will have full control of the legislative and executive branch in 15 states.

Population of the 24 fully R-controlled states: 134,035,267Population of the 15 fully D-controlled states: 120,326,393

Republicans have full control of the legislative branch in 30 states. Democrats have full control of the legislative branch in 18 states.

Population of the 30 fully R-controlled legislature states: 185,164,412Population of the 18 fully D-controlled legislature states: 133,888,565

This week, Andrew Cuomo’s star went down in flames. While the smoke clears, let’s take a moment to sit back and reminisce about the governor’s long history with ethical and legal violations.

Cuomo’s controversies regarding sexual harassment and nursing homes deaths were far from his first abuses of power. In fact, his administration has a long history of it, ranging from interfering with ethics commissions, to financial corruption.

In July 2013, Cuomo formed the Moreland Commission to investigate corruption in New York’s government. At first it was a success, giving Cuomo good PR. Yet as it went on there were rumors that, contrary to his claim that “Anything they want to look at they can look at,” Cuomo was interfering with the Commission’s investigations. There was friction within the Commission, itself with two factions forming: “’Team Independence’ and ‘Team We-Have-a-Boss’.”

      Are There More Democrats Than Republicans In The United States

I have been thinking about the Democratic Party and whether or not its members are more numerous than the opposing faction.

Evidence to suggest this is the case:

This party is expected to win the popular vote for president seven out of eight times since 1992. Please don’t say “this hasn’t happened yet”. If this bothers you, say 6 out of 7.

The party has received 51.9 percent of the votes cast in presidential elections from 1992 to 2016 for it or its opponent, the Republican Party. This shows that 2012 was the mean election in popular vote as of 2016.

Party registration in states that register by party says this same thing.

Trump’s approval has not gone above 50 percent ever as president on 538.

A plurality of Americans consistently supported impeachment by 2 to 5 points while it was happening.

This suggests that the partisan lean the American electorate is about D+4. I believe that it might be closer to D+5 now for various reasons and the fact that 2012 was the mean result. This can get a little bit fuzzy because of independents.

Active Oldest Votes

If we look at opinion polling, Gallup has collated party affiliation polls back to 2004. The most recent poll at the time of writing gives a D+11 advantage. Looking just at the net Republican/Democrat advantage, ignoring Independents, we can create the graph below – with positive percentages representing a Democrat lead, and negative percentages representing a Republican lead.

To give a theoretical perspective on this:

Democrats Think Many Republicans Sincere And Point To Policy

Democrats, however, were somewhat more generous in their answers.  More than four in ten Democratic voters   felt that most Republican voters had the country’s best interests at heart .  And many tried their best to answer from the other’s perspective. A 45-year-old male voter from Ohio imagined that as a Republican, he was motivated by Republicans’ “harsh stance on immigration; standing up for the 2nd Amendment; promised tax cuts.”  A 30-year-old woman from Colorado felt that Republican votes reflected the desires to “stop abortion… stop gay marriage from ruining our country… and give us our coal jobs back.”

Other Democrats felt that their opponents were mostly motivated by the GOP’s “opposition to Obamacare,” “lower taxes” and to support a party that “reduced unemployment.” 

Scholarly Views On The Genetics And Psychology Of Politics

In Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences three political scientists provide psychological and biological explanation of how a person’s genetic makeup predisposes them to be liberal or conservative. They conclude:

If you accept that your political views are imbued less with majestic rationality than primal biology, that they bubble up from within rather than get passed down from on high, and if you recognize that predispositions affect how people perceive, process, and experience the world, you will have learned something valuable….

Democrats Return The Favor: Republicans Uninformed Or Self

The 429 Democratic voters in our sample returned the favor and raised many of the same themes. Democrats inferred that Republicans must be “VERY ill-informed,” or that “Fox news told me to vote for Republicans.”  Or that Republicans are “uneducated and misguided people guided by what the media is feeding them.”

Many also attributed votes to individual self-interest – whereas GOP voters feel Democrats want “free stuff,” many Democrats believe Republicans think that “I got mine and don’t want the libs to take it away,” or that “some day I will be rich and then I can get the benefits that rich people get now.”

Many used the question to express their anger and outrage at the other side.  Rather than really try to take the position of their opponents, they said things like, “I like a dictatorial system of Government, I’m a racist, I hate non-whites.” 

Vaccination Outreach Shifts As Demand Drops In Some States

Some states are hitting a hesitancy wall.

Not all Republican men are so staunchly resistant.

At 70 years old, longtime Georgia state Rep. Tommy Benton said it would be foolish for him and others in his age group to turn down a vaccine. Benton, who doesn’t have underlying health conditions, didn’t want to catch COVID-19 or transmit it to his grandkids or peers, he said.

“It doesn’t matter how healthy you are. At…65 or above, you might end up getting sick with this disease and it’ll be more than your 65-or-above system can handle,” Benton said.

Wyoming state Rep. Daniel Zwonitzer, 41, who lives in the most vaccine-hesitant state in the country, said he took a vaccine for the safety of others, particularly for the older staff, legislators and volunteers in the Wyoming legislature. While Zwonitzer believes in freedom and liberty, he said, he also believes in public health. Zwonitzer does not have any preexisting health conditions, he noted.

He said a few of his Republican colleagues think COVID-19 and vaccines against it are a hoax, but he disagreed, pointing out that one of his fellow Republicans died from the disease.

Some Republican men and health officials cited the politicization of mask-wearing and shutdowns under former President Donald Trump’s administration, and its downplaying of the seriousness of the pandemic, as causes for the vaccine hesitancy among conservatives.

Taking The Perspective Of Others Proved To Be Really Hard

The divide in the United States is wide, and one indication of that is how difficult our question proved for many thoughtful citizens. A 77-year-old Republican woman from Pennsylvania was typical of the voters who struggled with this question, telling us, “This is really hard for me to even try to think like a devilcrat!, I am sorry but I in all honesty cannot answer this question. I cannot even wrap my mind around any reason they would be good for this country.”

Similarly, a 53-year-old Republican from Virginia said, “I honestly cannot even pretend to be a Democrat and try to come up with anything positive at all, but, I guess they would vote Democrat because they are illegal immigrants and they are promised many benefits to voting for that party. Also, just to follow what others are doing. And third would be just because they hate Trump so much.” The picture she paints of the typical Democratic voter being an immigrant, who goes along with their party or simply hates Trump will seem like a strange caricature to most Democratic voters. But her answer seems to lack the animus of many.  

Democrats struggled just as much as Republicans. A 33-year-old woman from California told said, “i really am going to have a hard time doing this” but then offered that Republicans “are morally right as in values, … going to protect us from terrorest and immigrants, … going to create jobs.”

The Republican Party General Policy And Political Values

The Republican Party is often referred to as the GOP. This abbreviation stands for Grand Old Party. Its logo is an elephant. The Republican Party is known to support right-leaning ideologies of conservatism, social conservatism, and economic libertarianism, among other -isms. Thus, Republicans broadly advocate for traditional values, a low degree of government interference, and large support of the private sector.

One main standpoint of the Republican Party platform is a strong focus on the family and individual freedom. Generally, the Republican Party therefore often tends to promote states’ and local rights. That means that they often wish for federal regulations to play a lesser role in policymaking. Furthermore, the GOP has a pro-business-oriented platform. Thus, the party advocates for businesses to exist in a free market instead of being impacted by tight government regulations.

The Democratic Party General Policy And Political Values

The Democratic Party generally represents left-leaning, liberal and progressive ideological values, thus advocating for a strong government to regulate business and support for the citizens of the United States. Thus, one of the key values emphasized by Democrats is social responsibility. Overall, Democrats believe that a prominent and powerful government can ensure welfare and equality for all. Much like the Republican Party, political opinions within the Democratic Party stretch across a wide spectrum, as both parties are, to a large degree, decentralized. However, from a general point of view, Democrats tend to support heavy taxation of high-income households. In comparison to Denmark, where taxes are generally high, the Democratic taxation policy may not seem excessive, but on a U.S. taxation scale these tax percentages are in the heavy end.

  Theres Never Been A Better Time For Civic Engagement

You’ve cast your vote. Now what? Join 10 million other Americans using GovTrack to learn about and contact your representative and senators and track what Congress is doing each day.

And starting in 2019 we’ll be tracking Congress’s oversight investigations of the executive branch.

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Or keep using GovTrack for free! Our public interest mission means we will never put our service behind a paywall.

Govtrackus Is Taking A New Focus On Civic Education

Help us develop the tools to bring real-time legislative data into the classroom.

If you’ve visited a bill page on GovTrack.us recently, you may have noticed a new “study guide” tab located just below the bill title. This is part of a new project to develop better tools for bringing real-time legislative data into the classroom. We hope to enable educators to build lesson plans centered around any bill or vote in Congress, even those as recent as yesterday.

We’re looking for feedback from educators about how GovTrack can be used and improved for your classroom. If you teach United States government and would like to speak with us about bringing legislative data into your classroom, please reach out!

Has Marjorie Taylor Greene Really Left Qanon Behind

Analysis by Alistair Coleman, BBC Monitoring

Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that she stopped believing in the QAnon conspiracy in 2018

However, she continued to allude to ideas pushed by QAnon believers.

In a 2019 video she claimed that then-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was being played by a body double.

The idea stemmed from the macabre conspiracy theory that Ginsburg’s death – which actually did occur, later, in September 2020 – was somehow being covered up.

Odd as it sounds, in feverish QAnon groups where the rumour was born, whispers about imposters and political “body doubles” are fairly common.

In December 2020, she insisted in a now-deleted social media post that the QAnon community was “exposing truth”.

And somewhat prophetically, in a February 2019 video post she called for people to flood the US Capitol building to demonstrate against Democrats. The month before, she “liked” a post saying that it would be quicker to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “with a bullet to the head”.

She refused to address these issues when questioned Friday. Mrs Greene may have left overt support for QAnon behind, but it appears she’s still paying attention to what’s being said in conspiracy-minded groups.

The Philosophy Behind Democratic Economic Policy

Democrats gear their economic policies to benefit low-income and middle-income families. They argue that reducing income inequality is the best way to foster economic growth. Low-income families are more likely to spend any extra money on necessities instead of saving or investing it. That directly increases demand and spurs economic growth. Democrats also support a Keynesian economic theory, which says that the government should spend its way out of a recession.

One dollar spent on increased food stamp benefits generates $1.73 in economic output.??

President Franklin D. Roosevelt first outlined the Economic Bill of Rights in his 1944 State of the Union address. It included taxes on war profiteering and price controls on food costs. President Harry Truman’s 1949 Fair Deal proposed an increase in the minimum wage, civil rights legislation, and national health care. President Barack Obama expanded Medicaid with the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The Philosophy Behind Republican Economic Policy

Republicans advocate supply-side economics that primarily benefits businesses and investors. This theory states that tax cuts on businesses allow them to hire more workers, in turn increasing demand and growth. In theory, the increased revenue from a stronger economy offsets the initial revenue loss over time.

Republicans advocate the right to pursue prosperity without government interference. They argue this is achieved by self-discipline, enterprise, saving, and investing.

Republicans’ business-friendly approach leads most people to believe that they are better for the economy. A closer look reveals that Democrats are, in many respects, actually better.

% Of Republicans View Trump As True Us President

Reuters

A combination picture shows U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaking during the first 2020 presidential campaign debate, held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., September 29, 2020. Picture taken September 29, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

WASHINGTON, May 24 – A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

The May 17-19 national poll found that 53% of Republicans believe Trump, their party’s nominee, is the “true president” now, compared to 3% of Democrats and 25% of all Americans.

About one-quarter of adults believe the Nov. 3 election was tainted by illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans, according to the poll. The figures were roughly the same in a poll that ran from Nov. 13-17 which found that 28% of all Americans and 59% of Republicans felt that way.

A Democrat, Biden won by more than seven million votes. Dozens of courts rejected Trump’s challenges to the results, but Trump and his supporters have persisted in pushing baseless conspiracy theories on conservative news outlets.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 61% of Republicans believe the election was “stolen” from Trump. Only about 29% of Republicans believe he should share some of the blame for his supporters’ Jan. 6 deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Voter Registration And State Political Control

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

The state Democratic or Republican Party controls the governorship, the state legislative houses, and U.S. Senate representation. Nebraska’s legislature is unicameral, i.e., it has only one legislative house and is officially non-partisan, though party affiliation still has an unofficial influence on the legislative process.

The simplest measure of party strength in a state voting population is the affiliation totals from voter registration for the 30 states and the District of Columbia as of 2019 that allow registered voters to indicate a party preference when registering to vote. 20 states do not include party preference with voter registration: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The party affiliations in the party control table are obtained from state party registration figures where indicated. Only Wyoming has a majority of registered voters identifying themselves as Republicans; two states have a majority of registered voters identifying themselves as Democrats: Maryland and Kentucky .

The Party Thats Actually Best For The Economy

Many analyses look at which party is best for the economy. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Democratic presidents since World War II have performed much better than Republicans. On average, Democratic presidents grew the economy 4.4% each year versus 2.5% for Republicans.

A study by Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson found that the economy performs better when the president is a Democrat. They report that “by many measures, the performance gap is startlingly large.” Between Truman and Obama, growth was 1.8% higher under Democrats than Republicans.

A Hudson Institute study found that the six years with the best growth were evenly split between Republican and Democrat presidents.

Most of these evaluations measure growth during the president’s term in office. But no president has control over the growth added during his first year. The budget for that fiscal year was already set by the previous president, so you should compare the gross domestic product at the end of the president’s last budget to the end of his predecessor’s last budget.

For Obama, that would be the fiscal year from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2018. That’s FY 2010 through FY 2017. During that time, GDP increased from $15.6 trillion to $17.7 trillion, or by 14%. That’s 1.7% a year.

The chart below ranks the presidents since 1929 on the average annual increase in GDP.

President

1.4%

A president would have better growth if he had no recession.

Contrast With Color Usage In Other Countries

The recent association of colors in American politics lies contrary to the long-standing conventions of political color in most other countries whereby red symbols ” rel=”nofollow”>red flag or red star) are associated with left-wing politics. Indeed, as late as the 1990s, Democrats were often represented by red and Republicans by blue. According to The Washington Post, journalist Tim Russert coined these terms during his televised coverage of the 2000 presidential election. The 2000 election was not the first during which the news media used colored maps to depict voter preferences in the various states, but it was the first time a standard color scheme took hold. In previous elections, the color assignments or even the actual colors used were often different.

[decordwertge1976]

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The new politics of bluelining

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-new-politics-of-bluelining/

The new politics of bluelining

By David F. Damore, Robert E. Lang, Karen Danielsen For generations, redlining was used to designate neighborhoods—typically in urban areas with high concentrations of minority residents—as places banks should avoid offering home mortgages. The term originates from Federal Housing Administration maps developed in the 1930s where “red” labeled high-risk lending zones. To be “redlined” meant that households were structurally denied home loans and lost the opportunity to build wealth. Today, based on analysis in our book Blue Metros, Red States: The Shifting Urban-Rural Divide in America’s Swing States, a new type of discriminatory line is forming at the regional rather than neighborhood level. We label these “bluelines” to delineate the demographic, economic, geographic, and political divisions between blue, Democratic-leaning, million-plus metropolitan areas from the rest of their more Republican-dominated red states. In addition to considering how the twenty-seven metros in the thirteen swing states covered in our book affect electoral outcomes, we show how tensions between big metros and the balance of their states animate intrastate political and policy conflicts between the two. Examples of bluelining highlighted in our book include the Georgia “fetal heartbeat” and North Carolina “bathroom” laws, which were imposed by state legislatures on metros such as Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh. These bills damaged industries in both states—film and television production in Georgia and pharmaceutics in North Carolina—and demonstrate how gerrymandering of legislative districts that overrepresent rural constituencies at the expense of urban interests distort policy agendas. Other forms of bluelining we identify are limited home rule authority[1] and aggressive state preemption[2] that constrain metros’ capacities to chart their own courses, as well as the siphoning of tax revenue generated in million-plus metros to support government services elsewhere. Also note that because many major metros constitute large shares of their state populations, millions of Republicans living in such places are subject to bluelining and its negative impact on metro constituencies. Pennsylvania, which prognosticators expect could be the “tipping point” state that will provide either Donald Trump or Joe Biden with a majority of Electoral College votes, exemplifies the politics of bluelining. In fact, the Keystone State’s blueline is so well established that it is featured on a tee shirt depicting to “Make Pennsylvania Great Again” by “Build[ing] a Wall” around metro Philly. Philadelphia’s “otherness” relative to the rest of Pennsylvania is not just a consequence of the density and diversity that underlies its strong Democratic voting, but also stems from its socio-cultural connection to the liberal Northeast Corridor that runs along the Eastern Seaboard from Boston to Washington. Consequently, Philadelphia’s politics more closely align with Mid-Atlantic states such as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. Without Philadelphia, Pennsylvania would be a red state, rather than a swing states. By contrast, central and western Pennsylvania are demographically and culturally similar to the Midwest. Consider that Pittsburgh is one of the largest Republican-leaning metropolitan areas in the country. In 2012, Mitt Romney carried it by two points. Four years later, Donald Trump’s 59,000 vote advantage in the region exceeded his statewide margin of victory. The demographic, political, and cultural differences between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are at odds with the long-held notion that Pennsylvania’s two major metros differ from its rural central section, what is known pejoratively as “Pennsyltucky” (a portmanteau of Pennsylvania and Kentucky) or what James Carville once described as “Alabama without the Blacks.” Rather, the state’s politics are now being shaped by an emerging east/west division. The 2019 county elections are indicative of these shifting dynamics. The Democrats won all seats on the Delaware County Commission in suburban Philadelphia for the first time since the Civil War. The party also gained commission majorities in Bucks and Chester, two other Philadelphia metro collar counties. Just recently, The Morning Call ran a story with the headline: “Disgusted voters in Philadelphia suburbs could help Biden offset Trump’s gains in Pennsylvania.” Meanwhile, in 2019, Republicans in western Pennsylvania won a majority of seats on the Washington County commission for the first time in decades. More generally, the shifts occurring in Pennsylvania are consistent with our book’s thesis that the denser and more diverse the locality and the more proximate a place is to the metropolitan center, the greater the Democratic support. While these effects are more apparent in the Sun Belt’s fast-growing and urbanizing suburbs, they can also be seen in the Northeast Corridor. For instance, Census data analyzed by Brookings demographer William Frey shows that between 2000 and 2019, metro Philadelphia, which encompasses parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland, grew by more than 130,000 people even as the number of whites decreased by more than 150,000. Conversely, Frey finds that metro Pittsburgh shrunk by roughly 40,000 residents and its white population decreased by over 80,000. Even as Philadelphia grows, the institutional structures in Pennsylvania limit the city’s ability to control its own destiny. Pennsylvania has one of the lowest local government autonomy rankings in the country. Pennsylvania’s state government has preempted local authority in a number of policy areas including gun safety, minimum wage, ride sharing, and broadband. Philadelphia’s ability to develop and implement a metro-scale policy agenda is hindered by the region’s municipal fragmentation, which disperses power across more than two hundred local governments, each with its own constituencies and interests. Moreover, during the 2011 legislative sessions, Republicans used their unified control of state government to aggressively gerrymander Pennsylvania’s U.S. House and state legislative districts, provoking legal challenges to both sets of maps. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the U.S. House maps unconstitutional and ordered new maps drawn, the Democrats gained one seat in the state’s congressional delegation in the 2018 midterm elections. Still, despite these and other obstacles, metro Philadelphia—and most other million-plus metros—continue to succeed in the face of bluelineing. Imagine how much more could be achieved if these metros did not have to fight so many red state roadblocks. Robert Lang is the Lincy Endowed Chair in Urban Affairs at UNLV’s Greenspun College of Urban Affairs. He is also the Executive Director of Brookings Mountain West and The Lincy Institute. David Damore is a Professor and Chair in Political Science at UNLV. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Karen Danielsen is an Associate Professor in Public Policy and Leadership at UNLV. Their new book Blue Metros, Red States is available from the Brookings Institution Press.

[1] Home rule establishes the level of authority that is afforded to local governments by either a state’s constitution or in statute. [2] Preemption occurs when state governments pass laws that eliminate local control over a particular policy area. A recent analysis by the National League of Cities reports an increase in preemption, particularly in states where Republicans control both chambers of the statehouse and the governorship.