Despite California’s Already-Strict Gun Rules, State Leaders And Activists Call For Tighter Restrictions Following Shooting
Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who as lieutenant governor led the effort after the San Bernardino killings to pass the ballot proposition on high-capacity magazines and background checks, has already called for more action on gun control. State lawmakers are eyeing tighter restrictions, as well, including a bill to make it easier to confiscate firearms from people deemed a public danger.
The New York Times:
California Is Already Tough On Guns. After A Mass Shooting, Some Wonder If It’s Enough
After a mass killing in Santa Barbara in 2014, California passed a law that let police officers and family members seek restraining orders to seize guns from troubled people. A year later, a shooting rampage in San Bernardino led to voters approving a ballot proposition to outlaw expanded magazines for guns and require background checks for buying ammunition. The state has also banned assault weapons and regulates ammunition sales — all part of a wave of gun regulation that began a quarter century ago with a mass murder at a San Francisco law firm. (Arango and Medina, 11/10)
Capital Public Radio:
California Gov.-Elect Gavin Newsom Repeats Call To Ban High-Capacity Gun Magazines
Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom repeated his call this week for a ban on high-capacity gun magazines following the shooting in Thousand Oaks that killed 12 people.California voters in 2016 passed a law to ban possession of magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. That effort was spearheaded by Newsom. But a lawsuit by gun rights groups has blocked it from going into effect. “High capacity magazine clips have no place in the streets of this country, let alone the streets of this city and state,” Newsom told reporters at a press conference in San Francisco. (Nichols, 11/9)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Newsom: NRA Must Be ‘Held To Account’ For Thousand Oaks Shooting
Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom delayed a planned announcement on his transition to California’s top office on Wednesday after Tuesday night’s mass shooting in Thousand Oaks. “It’s a heavy heart to come here a day or two after an election for governor,” he told reporters in San Francisco in his first public appearance since Election Night. “You want to be focused on other things.” Newsom, who led gun control efforts including Proposition 63 two years ago, argued that prayers and excuses aren’t enough. (Adler, 11/9)
Los Angeles Times:
In Response To Mass Shooting In Thousand Oaks, California Legislator Proposes Making It Easier To Confiscate Guns
Alarmed by the troubled history of a gunman who killed 12 people in Thousand Oaks this week, state Assemblyman Phil Ting said Friday he will reintroduce a bill that would make it easier to confiscate firearms from people deemed a public danger. Ian David Long, who police say is behind the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill on Wednesday night, had been evaluated in April by mental health specialists who were called out by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department after a disturbance call. (McGreevy, 11/9)
The Washington Post:
Ventura Shooting: They Survived The Las Vegas Massacre. In A California Country Bar, It Happened Again.
The first frantic message buzzed Brendan Hoolihan’s phone at about midnight Wednesday, and for hours the messages continued to flood his Snapchat group text. His friends had created the chain after the Las Vegas shooting massacre a year earlier, just in case something unimaginable like that ever happened again. It had. (Mettler, 11/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Plan To Pursue Most Aggressive Gun-Control Legislation In Decades
Democrats say they will pass the most aggressive gun-control legislation in decades when they become the House majority in January, plans they renewed this week in the aftermath of a mass killing in a California bar. Their efforts will be spurred by an incoming class of pro-gun-control lawmakers who scored big in Tuesday’s midterm elections, although any measure would likely meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate. Democrats ousted at least 15 House Republicans with “A” National Rifle Association ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an “F” NRA rating. (Epstein, 11/9)
The Associated Press:
Democratic State Gains May Mean Tighter Gun, Looser Pot Laws
From New York to New Mexico, residents in a number of states can expect a leftward push for expanded health care coverage, gun control, education funding and legalized recreational marijuana as Democrats who gained new or stronger powers in the midterm elections seek to put their stamp on public policy. While Republicans remain in charge in more states, Democrats nearly doubled the number of places where they will wield a trifecta of power over the governor's office and both chambers of the state legislature. (11/11)