8 January—To no one’s surprise, Connecticut is moving up in the National Hall of Shame. The state’s latest shameful distinction is that legislation enacted last year by the Hartford unmentionables to further curtail civil rights has advanced it to fourth place in Everytown for Gun Safety’s 2024 Gun Law Rankings.

Yes, the right to keep and bear arms is indeed a civil right, just like the rights to speak freely, assemble, petition, and not incriminate yourself, all enshrined in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. (And, truth be told, all regularly ignored and/or abused by all levels of government.) Connecticut is now behind only California, New York, and Illinois in infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms. But, the way things are going, not for long.

To take our collective mind off that flagrant abuse of the Constitution, then, here’s a snowscape photographed on bucolic inner city Litchfield’s East Hill 35 years ago.