USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- While anti-gun Democrat Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and his lawsuit-happy Attorney General Bob Ferguson have won third terms, if there is such a thing as “blue tsunami” out West, it was stopped cold at the Idaho and Utah state lines, and in Montana, pro-gun Sen. Steve Daines has won another term on Capitol Hill and a pro-gun Republican governor will take office in Helena.
What does it all mean? Simply put, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming amount to a western fortress for gun rights. Social media posts by Evergreen State residents especially suggest a migration to the Gem State or Big Sky Country is in progress to escape increasing taxes, costs of living, and particularly gun control.
For Pacific Northwest gun owners in Washington and Oregon, there will likely be more legislative fights on the horizon with Democrats in control in Olympia and Salem. The billionaire-backed Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the Seattle-based gun prohibition lobbying group, is no doubt emboldened by the Democrat stranglehold it appears to have.
The Portland Oregonian is reporting, “With several key races too close to call Tuesday night it was unclear if Oregon House Democrats would maintain their supermajority, despite spending millions of dollars on campaigns to pick up Republican-held districts and defend open seats in purple or red-leaning districts.
“Republicans, in turn, spent millions in an attempt to win back seats in swing districts and one Democrat-held district in southern Oregon that has shifted from blue to reddish purple,” the newspaper added.
Watch for a revival of efforts in both Washington and Oregon to ratchet down further on gun rights, despite widespread gun ownership in both states.
Arizona gun owners may be looking for representation in the U.S. Senate that no longer exists with the election of Democrat Mark Kelly over incumbent Republican Martha McSally, giving the Grand Canyon State two Democrat senators. Kelly’s position on gun rights became clear when he helped found the gun control lobbying group Giffords.org, with his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She survived a mass shooting assassination attempt in Tucson to emerge as a gun control icon.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Republican Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox is the victor in the Beehive State’s gubernatorial race, defeating Democrat Chris Peterson more than 2-to-1 in early unofficial returns.
Up in Idaho, the Idaho Statesman in Boise is reporting “The makeup of Idaho’s Legislature turned even redder after Tuesday’s election, with Republicans picking up at least one seat in the House.”
In Montana, with Daines heading back to Washington, D.C. to what appears to be shaping up as a thin Senate majority, he will be critical to staving off any gun control efforts from Nancy Pelosi’s House, even if the White House race is lost to anti-gun Democrat Joe Biden.
Daines defeated Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock, a race important to maintaining a GOP Senate majority. Bullock was term-limited out of the Montana Governors’ seat.
Also good news for Montana gun owners is the election of Congressman Greg Gianforte as the next governor, defeating Democrat Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney, according to the Helena Independent Record.
Several key races were too close to call in the battleground states of North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Biden appeared to be edging ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, but the president appears to have comfortable leads in the other states, and there were still lots of ballots to be counted in both Wisconsin and Michigan. His wins in Florida and Ohio provided encouragement despite the fact that he trailed Biden in Electoral College votes.
If Trump loses—and that may not be known for several days—it will be up to Senate Republicans to provide a barrier against the advancement of Biden’s gun control schemes.
Not only that, but if Biden doesn’t finish his term—as a recent Rasmussen survey suggested—Senate Republicans will be the only thing standing between Kamala Harris and the Second Amendment.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
