Voters sent an overwhelming message on Nov. 5: they want the country to move in a new direction. The biggest change came at the top of the ticket with President-elect Donald Trump defeating sitting Vice President Kamala Harris by taking the popular vote and a wide Electoral College margin of 312-226. The U.S. House of Representatives remains in Republican control, but the U.S. Senate flipped from Democratic control to a larger Republican majority.
As President-elect Trump won approval across historically broad voting demographics, clear majorities of voters said crime and gun policies were important. Those dynamics resonated in even the bluest of Blue states as President-elect Trump received the most votes in New York City in 40 years and received more votes in California than he did in 2016 or 2020. In fact, four of the top five states that swung the most towards President Trump were New York (11.5 percent), New Jersey (10.1 percent), Massachusetts (8.7 percent) and California (8.4 percent).
All that is playing out while antigun governors are rejecting that message. Instead, they seem to be doubling down. Several have announced efforts to “Trump proof” their states before he takes office, vowing to protect the rights of their residents. But each governor has an abysmal record of recognizing inalienable and Constitutional rights, specifically Second Amendment rights.
Ignoring Tea Leaves
California Gov. Gavin Newsom loves to proclaim his state “leads” on gun control. He brags about being “Number 1” in gun control, despite the fact his state lead the nation in “active shooter incidents” in 2023. The Los Angeles City Council infamously cut $150 million from the city police budget and left law enforcement telling city residents to “be a good victim” if they found themselves being attacked by criminals.
Crime was so bad that voters in San Francisco overwhelmingly gave George Soros-funded, soft-on-crime District Attorney Chesa Boudin the boot, and voters in Los Angeles just rejected George Gascón’s reelection bid. On top of that, California Ballot Proposition 36 – which would reinstitute tougher penalties on those who commit an assortment of crimes – passed in a landslide with 70 percent approval.
What was Gov. Newsom’s message? He said he’s “ready to fight” the upcoming Trump administration and instead called a special legislative session “to safeguard the state’s progressive policies.”
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Gov. Newsom said. That sentiment doesn’t match his record. Recently, California officials claimed they were “hacked” as sensitive date for thousands of concealed carry license holders were released; the governor enacted a new 11-percent tax on all firearms and ammunition sold in the state; he also tried to ban the First Amendment rights of Second Amendment organizations; and eliminate youth recreational shooting sports leagues.
The ‘Anti-American’ Governor
New York Governor Kathy Hochul sounded similarly disinterested with the message voters sent her. Yes, Vice President Harris carried the state, but President-elect Trump made it interesting and did better than any other Republican has in 40 years. In fact, only Yates County voted more Democratic by just 1.6 percent compared to 2020. Every single other New York county went more Republican or stayed the same, according to CBS News analysis.
Leading up to Election Day, Gov. Hochul called everyone who supported Donald Trump “anti-American.”
“If you’re voting for these Republicans in New York, you are voting for someone who supports Donald Trump and you’re anti-women, you’re anti-abortion, and basically, you’re anti-American,” Gov. Hochul said on MSNBC.
After the Election Day results came in, Gov. Hochul doubled down. The governor “convened a team of experts to develop strategies for protecting her state from policy threats they think could emerge under Trump,” according to The Hill. That specifically included “gun rights,” she announced at a media event press conference alongside George Soros-funded, soft-on-crime Attorney General Letitia James. The double-down isn’t surprising. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s unconstitutional gun control laws in their landmark 2022 Bruen decision, Gov. Hochul got to work and enacted several new restrictive gun control laws.
Eyes on Illinois
In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker took a similar tone after it was clear President-elect Trump was returning to The White House. President Trump received nearly 2.5 million votes in Illinois, compared to Vice President Harris’ 3 million, but you wouldn’t know it was that close listening to Gov. Pritzker. Speaking about the former president returning to be the next president, the governor sounded combative.
“If you come for my people, you come through me,” Gov. Pritzker remarked to media.
Gov. Pritzker has never met a gun control law he didn’t like and support, but has been extra fiery since his own state courts smacked down one of his signature gun control laws.
Gov. Pritzker signed into law HB 5471, the “Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA),” in January 2023 which NSSF immediately challenged as unconstitutional. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen P. McGlynn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois struck down that law as unconstitutional. That law that bans most semiautomatic firearms, including Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), certain models of semiautomatic handguns and standard capacity magazines. The state is appealing the decision and it could likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court in the near future.
Not to Be Left Out
Gun control governors in several other states also voiced their desire to “proactively” work to buttress gun control laws against President-elect Trump, who vowed should he return to The White House that he’d protect Second Amendment rights.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey echoed the antigun agenda for her state, as did New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who said of possible Second Amendment policies from The White House, “If it’s contrary to our values, we will fight to the death.”
Governors in gun control states, as well as the activist groups that spur them on, aren’t listening to voters but voters are telling governors exactly how they feel.
—Joe Bartozzi, courtesy NSSF
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