A gleeful post from National Review's Charles C.W. Cooke:
Magpul, the Colorado-based firearms manufacturer, will be leaving the state. A press release issued today made it clear that the decision was the direct result of the gun control laws passed in 2013:Meanwhile, there's this on the Facebook page of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, in response to another headline-grabbing Colorado law:The company is relocating manufacturing, distribution and shipping operations to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Magpul is leasing a 58,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility during the construction of a 100,000 square foot build-to-suit facility in the Cheyenne Business Parkway. The Wyoming relocation is being completed with support from Governor Matt Mead, the Wyoming Business Council and Cheyenne LEADS....
The company began a nationwide search for a new base of operations after legislation was enacted in Colorado that dramatically limits the sale of firearms accessories....
"Moving operations to states that support our culture of individual liberties and personal responsibility is important," says Richard Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer for Magpul Industries....
I learned about this via Michelle Malkin's Twitchy, where the readers are cheering Wyoming on, and seeing social decadence in Colorado. (Gosh, I thought all those wingers were in favor of person freedom and libertarianism and all that. Guess not.)
DO NOT BRING YOUR COLORADO PURCHASED MARIJUANA INTO WYOMING
Cheyenne -- The new law that went into effect January 1st in the State of Colorado making possession of marijuana legal to sell and possess in that State has generated many questions to our office from the media.
... The bottom line, any amount of marijuana in either dried or in plant form in the State of Wyoming is illegal to possess.
Individuals who have in their possession 3 ounces or less may be charged with a misdemeanor violation that carries a penalty of imprisonment for not more than 12 months, a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or a combination of both.
If found with an amount of marijuana over 3 ounces an individual will be charged with a felony which can result in imprisonment for not more than 5 years and/or a fine of not more than $10,000.00.
... Possession of drug paraphernalia is also a violation in the State of Wyoming....
Earlier today, at The American Prospect, Paul Waldman wrote this:
... One trend I do think will shape people's lives this year and in years to come is the increasing divergence between the places where lots of Democrats live and the places where lots of Republicans live. Yes, it sounds trite and overdone to talk about Two Americas, but it is true, and it's becoming more true all the time. And one question I'm curious about is whether we'll see an increase in people picking up and moving to places where public policy either accords better with their values or offers them important benefits they need to live their lives (or both).Are people really going to move from state to state in large numbers in pursuit of laws that are more to their liking? I have my doubts.
... In Colorado you can walk down to a store on the corner and buy cannabis, and you'll be able to do the same in Washington in a few months. There are new restrictions on guns in blue states, and new laws making guns more ubiquitous in red states. There are also new laws in conservative states aimed at making abortions all but impossible for women to get, and making it as hard as possible for certain kinds of people to vote. And in one of the most critical changes, as of yesterday millions of Americans are getting health coverage through Medicaid -- if they live in the right place.
... there are more reasons than ever for people to get up and move to the states where the political leadership is working to make it the kind of place where people like them would want to live. The more we talk about it, the more conscious people become of it, and the closer a conservative in Maryland or a liberal in Mississippi gets to saying, "That's it -- I'm finally getting the hell out of here."
... if the number of people moving not just for a new job but for ideological reasons increases, then that will feed a cycle in which more states become even more ideologically homogenized, which leads to public policy even more ideologically one-sided....
But Wyoming and Colorado do seem to moving in opposite directions: you take the guns, we'll take the weed. I think that sort of polarization will increase, even if the citizens just shrug and accept it.
