Deficit?  What Deficit?

Roll Call is a newspaper and website published in Washington D C, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill.

Roll Call reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a new incentive for Medicaid providers to talk with patients about owning a gun.  CMS is allowing Medicaid funds to be dispensed when those queries are made. 

Why would doctors need funding to ask these questions? After all, asking a patient if they own a gun doesn't cost anything. Because, by opening up the Medicaid money spigot, the Biden administration is incentivizing healthcare professionals to ask these types of invasive questions. 

A CMS spokesperson said that while Medicaid first began allowing coverage of violence prevention-related services in 2021, the latest announcement clarifies that the coverage also includes “anticipatory guidance,” or health education and counseling to help parents and caregivers understand and improve the health and development of their children. 

“As a result, states may reimburse for a health care provider counseling parents on firearm safety and injury prevention,” the CMS spokesperson said. 

Of course, gun grabbers hope the conversations about guns will become routine. 

“The hope is that this normalizes this question as part of routine medical care,” said Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon and firearm injury prevention researcher at Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York. “When you start funding things, that is the huge incentive for hospitals and providers to integrate this into usual routine medical care, and it provides a revenue stream for that.”

Isn’t there a federal deficit problem?  Something like an accumulated deficit of $36 trillion…and growing.  The gun grabbing Left considers that deficit as only collateral damage in their war on gun rights.

Remember this the next time N Y State complains about the growing cost of Medicaid.

When is Lethal Self-Defense Justified?

You are probably familiar with the Daniel Penny trial over Penny killing an assailant on a NY City subway. 

A schizophrenic on drugs and a career violent criminal with over 40 arrests, boarded a New York City subway train and threatened passengers. Penny took Neely to the floor with the assistance of two other passengers and applied a chokehold for several minutes until the police arrived.  The assailant died.

At trial, one charge against Penney was dismissed and he was found innocent on another.

Penny was an example of a ‘Good Samaritan’ who risked his own life to protect others.  (That’s usually called self-defense but not in a Soros’ DA’s district.)  Had Penny been convicted, it would have caused future “Good Samaritans” to reconsider getting involved.

It was also another example of a George Soros funded DA – Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg - who has a very skewed view of the law in which he believes assailants should not suffer harm when they are assaulting people.

There was another recent case that probably did not get your attention.

In 2016, Jairo Castillo shot and killed an assailant who had confronted him with a razor blade over a drug dispute. The assailant held a razor blade against Castillo's face while threatening to cut him “from ear to ear."

In 2019, Castillo was convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and criminal possession of a weapon.  He appealed the decision.

A mid-level appeals court heard Castillo's case and disagreed with his self-defense claims, noting that Castillo began firing his gun after the assailant had turned around to leave the salon where the dispute took place. That court said there was "no reasonable view of the evidence" to suggest that Castillo was justified "in firing four additional shots into the victim's back" after he had turned around, even if the initial gunshots had been justified.

On November 21st, New York's top appeals court (The Court of Appeals) overturned the conviction of Castillo.  The court vacated Castillo's second-degree murder conviction and criminal possession of a weapon.

The Court of Appeals said in its ruling that the trial court should have allowed Castillo to argue he was acting in self-defense.  It clarified that defensive, lethal force can, in some circumstances, be used against an aggressor even if the aggressor begins to turn away. The court said that even though the assailant began to leave, "it would not be unreasonable for defendant to believe [he] continued to pose a threat."

Bragg is infamous for favoring criminal rights over victim rights.

In 2022, Bragg charged a Harlem bodega employee, Jose Alba, with second-degree murder for fatally stabbing a customer who had begun to assault Alba.

On July 1st, an assailant, who was younger and bigger than the 61 years old Alba, attacked Mr. Alba behind the counter of the Bodega where Alba worked.  Alba picked up a kitchen knife that was stashed behind the counter and stabbed the assailant in the neck and chest at least five times.

Alba was arrested by police on July 2nd and charged with one count of second-degree murder. 

Alba was held in Rikers Island for several days before being released on $50,000 bond, partially secured by the owners of the bodega where Alba worked.

Bragg ultimately dropped the charges against Alba, probably because the incident created a media and political firestorm.  Even Democrat NY City Mayor Eric Adams spoke out against Bragg.

The first lesson is to be careful of what district in which you practice self-defense.  Be sure to check out the local D A’s reputation before you defend yourself or others.  (Sarcasm intended.)

The second lesson is that, even in New York State, you may find judges that use good judgement when interpreting self-defense lawsuits.

The third lesson is that political animals like Alvin Bragg, who only view the law as a means to their political ends, do succumb to political and citizen pressure if enough is applied against them.

The fourth lesson is that it is better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6.

A Rose By Any Other Name

We should be excited that the Left has given up on “Gun Control”

We should be excited…but we aren’t.

The term “Gun Control” has simply been replaced by:

• Gun Reform
• Gun Safety
• Gun Violence Prevention

A Rose by any other name is still a Rose.  Or in this case, a Turd by any other name…

Unfortunately, the Left continues to be less interested in preventing violent crime than they are in banning lawfully and constitutionally owned firearms.  So, SCOPE and you, the 2nd Amendment defenders, are not going anywhere.  The battle for our constitutionally protected rights continues.

2A After January 20th

There are high expectations for Donald Trump in the area of the 2nd Amendment. 

Schuyler County SCOPE publishes a monthly legal update and the following are some of its articles concerning Mr. Trump and 2nd Amendment priorities as well as a brief history of incoming Sen Majority Leader John Thune.

What Donald Trump's 'Concealed Carry Reciprocity' Means for Gun Rights

Donald Trump promised to sign "concealed carry reciprocity" legislation if he won a second term in office. The policy would allow gun owners with a concealed carry permit from one state to legally carry their weapons in other states.

Every state in the U.S. permits some form of concealed carry, but the regulations can vary widely. Some states do not require a permit to carry concealed weapons, while others demand permits, stipulating certain conditions. States such as California and New York have particularly strict requirements.

Trump spelled out his intention to change the law in a 2023 speech, stating: "I will protect the right of self-defense everywhere it is under siege. And I will sign concealed carry reciprocity. Your second amendment does not end at the state line."

Trump has long campaigned on a pro-gun platform and all three times he has run for president he has received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA) firearms rights lobby group.

Democrats and groups that advocate for gun control have long opposed "concealed carry reciprocity."

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-concealed-carry-reciprocity-1983740

The Four Federal Gun Violence Prevention Efforts Trump Could Dismantle

Here’s a look at the Biden-era policies most likely to be on the chopping block:

Sacking ATF Director Steve Dettelbach

Closing the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

The Safer Communities Act’s Gun dealers & background checks and funding for gun violence prevention 

Biden’s executive orders

https://www.thetrace.org/2024/11/trump-gun-violence-policy-biden-election/

Incoming president likely to make more than 100 judicial appointments

The next president will appoint more than 100 federal judges to the bench, providing an opportunity to mold the federal judiciary towards his or her liking.  As of Election Day, there were six vacancies on the high-profile federal circuit courts, and 61 district court vacancies waiting to be filled.

According to recent history, a new president on average has between 200 and 250 Article III judicial appointments during the course of four years in office.

Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, estimates that there could be 37 circuit court judges eligible for senior status and 80 district court appointments when the new president is sworn in on Inauguration Day.

 A Republican staffer said at this point in the Trump administration, 218 Article III judges had been appointed. “We confirmed a total of 234 Article III nominees during the entire Trump administration,” the staffer told The Washington Times. “To date under the Biden administration, we have confirmed 213 Article III judges.”

There are five pending circuit court nominees and 25 pending district court nominees that Mr. Biden has made, “with several unlikely to be confirmed before the end of the Congress,” the staffer noted.

Judicial appointments have become part of the election debate. In the 2016 presidential race, Mr. Trump was credited with winning over conservative voters by releasing a list of his intended judicial candidates.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/nov/5/incoming-president-likely-make-100 judicial-appoin/

Where John Thune Stands on Gun Control and the Second Amendment

John Thune will be the Senate Majority Leader starting in January and, as such, he will be the most powerful person in the U S Senate.

Moving up to the Senate in 2005 after six years as a Congressman, Thune has supported key gun rights legislation while in office. He co-sponsored the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005, which protects the American firearms industry from frivolous "lawfare" lawsuits, and has repeatedly attempted to move the needle on nationwide concealed carry reciprocity.

He's also butted heads with the ATF and IRS for a decade on topics ranging from banning common ammunition types to questioning unfair tax audits of licensed gun dealers.

Thune is currently a co-sponsor in the Senate of the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act in the 118th Congress. However, he is not a co-sponsor of pro-suppressor legislation such as the SHUSH Act or the Hearing Protection Act.

https://www.guns.com/news/2024/11/14/where-john-thune-stands-on-gun-control-and-the-second-amendment

Thanksgiving Day

We won the lottery when we were born in the United States of America.  We enjoy freedoms and rights and opportunities that no one else in history has enjoyed.

It’s more than appropriate that Americans have a day to say thanks for that win.

The Bible talks about birthrights and Thomas Jefferson described our birthright as Americans – “all men…are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”. Those rights are embodied in our Constitution. They are our birthright.

Jefferson went further when he wrote: “…to secure these rights, governments are instituted…”  In other words, the government’s job is to protect our rights.

Then, to top it off, Jefferson wrote that governments secure “their just powers from the consent of the governed”.  From the consent of “we the people.”

Our country thrived because our Constitution reflected those words and we practiced them– as private citizens and public officials. 

No country has done more for the world than America. 

I read a story written by a man who, as a boy, was in a Nazi concentration camp.  As the war neared its end, the prisoners were afraid they would be executed and when they were loaded in a boxcar, there was terror.  The boy’s father was watching through a gap in the walls and when he saw a group of armed soldiers coming, panic ensued.  But he changed everything when he said, “It’s the Americans”. 

That perfectly sums up what being an American has meant to the world.  No three words – other than “He is risen” - have meant as much to so many as, “It’s the Americans”.

We in SCOPE believe in the Constitution as it was written. 

We believe in all the rights protected by that constitution - not just in the right to keep and bear arms

We believe the Constitution limits government in order to protect our rights.

Some tell us that our Constitution needs to be reimagined and America needs to be “transformed”.

We disagree.

As President Ronald Reagan said, our system of capitalism, free market and  private property works.  That America is a shining city on a hill and the last best hope of mankind. 

Before we meet, SCOPE members say the Pledge of Allegiance.  Its words have meaning and we unashamedly say under God.  But we should not forget the next word – indivisible.     We believe in a United States not split apart by class warfare.          We believe in uniting not dividing and that “We the people” are the true governors of our nation.

Our founders gave us the structure that made the United States the greatest country in the history of the world - if we can keep it.  It’s our duty to preserve our Constitution against all enemies–foreign and domestic.

On Thursday, we should give thanks for all that has been given to us and all the opportunities that “It’s the Americans” have to accomplish in the future.

Don’t Mess With Republican Women

Per a Gallup poll: 

The number of Republican women who own guns has jumped.

 From 2007-2012, 19 percent of Republican women owned guns, now 33 percent of Republican women do.

Only 29 percent of Democrat men own a weapon.
More Republican women own guns than do Democrat men!
Six out of ten Republican men own guns, making them the dominate political demographic among gun owners.
43 percent of all men and 20 percent of all women are “likely to own guns.”
Contrary to what citizens are demonstrating, Democrat lawmakers in Albany, Washington D C, and the capitols of blue states want to do away with civilian ownership of guns.

Post Election News In 2016, Hollywood elites who vowed they would flee the country if former President Donald Trump won the election and returned to the White House included Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, George Lopez, Miley Cyrus, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Amy Schumer, and Lena Dunham. Even Barbra Streisand vowed to move to Australia or Canada. None of them made good on their promises. They are getting a second chance. A man who is apparently unhappy about President-elect Donald Trump’s victory said he is leaving America and relocating to Hawaii.  __________________________ First they came for my AR15 Then they came for my gas powered car Then they came for my kitchen appliances When they came for my pet squirrel, there was no one left to help. __________________________ Some leftist women are shaving their heads in protest of Donald Trump’s victory.  These women claim to be shaving their heads in protest of the “patriarchy.”  In one video, a woman said: “F*** coloring our hair. F*** having my hair be long and luxurious. F*** all that s***. F*** being skinny. F*** being hot. F*** being all the things that the patriarchy wants us to be.” She concluded by informing men that she will not be speaking to them. This is believed to be that ‘‘woman”:

I feel bad for parents nowadays. You have to be able to explain the birds & the bees …The bees & the bees … The birds & the birds … The birds that used to be bees … The bees that used to be birds … The birds that look like bees … Plus bees that look like birds but still got a stinger!!! …” ___________________ Joe Biden makes post-election comments after being forced to withdraw from the race in Favor of Kamala Harris..

_____________________ Washington State is on the left coast, yet Washington State voters just passed a voter initiative effectively banning natural gas bans.  (They okayed banning bans.) _____________________ In June, Governor Hochul paused Manhattan’s “congestion pricing tolls”, citing high inflation and vacancy rates in Manhattan office buildings.  Less gullible believed this issue would hurt the Democrats’ chances in November’s election.  (Congestion pricing is unpopular with voters who dislike taxes.  Duh!) The toll, in June, was $15. After the election, Hochul announced the initiative will now go into effect on January 5th. Drivers entering south of 60th Street will be forced to pay $9. Hochul is portraying this as a 40% tax cut. A toll going from $0 to $9 is a tax cut. But there is also an ‘oops’ moment.  This initiative requires approval from the federal government.  Biden is okay with it but Trump has vowed to end the tolls when he takes office. ______________________ The Pennsylvania Senate race was called for Republican Dave McCormick, who currently holds a 26,000 votes lead.  Being within one percentage point triggered an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law. Incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey has insisted that ‘’every vote” be counted. And he wasn’t joking about ‘every vote.’ Before the election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mail ballots lacking formally required signatures or dates should not be included in official results. Democratic officials in Philadelphia and surrounding Bucks, Centre and Montgomery counties are ignoring that court order to disqualify these ballots.  Democrat Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said, "I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,"  She is admitting to committing voter fraud by citing (‘without evidence’ - as leftist media likes to say) that court orders are no longer mandatory, if you don’t like them. __________________ Washington Redskins’ owner Edward Bennett Williams said about his head coach George Allen: “I gave him an unlimited budget and he overspent it.” Kamal Harris’ campaign raised an historic $1 billion…and she overspent it! __________________ Colorado voters rejected Proposition 127, which sought to ban hunting mountain lions and bobcats. The measure ignored the fact that populations of lions and bobcats are thriving, and hunting is carefully managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.  The sweeping language used in this initiative could have been expanded in the future to ban the hunting of other game animals like deer, elk, and sheep. This is the first time since 1992 that Colorado voters have rejected a wildlife ballot proposal. Fortunately, pro-hunting forces were well organized and able to effectively message about Proposition 127 to the Colorado Electorate. This explains one reason why SCOPE and other 2A defense organizations exist.

The 1^st Amendment Is Back In Style!

The 1st and 2ndAmendments are tied together and the elite on the left need to destroy both to achieve their goals.  Without free speech, you might not know that your 2nd Amendment rights are being threatened.  And the 2nd Amendment protects all the other rights.

Donald Trump made a speech about our 1st Amendment rights and how he would be defending them, but you may not have heard about it. Thanks to our friend Tom Shepstone at Energy Security and Freedom we were alerted about it.

In trying to get a date when the speech was made, I searched “Trump speech on the 1st Amendment” on line and the first 6 pages of results never mentioned it and, further, all but one of the links had Trump as anti-free speech or abusing the 1st Amendment.  (I stopped searching after 6 pages.)  This further demonstrates why Trump’s actions to defend free speech are necessary.  Censorship is alive and well – for now.

However, I did find that on November 11th, the Washington Times started an article about the speech by writing: President-elect Donald Trump isn’t messing around. His first major policy statement since his landslide victory outlines his plan to restore free speech.

We can hope that Trump takes as aggressive a line on defending the 2nd Amendment as he is on defending the 1st Amendment.

Below are highlights of the speech and a link to the actual speech is at the end.

“If we don’t have Free Speech, then we just don’t have a Free Country. It’s as simple as that. If this most fundamental right is allowed to perish, then the rest of our rights and liberties will topple just like dominos one by one. They’ll go down.”

“FIRST, within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person, to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens. I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as “mis-” or “dis-information”.

“And I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship, directly or indirectly, whether they are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are.”

“SECOND, I will order the Department of Justice to investigate all parties involved in the new online censorship regime…”

“These include possible violations of federal civil rights law, campaign finance laws, federal election law, securities law, and anti-trust laws, the Hatch Act and a host of other potential criminal, civil, regulatory, and constitutional offenses.”

“THIRD, from now on, digital platforms should only qualify for immunity protection under Section 230 if they meet high standards of neutrality, transparency, fairness, and non-discrimination.”

“FOURTH, we need to break up the entire toxic censorship industry that has arisen under the false guise of tackling so-called “mis-” and “dis-information.” The federal government should immediately stop funding all non-profits and academic programs that support this authoritarian project. If any U.S. university is discovered to have engaged in censorship activities or election interferences in the past, such as flagging social media content for removal and blacklisting, those universities should lose federal research dollars and federal student loan support for a period of five years, and maybe more.”

“There will be criminal penalties for any federal bureaucrat found to interfere with elections by depriving Americans of information:”

“We should also enact new laws laying out clear criminal penalties for federal bureaucrats who partner with private entities to do an end-run around the Constitution and deprive Americans of their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights. In other words, deprive them of their vote. And once you lose those elections and once you lose your borders like we have, you no longer have a country.”

“Furthermore, to confront the problems of major platforms being infiltrated by legions of former Deep Staters and intelligence officials, there should be a 7-year cooling-off period before any employee of the FBI, CIA, NSA, DNI, DHS, or DOD is allowed to take a job at a company possessing vast quantities of U.S. user data.”

“FIFTH, the time has finally come for Congress to pass a digital Bill of Rights. This should include a right to digital due process, in other words, government officials should need a COURT ORDER to take down online content, not send information requests such as the FBI was sending to Twitter. Furthermore, when users of big online platforms have their content or accounts removed, throttled, shadow-banned, or otherwise restricted no matter what name they use, they should have the right to be informed that it’s happening, the right to a specific explanation of the reason why, and the right to a timely appeal. In addition, all users over the age of 18 should have the right to opt-out of content moderation and curation entirely, and receive an unmanipulated stream of information if they so choose.”

“The fight for Free Speech is a matter of victory or death for America and for the survival of Western Civilization itself. When I am President, this whole rotten system of censorship and information control will be ripped out of the system at large. There won’t be anything left. By restoring free speech, we will begin to reclaim our democracy, and save our nation.”

New York State Congressional Results

SCOPE published its rating for Congressional candidates (including ratings by Gunowners of America, National Shooting Sports Foundation and the NRA.)  Below are those ratings for the winning candidates.

R=Republican          C=Conservative       L=Libertarian           D=Democrat           

WF=Working Families       CS=Common Sense

*  Incumbent                                    District Descriptions per Ballotopedia

Blank or ?  =  Insufficient information to rate

                                                            SCOPE  GOA  NSSF  NRA

District 1  (Likely / Lean Republican)                                                         

Nicholas Lalota* (R C)                   A            B+       A-        A

 

District 2  (Solid / Safe Republican)

Andrew Garbarino* (R C)              B            B            B           B+

District 3    (Likely Democrat)

Tom Suozzi*            (D CS)             F            F           F             F

 

District 4  (Toss Up)

Laura Gillen                 (D CS)          F                                          F

 

District 5 (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Gregory Meeks* (D)                       F            F            F            F

 

District 6  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)                                     

Grace Meng*      (D  )                      F            F            F           F

 

District 7 (Solid / Safe  Democrat)                                      

Nydia Velazquez* (D WF)             F            F            F            F

 

District 8  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Hakeem Jeffries* ( D )                   F            F            F            F

 

District 9   (Solid / Safe  Democrat) 

Yvette Clarke*             (D   )            F            F            F            F

 

District 10  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Daniel Goldman*            (D)           F            F            F            F

 

District 11 (Solid / Safe Republican)

Nicole Malliotakis* (R C)              B-         D           C+         B

 

District 12  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Jerrold Nadler*       (D WF)            F            F            F            F

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

District 13  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Adriano Espaillat*  (D   )                F         F              F            F

 

District 14  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Alex’a Ocasio-Cortez* (D WF)     F            F            F            F

 

District 15 (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Ritchie Torres*  (D  )                      F            F          F            F

                                                           

District 16  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

George Latimer  (D)                       F                                          F

 

District 17 (Toss Up)

Michael Lawler*  (R C)                   B                          B            B

 

District 18  (lean Democrat)

Patrick Ryan*      (D WF)                F            F            F            F

 

District 19    (Toss Up / Tilt Republican)                                                    

Josh Riley                 (D WF)            F                                          F

 

District 20  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)                                              

Paul Tonko*   (D WF)                      F              F                         F           

 

District 21 (Solid / Safe Republican)

Elise Stefanik*  (R C)                     A              B+      A+         A+

 

District 22   (Lean / Tilt Democrat)

John Mannion        (D WF)            F                                        F

 

District 23 (Solid / Safe Republican)

Nick Langworthy*  (R C)               B           A-        A+        A

 

District 24  (Solid / Safe Republican)

Claudia Tenney          (R C)              A        A-        A+          A+

 

District 25  (Solid / Safe  Democrat)                                              

Joseph Morelle* (D WF)                   F           F            F         F

 

District 26   (Solid / Safe  Democrat)

Timothy Kennedy*   (D WF)            F                                         F  

The Last Best Hope

Ronald Reagen spoke of the USA as the “last best hope of mankind” and most of us agree.  But in retrospect, that is a bit egotistical of us.  Great nations have come and gone throughout history and been replaced by other great nations.

But what if we are correct that we are the “last best hope of mankind?”  That’s a big responsibility!

If so, don’t we have a duty to fulfill that God given responsibility?

The ‘elite’ left want to lord over us and force their radical agenda on us – an agenda that would destroy the ‘last best hope of mankind.’  They spent billions and we nullified it all by voting!  ($2 billion was raised by Kamala Harris’ campaign and they still went in debt.)  We fulfilled one aspect of our duty to preserve the USA when we voted.

On election day, we dodged a bullet.  And because of that, we will be able to buy bullets for the next four years - and gas-powered cars and have electricity on a regular basis.

Some may view our work as done but, in fact, it is only beginning.

If you believe the left is going to reconsider their radical positions in light of their loss at the ballot box – think again.  The left is not blaming their extreme positions for their loss.  They are still tossing around words like; Hitler; fascism; end of democracy; patriarchy, racist, sexist, etc.

And they have added new divisions to our country.

We knew that we were considered racist misogynist, sexist, white supremacists out to end democracy, etc.  But who knew that we are now joined by black men who are now also sexists and latino men are now both racists and sexists when they voted for Trump?  (Luckily for those on the left, if you voted for Harris because she is either a woman or black, that is not considered racism or sexism by the Democrats.)

Democrat elites believe that it was racism and sexism that led to their defeat and not their failed policies on immigration, national debt, crime, the economy, gender and the 2nd Amendment (to name just a few).

Because they know this, several Democrat state governors, including the ‘beloved’ Kathy Hochul, have pledged to interfere with the efforts of Trump and the new Congress, even though 75 million Americans voted for Trump, including   3 ½ million New Yorkers.  Expect that these governors of deep blue states will double down on their policies on guns and the environment in order to protect us from our voting habits.

And in the first bid to be the Democrats’ 2028 candidate for President, California Governor Newsome posted on ‘X’: “I just called an emergency special session to help bolster our legal resources and protect our state against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump Administration…Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked.”

No lessons learned from the election about dividing the country leading to losses in elections.  Nope.  Like a losing gambler, they are doubling down on dividing the country!

And in a race to the bottom, Kathy Hochul announced her administration was creating an "Empire State Freedom Initiative" to resist any “threats” from Washington to abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, gun safety, immigration and other areas. (But in typical fashion, Hochul also said she welcomed all federal funding.)

Note the change in labeling her efforts against 2A as ‘gun safety’ and not ‘gun control.’  A Rose by any other name…Or in this case a Poison Ivy by any other name...

"New York will remain a bastion for freedom and rule of law," Hochul said at a press conference in Manhattan. 

“New York is a bastion for freedom and the rule of law” and a Big Mac is health food!

Hochul has strange ideas about the meaning of freedom when it comes to our Second Amendment rights.  Her reaction to the rule-of-law Bruen decision was not compliance but defiance.

We now have a new mandate to change the direction.  So, buckle up and work with SCOPE because the leadership on the left will be overtly and covertly resisting in every way they can - and the rule-of-law is no impediment to them.