SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders held a press conference Wednesday regarding “efforts to expedite legislation to protect communities from gun violence,” following a mass shooting at Uvalde Elementary School in Texas.
Joined by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, Newsom asked the California legislature to send a dozen gun control-related bills to his desk to sign by the end of the next month.
Newsom said he will ask the legislature to fast-track some of the bills and that they include urgency clauses, but he added that that process is “unfolding.”
“There are no words that I can add…we’re here not to add to the rhetoric, but to advance our resolve,” Newsom said.
Hours after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spoke from the community of Uvalde, where the school shooting occurred, Newsom brought up the Texas governor and that state’s gun laws in his own presentation.
“I wasn’t going to bring him up, but Gov. Abbott just name-checked California,” Newsom said. “Look at that gun murder rate. It was 67% higher than the state of California in 2020.”
Newsom said states with progressive gun laws like California have performed well compared to other states run by Republican governors.
“Those states like California that have the most progressive policies and restrict the abuse and proliferation of guns have consistently outperformed other states in terms of gun murder rates and gun death rates,” Newsom said
In a press conference in Uvalde, Texas officials said suspected shooter Salvador Ramos crashed his car, ran inside a classroom and began shooting.
According to officials, Ramos used an AR-15 and killed 19 children and two teachers. Seventeen other people were injured, but none of their injuries are life threatening. Officials said one deputy sheriff lost a daughter in the shooting.
An initial package of bills the governor is committed to signing includes:
- Assembly Bill 2571 (introduced by Asm. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan) — Restricts advertising of firearms to minors
- Assembly Bill 1621 (introduced by Asm. Mike Gipson) — Restricts ghost guns and the parts and kits used to build them
- Senate Bill 1327 (introduced by State Sen. Robert Hertzberg) — Creates a private right of action to limit the spread of illegal assault weapons and ghost guns
- Assembly Bill 1594 (introduced by Phil Ting) — Allows governments and victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers and sellers of firearms
