Longtime resident Lady Liberty, age 236 was struck by a stolen Chevy Volt last night along the interstate. The driver and passengers, illegally in the US from their native countries across the world, then dragged Ms. Liberty into the woods and brutally sodomized her before heading to the local polling place where they registered using the names of Supreme Court justices and voted without being challenged by UN poll watchers.
Authorities found them around the corner, each with a large supply of newly legalized recreational marijuana, getting high. They were taken into custody and released a short time later with a kiss on each cheek and a prepaid gift card for WaWa to handle the munchies.
Ms. Liberty is in extremely critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit, and doctors are very wary of her chances of recovery. A crowd of zombie-like citizens are already gathered at the Liberty residence, preparing to loot it of valuables when she succumbs to her injuries or the Death Panel declares her worthless and pulls the plug.
It's not legal to use encryption:
https://www.offgridweb.com/preparation/encrypted-radios-aes-256/#:~:text=And%2C of course%2C if your,walkie-talkies) is illegal.
Without a repeater or a base station, yes, you are correct. However, lets say a group of siblings that live throughout the state, where everyone lives within 25 miles of at least one family member. In that case you could set up your own self managed repeater network.
You can use some radios with your cell phone to send and receive text messages over GMRS. The radio interfaces with your phone via Bluetooth. That's kinda neat. I wonder if there is any encryption.