SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – In the aftermath of a teenage gunman killing 19 children and two adults in a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking state lawmakers to send over a dozen gun control bills to his desk for signature by the end of June.
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Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon – all of whom are Democrats – presented a united front in a press conference on Wednesday as legislative leaders announced their intention to fast-track pieces of legislation that would, among other things, allow private citizens to sue gun manufacturers and require school officials to investigate mass shooting threats and report them to law enforcement.
"California leads this national conversation," Newsom said Wednesday. "When California moves, other states move in the same direction. For all of those, so many of us, that are feeling deep anxiety and fear, I hope you look to this state for leadership, for demonstrable leadership."
California has some of the state’s tightest gun control laws, but mass shootings have still occurred within the state.
Last month, less than a mile away from the State Capitol, six people were killed and 12 others were injured in a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento. Nine days before the Uvalde, Texas shooting, one person was killed and another five were injured in a shooting at a Southern California church.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, California's firearm death rate was 8.5 per 100,000 people in 2020. Only six states had lower rates.
"We are mindful we have to do more than just advance the cause of gun safety policy," Newsom said. "We have a lot of work to do in this space."
Among the bills Newsom hopes to sign before the July 1 recess is Senate Bill 1327, which he said is modeled after Texas Senate Bill 8, the controversial legislation allowing private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy.
California's legislation, which passed the Senate shortly after the Uvalde, Texas shooting on Tuesday, would establish a private right of action for citizens to sue makers and sellers of illegal assault weapons and ghost guns for at least $10,000. No Republicans voted for the bill, which passed the Senate with a 24-10 margin.
No Republicans voted for Senate Bill 906, either, which also passed the chamber on Tuesday and would require school officials to immediately report school shooting threats – or perceived threats – to law enforcement. The Assembly, meanwhile, passed Assembly Bill 2571, which would restrict advertising and marketing of firearms to minors.
Newsom told reporters on Wednesday that he would work with lawmakers to add urgency clauses allowing the bills to go into effect immediately rather than the start of 2023.
"Unless we take action and political leaders take real responsibility, we will continue to grieve and mourn," Atkins said. "Today, California leaders continue to take action, and we push, plead and implore other states and our federal partners to do the same."
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