VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY: Joined by Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Landmark Gun Safety Legislation

This Legislative Session, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Testified, Sent Over 16,000 Emails and Made Over 2,000 Calls to Lawmakers to Urge Support of Gun Safety Bills 

California Becomes the First State in the Nation to Establish a Tax on Gun Dealers To Fund Gun Violence Prevention Programs 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statements applauding California Governor Gavin Newsom for signing three gun safety bills into law today following a historic legislative session. The measures promote responsible gun ownership and provide transformational funding for community violence intervention, school safety, and gun violence prevention programs. 

“We thank Governor Newsom for renewing California’s commitment to keeping our children and communities safe from gun violence,” said Cassandra Whetstone, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Communities across our state will be better equipped to tackle gun violence and its root causes by generating new funding that goes directly to the hardest hit neighborhoods, keeping guns out of places like playgrounds and bars, and assisting law enforcement with unsolved shootings. We look forward to continuing our work together to make California safer from gun violence.” 

“Our generation has been forced to grow up living in fear of gun violence everywhere we go – but we’re grateful to live in a state that puts our safety first,” said Roan Thibault, a volunteer with the California chapter of Students Demand Action. “We applaud Governor Newsom for answering our call to action, and look forward to continuing to work together to protect future generations and California families from gun violence.”

“Today, California’s gun sense champions have taken the state’s leadership on gun safety a step further,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “Since the start of the legislative session, our grassroots leaders have been committed to working with lawmakers to get these bills across the finish line, centering the communities most impacted by our gun violence crisis and making communities safer. We thank Governor Newsom for continuing his commitment to gun safety and signing these life-saving bills into law.”

“The Supreme Court’s reckless Bruen decision put communities in even greater danger at a time when gun violence is on the rise across the country. Thankfully gun sense lawmakers in California took this challenge head on and passed common-sense gun safety laws to protect safety in public places and support victims of gun violence,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We applaud Governor Newsom and thank Assemblymember Gabriel, Senators Blackspear and Portantino and the California legislature for taking action to safeguard their communities.”

The Life-Saving Bills Signed Into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom: 

• SB 2 – legislation to address the dangerous conditions created by the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen by strengthening California’s laws about who can carry a gun in public, what types of training are required to carry a gun in public, how law enforcement vets applicants for concealed carry permits, and where they can bring their guns. 
• SB 452 – legislation that will ensure California’s microstamping law is finally and fully implemented, requiring that firearms sold in California incorporate technology which can help solve crime, stop retaliatory cycles of violence, and bring closure for survivors.
• AB 28 – first-in-the-nation legislation to establish the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Fund to create a permanent funding source outside the state budget for life-saving programs, including the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grant program, school safety programs, court-based firearm relinquishment programs, grant programs supporting equitable improvements to firearm homicide investigations, trauma-informed support services for mass shooting victims, and more.

California has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and leads the nation in having the most comprehensive system for removing firearms from those who are legally prohibited from having a gun. Details about how AB 28 tackles gun violence is available here. Information about New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen is available here. More information about gun violence in California is available here.