Is Arizona the new Colorado?

[Bailey Guns]

Kari Lake loses to Katie Hobbs. Both senators are liberal democrats though Sinema isn't quite the radical leftist I thought she'd be. The only bright spot is in the US House...republicans lead 6 to 3 for now. Republicans hold very narrow majorities in the Arizona house and senate. Arizona is starting to look like Colorado did in 2008 after Obama was elected.

Texas is still red but I hold my breath every election.

[TRnCO]

It's happening every where, every state. The masses of people in the big cities simply out number those that remain living in the country.

[hollohas]

Illegal immigration has helped AZ turn blue. I fear the same will happen to Texas. They can't bus them out fast enough.

[sbgixxer]

I'm pretty surprised by these midterms. I've never seen the country in worse shape yet the people (supposedly) voted in the same. Since Biden has been in office I've felt ok that at least he'd be a one-term president and that the dems would be beat after this disaster. Now, I don't know. Either there's heavy manipulation going on or people have collectively lost their minds.

[Bailey Guns]

A lot of young people voting for the first time in 2024 and 2028 will have grown up with Obama and Biden as their presidents. They will have reached voting age being indoctrinated everywhere by the far left, radical agenda. All they'll know will be "my pronouns are" and that gender fluidity are the norms according to their indoctrinators.

You can only blame election manipulation on so much.

The blue agenda isn't taking hold everywhere...most states...but not all. I'm happy to say that in Oklahoma not a single county voted blue...not even the bigger metro counties of Tulsa and Oklahoma City. As a matter of fact, in most races here the democrat candidate barely got 35%. There were a couple in the low 40% range. Many other states had overwhelming republican wins. The problem is, those states don't mean much on a national level in a presidential race. They're all relatively low population states with few electoral votes.

States rights issues are going to become more and more important in the coming years. If we don't elect a strong republican president by 2028 things are going to get really ugly.

[.455_Hunter]

The writing has been on the wall for AZ for several years. It perplexed me to some degree why some of our forum members thought they had "escaped" Colorado's issues by moving there- you just got a delay.

My thoughts on the election:

1. The GOP is the best possible organization for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, while the DEMs will support a flawed candidate to ensure their guy gets elected.

2. The GOP are experts at fielding "special" candidates who lack broad appeal with the voting groups who decide elections. Bobert seems to be an example- good on gun rights, but an AOC equivalent elsewhere (sorry Bobert fans).

3. Regardless of what you think about him, Trump is toxic to a large portion of the electorate, and they vote based on that perception against anything he is remotely associated with. I suspect he will tank the GA run-off by making his POTUS declaration. This is too bad, since I thought his policies were pretty good, and I could ignore the stupid ego- Many can't.

4. Abortion is an unpredictable third rail. Even my wife, who absolutely opposes "lifestyle whim" abortions, has grave concerns about the direction the GOP-led states are headed on this area.

[OneGuy67]

Regardless of what you think about him, Trump is toxic to a large portion of the electorate, and they vote based on that perception against anything he is remotely associated with. I suspect he will tank the GA run-off by making his POTUS declaration. This is too bad, since I thought his policies were pretty good, and I could ignore the stupid ego- Many can't.

I think this was the biggest problem this past election. In full disclosure, I voted for him both times and I liked what he did while in office, but his ego, his personality, his need to attack people has turned off a lot of people. The unaffiliated voters decided this election and his cult of personality is what they voted against. The AZ republican governor candidate could have won without his endorsement.

I only hope he stays out of and away from the Georgia run off. The republications can win or lose it without his assistance, but most assuredly, will lose it with his assistance.

[Great-Kazoo]

The writing has been on the wall for AZ for several years. It perplexed me to some degree why some of our forum members thought they had "escaped" Colorado's issues by moving there- you just got a delay.

My thoughts on the election:

1. The GOP is the best possible organization for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, while the DEMs will support a flawed candidate to ensure their guy gets elected.

2. The GOP are experts at fielding "special" candidates who lack broad appeal with the voting groups who decide elections. Bobert seems to be an example- good on gun rights, but an AOC equivalent elsewhere (sorry Bobert fans).

3. Regardless of what you think about him, Trump is toxic to a large portion of the electorate, and they vote based on that perception against anything he is remotely associated with. I suspect he will tank the GA run-off by making his POTUS declaration. This is too bad, since I thought his policies were pretty good, and I could ignore the stupid ego- Many can't.

4. Abortion is an unpredictable third rail. Even my wife, who absolutely opposes "lifestyle whim" abortions, has grave concerns about the direction the GOP-led states are headed on this area.

I can tell you why.

Eventually all 50 states, except OK will be purple or blue. I had no doubt we'd see it down here. Had the d's not been able to vote in open primaries. We might have had better candidates. The question for a lot of Arizonians is How is it. The D running for Governor, never stepped aside as SoS. Who is in charge of the ballots / counting votes. That's a major issue down here.

The only reason it's where it's at politically, is less than 44% of registered voters turned out.

Why we moved to AZ.
Constitutional Carry,
No emission testing, except phx and tucson.
Minimal if any homeless in yavapai cty that hound you en masse when out in public. Even in the valley they keep their distance

NO looking the other way, when it comes to possession of narcotics. Or use in public places. YOU WILL BE ARRESTED, Not handed a %^&* appearance ticket.

The is no felony menacing when it comes to display of a firearm.

I'm in the country, off road, no more than 5 min from the house.

Traffic is still ok. I can go from the house to phx. The equivalent of say where budweiser is off 25 to downtown denver in 1.5 hrs, with traffic.

NO Traffic or red lighjt cameras.

No BGC when buying a gun from a ffl, with a AZ weapons permit. NO law against FTF @ gun shows, or anywhere else. Mag limits , ok that's still available in CO. IF you know where to shop.

Get pulled over in AZX with a firearm, during traffic stop. The response, to me was. Look you keep your gun where it is, and i'll keep mine where it is too, Deal?

No one calls the cops, or swat if one ios open carrying.

The police chief not only is a supporter of 2A, he believes everyone should own a gun. He prefers concealed, instead of open carry. However either is ok and has LE support.

Tell me the last time any local event in CO had any booth with any form of firearms displayed. Town events has at least 1-2 ffl's and or other gun friendly tables.
NNO (National Night Out) has us, tombstone tactical, along with 3 other gunsmiths on site. We also were doing airsoft demos. Where kids could win a free range day, if they hit the X ring with 5 or less shots.

The school fund raiser is raffling off an AR-15 as one of the prizes. How does that play out in todays CO climate?


Again, let's be honest. The d's are like locust. They'll move in, ruin everything, then move on. Will we see even a R president in 24, i doubt it. So we do what's necessary to keep moving on. YMMV.

Oh yeah.Outside of friends still in CO. Never looked back, saying Hmm maybe we should have stayed.

[.455_Hunter]

I can tell you why.

Eventually all 50 states, except OK will be purple or blue. I had no doubt we'd see it down here. Had the d's not been able to vote in open primaries. We might have had better candidates. The question for a lot of Arizonians is How is it. The D running for Governor, never stepped aside as SoS. Who is in charge of the ballots / counting votes. That's a major issue down here.

The only reason it's where it's at politically, is less than 44% of registered voters turned out.

Why we moved to AZ.
Constitutional Carry,
No emission testing, except phx and tucson.
Minimal if any homeless in yavapai cty that hound you en masse when out in public. Even in the valley they keep their distance

NO looking the other way, when it comes to possession of narcotics. Or use in public places. YOU WILL BE ARRESTED, Not handed a %^&* appearance ticket.

The is no felony menacing when it comes to display of a firearm.

I'm in the country, off road, no more than 5 min from the house.

Traffic is still ok. I can go from the house to phx. The equivalent of say where budweiser is off 25 to downtown denver in 1.5 hrs, with traffic.

NO Traffic or red lighjt cameras.

No BGC when buying a gun from a ffl, with a AZ weapons permit. NO law against FTF @ gun shows, or anywhere else. Mag limits , ok that's still available in CO. IF you know where to shop.

Get pulled over in AZX with a firearm, during traffic stop. The response, to me was. Look you keep your gun where it is, and i'll keep mine where it is too, Deal?

No one calls the cops, or swat if one ios open carrying.

The police chief not only is a supporter of 2A, he believes everyone should own a gun. He prefers concealed, instead of open carry. However either is ok and has LE support.

Tell me the last time any local event in CO had any booth with any form of firearms displayed. Town events has at least 1-2 ffl's and or other gun friendly tables.
NNO (National Night Out) has us, tombstone tactical, along with 3 other gunsmiths on site. We also were doing airsoft demos. Where kids could win a free range day, if they hit the X ring with 5 or less shots.

The school fund raiser is raffling off an AR-15 as one of the prizes. How does that play out in todays CO climate?


Again, let's be honest. The d's are like locust. They'll move in, ruin everything, then move on. Will we see even a R president in 24, i doubt it. So we do what's necessary to keep moving on. YMMV.

Oh yeah.Outside of friends still in CO. Never looked back, saying Hmm maybe we should have stayed.

Not questioning why you left, just why AZ appeared to be the destination for many folks, especially when the list of positives are more or less available in several states proving to be more reliably red. I understand the attraction to the open desert and warm climate, so if that also played a factor, it's OK.

[Great-Kazoo]

Not questioning why you left, just why AZ appeared to be the destination for many folks, especially when the list of positives are more or less available in several states proving to be more reliably red. I understand the attraction to the open desert and warm climate, so if that also played a factor, it's OK.

That's southern AZ. We we are is a 4 season, same altitude as the ft collins area. From hot, to 3' of snow in winter. The other red states held no appeal to us. Having spent time in OK, that was off the map 1st. tx, eh not a destination i wanted. Again spent enough time down there, to know it wasn't on the list. Wyo, winters are too long for me. Idaho was interesting, but the spouse wanted a little warmer. The joke's on her as it get real %^&* cold . But doesn't last as long as it does in ID.

The kids want us to move to Mt where they have 20 ac, backing state land. Told her, you're 40 mi from the canuk border, not happening. I believe Ok will be the last hold out for staying red. Tejas might have gotten a reprieve with beto taking a real beating, numbers wise.

The up side is at our age, we could care less. As seems to be the mind set of this area of the state. Judging by how many people come to the range, i'd say we're far from alone.