New York is a specimen of poor governance. We are staring down a $36.4 billion budget deficit over the next three years. In contrast, Texas has a $33 billion biennial budget surplus and Florida had its highest-ever $22 billion annual surplus last year. 

New York’s jealousy-driven tax policy is further attacking “the rich” who already pay 43.5% of the total tax revenue despite being only 1.5% of tax filers. New York’s fiscal decline is accelerating; the State Comptroller report notes that, “the net number of millionaires leaving were almost three times those in 2019.” 

Atlas is shrugging and schlepping to other states.

It’s not all about the money though. I know way too many people who have left New York because of its insane gun laws. After the NYSRPA v. Bruen decision, New York threw a tantrum and passed more laws which made things objectively worse than before. You now need a license to own any semi-auto. Now that concealed carry permits cannot be handed out only to the rich and connected, New York has created burdensome permitting criteria, slowed down permit approvals, and created a patchwork of sensitive places. Gov. Kathy Hochul is now demanding that other states follow the lead of the failing state of New York:

Hochul calls on governors to take action on gun control

ALBANY, N.Y. (WCAX) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling out other governors she says aren’t doing enough to keep people safe.

Hochul Monday said that states can’t say they are serious about fighting crime without working to get illegal guns off the street. She says she is working with New York City Mayor Eric Adams to target gun violence in the state but that other states should follow suit.

“Until everyone, every leader of this nation, every governor — Democrat or Republican — takes seriously the fact that people are dying in all of our streets — not Democratic streets but all of our streets –that we will not have a solution. This calls for a federal response but also every governor can have a red flag law. Every governor can invest in a violence disruption program,” Hochul said.

Hochul doesn’t mention that New York already had a red flag law prior to the Buffalo hate-crime. It was not used. Now New York has even worse red flag laws that can result in just about anyone getting red-flagged. It’s a redux of Soviet snitching and the police state on American soil.

Another part of the post-Bruen Concealed Carry “Improvement” Act is restrictions on ammunition. New Yorkers will soon need to pass a background check to simply pick up a box of ammo. Online orders cannot be shipped home anymore; ammo must be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), who will run your paperwork, collect a fee for each box of ammo, and also submit your name, address, occupation, and other personal details to the state government, because the State thinks you are just slightly less dangerous than a predicate sex offender. (Tangential note: If you want to find a nearby FFL, the proto-fascists at Everytown created an interactive map for burglars that you can also use.)

Americans consume hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition each year. Most of it goes to what? Safely shooting at paper and cardboard targets, with no one hurt or killed. Some of it is used for hunting. A tiny, tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition is used to commit suicide, for which alternative methods are readily available. An even tinier fraction is used in the commission of crime. But because you dare participate in this activity, your name gets entered into a government database which will obviously never be abused in the future.

But what is almost always guaranteed to result in the termination of human life? Abortion pills. Regardless of one’s personal stance on abortion laws, you cannot deny that an abortion pill consumed by a pregnant woman results in the termination of potential human life. Depending on your personal ethical interpretation, that could be a serious wrong. A large percentage of the country thinks so. 

But New York will be handing out abortion pills like candy. 

NEW: I just signed a law to protect women seeking abortion care from New York doctors. Our law ensures providers can prescribe & send abortion medication to patients in states where it is banned.

Draconian abortion bans put lives at risk. We will never back down from this fight. pic.twitter.com/pSbberSoPL

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) June 23, 2023

An inbound ammo shipment, almost never used in crime, aimed at paper and cardboard targets, puts you in the government’s radar. But abortion pills, which terminate potential human life, will be shipped in interstate commerce as Hochul’s Halloween candy.