I’m not proud to say this, but I’ve had a front-row seat to the decline and fall of a once-great state. Vermont, the home of Calvin Coolidge – my favorite president – has fallen on hard times. Rights are no longer natural but given and taken by men with partisan interests.
Related: Democrat Rule Will Do that: Vermont Has Its Highest Homicide Rate in Three Decades
It started in cities like Burlington. A hippie enclave that grew up but kept the sour scent and unwashed politics of the Left. It has embraced most, if not all, of the characteristics that lead to Democrat-run urban decline, but given the sliver of a place that Vermont is, where Burlington goes, the rest will follow.
Crime is up, and policing is down. Non-citizens with little reason to protect American Exceptionalism or Vermont’s roots are allowed to vote in Burlington’s municipal elections. It is illegal to prosecute sex crimes there, so prostitution and human trafficking can’t help but grow out of control. And then there’s the second amendment.
Despite its hippie enclave history, Vermont clung to its embrace of constitutional carry as a right from birth well into the 21st century, but now it is an excuse. Progressive policies that exacerbate criminality are blamed on firearms, and with that comes legislation to restrict your natural rights.
- Vermont Legislature Uses Parkland To Go After Guns
- Vermont Goes Left On Guns – Is New Hampshire getting Jealous?
- Vermont Democrats Keep Coming for Your Guns. House Passes 30-Day Waiting Period, and Gun Ban in Hospitals.
- Gun Sense Vermont Doesn’t Waste Time Coming after Your Firearms
The latest attack is coming from the new anti-gun Democrat majority legislature.
Since 1988 Burlington and Montpelier voters have proposed to create their own gun control ordinances. Because of the Dillon Rule, city charter changes have to be approved by the General Assembly. All attempts to bypass the law proscribing local gun control measures have been pigeonholed.
The renewed interest in enacting local gun control measures has shifted from getting city charter exemptions to town by town action, notably in Woodstock. Michael Bloomberg-funded Gun Sense Vermont is launching a campaign to repeal the Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights in the name of local implementation of “meaningful steps to prevent gun violence.” Perhaps by licensing or prohibiting all guns in the town?
A town-by-town patchwork of gun restrictions could have a significant effect on tourism. Anyone who carries, including hunters, might skip Vermont to avoid reckless prosecution in one of the dozens of towns where an otherwise law-abiding citizen might travel. And that’s the point. The goal is a statewide ban, but to get there from here, the Democrats presume a municipal right before a personal one until the ensuing chaos creates a call for broader intervention.
You get the densely populated liberal-controlled cities to embrace their anything but “common sense” gun laws and then, either by referendum or public pressure, expand it statewide a few years later. And at no point will the rising crime in these Liberal Ghettoes be attributed to restricting the right to self-defense.
The poster child for this is Chicago. It has more anti-gun laws and more gun crime. Common Sense Chicago has had over 4700 shootings in 2022, of which 638 ended in death. The Windy City is on pace to hit 725 gun deaths in 2022. Add the property crime, assaults, carjackings, and other criminal acts, and Burlington and the progs running the Vermont General Assembly can see where their gun-grabbing leads.
This decline is echoed in every Democrat-Run Urban area.
While Vermont will never have that level of criminality, neither will it enjoy the peace and security that has dominated its history. And guess what, if we’re not careful, New Hampshire is next.
HT | True North Reports