California, already home to some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, has enacted even more restrictions under Governor Gavin Newsom. On Tuesday, Newsom signed several new gun laws, including SB 899 and the 2024 Animal Protection and Gun Violence Prevention Act, continuing his administration’s push for tighter regulations. This comes despite the fact that California had the second-highest number of gun deaths in the nation in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—whose research is often cited by gun control advocates to justify further restrictions.
Among the new measures is a law that allows courts to consider stalking, animal cruelty and threats of violence as valid grounds for issuing a gun violence restraining order. Additionally, a person found mentally incompetent to stand trial on misdemeanor charges will now face a firearms ban. Previously, this restriction only applied to felony charges.
The laws also include measures aimed at curbing the spread of so-called “ghost guns”—homemade firearms that are untraceable by law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies will be prohibited from selling firearms meant to be destroyed, a provision that received bipartisan support in the state legislature.
Another new law narrows the ability of law enforcement officers involved in domestic violence cases to carry firearms, while increasing protections for domestic violence survivors by mandating the confiscation of firearms from offenders.
Governor Newsom, an outspoken advocate for gun control, framed these measures as essential, saying, “California won’t wait until the next school shooting or mass shooting to act.” Yet, despite his claims, many are left questioning the effectiveness of these laws. California has some of the highest rates of gun violence in the country, despite having layers of regulations on the books.
In fact, Newsom’s full official statement on his office’s website is a laughable lie to anyone willing to dig into a little actual research: “California won’t wait until the next school shooting or mass shooting to act. In the absence of congressional action, our state is once again leading the way by strengthening our nation-leading gun laws. Data shows that California’s gun safety laws are effective in preventing gun-related deaths — which makes the ongoing inaction and obstruction by politicians in the pocket of the gun lobby even more reprehensible.”
While Newsom peacocks about laws that have had negligible impact except to hamper the ability of victims and law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves or affordably enjoying legitimate pastimes such as competitive shooting and hunting, his state has become the poster child for progressive politics run amuck. Citizens are leaving the state in droves, the homeless and their feces litter the streets and companies are closing down and moving out because criminals are going unpunished and allowed to steal and destroy with impunity. California also leads the nation in mass shootings.
Critics of Newsom’s approach correctly argue that the state’s ever-expanding web of gun laws does little to address the real issue—criminals, not law-abiding gun owners, are responsible for the violence. They point to CDC data showing that California, despite its strict regulations, still saw the second most gun deaths of any state in 2022, underscoring how gun control laws often fail to prevent crime. Instead, these laws tend to burden responsible gun owners and infringe on constitutional rights.
Pro-Second Amendment groups are particularly concerned with the trend of using restraining orders to strip people of their right to own firearms based on accusations rather than convictions. The expansion of such laws could lead to more citizens losing their rights without due process.
Governor Newsom’s new laws join a host of other recent measures that have drawn ire from gun rights advocates, including increased taxes on guns and ammunition and a ban on carrying firearms in most public places. Despite California’s aggressive gun control stance, many of these laws face court challenges, and many of them have already been struck down on constitutional grounds or had injunctions put in place staying the laws.
As Newsom eyes the national political stage, his positioning as a leader on gun control may appeal to some, but for California gun owners and Second Amendment supporters, it represents another step toward eroding their constitutional rights without effectively addressing the root causes of gun violence.
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