I clicked over to the NRA-ILA’s helpful “Know Your State’s Gun Laws” widget this morning. I discovered that Texas’ concealed carry reciprocity map more-or-less mirrors the electoral geography that delivered unto us Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. Which tells me that gun rights are, indeed, the canary in the coal mine. Where they are respected, conservative values hold sway. Where they are degraded and destroyed, the Nanny State reigns supreme.
If all goes according to plan, the Republican-controlled Congress will start to reverse the curse that led to the Federal Firearms Act, the Gun Control Act, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. But will this gun rights restoration survive first contact with the enemy? Equally, what are the long-term prospects for firearms freedom? Not to put too fine a point on it, which of the two Americas will prevail?