If I were to summarize this essay in a few words, it would be: 1) Before the 17th amendment, a senator worked for his state, 2) After the 17th amendment, the senator worked for his political party. This was not the original intent of the founding fathers.

I wrote about this a year ago.

https://medium.com/discourse/a-constitutional-blunder-a9418652ac4f

While we can argue for more state rights, the strange thing is that when counties request more rights, the states are reluctant to give them those rights. Everyone wants power to be concentrated in their hands. God really did not tell us how to divvy up the power.

I also like how you have framed local and national issues together. Trouble is that too many people tend to vote R or D for all things. While that is good for the contrived hegemony of the R's and D's in American politics, it might not be the best for local people to make their own local decisions.

How about this: The citizens of Northern Maine can issue licences for guns in Northern Maine. Each gun owner must pass a test (like a driver's test) to prove competency in handling a gun. If a person is caught with a gun in Northern Maine without that license, the gun is confiscated.