His state, already saddled with the strictest gun control statutes in the nation, suffered its second mass shooting in less than 48 hours Monday. Saturday’s Monterey Bay massacre killed 11 at a dance hall, while law enforcement arrested a 66-year-old man Monday for killing seven farmworkers in what appears to be a case of workplace violence.
The second tragic incident unfolded in Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco.
The governor was in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park near the scene of the Saturday shooting when he made his remarks. Speaking to CBS Evening News’ Norah O’Donnell, Newsom said the Second Amendment is becoming a “suicide pact.”
He made this erroneous statement while accompanied by an armed detail.
Amy Hunter, director of media relations for the NRA, was quick to point out the irony. “Gov. Newsom made that statement while flanked by at least four armed guards. That is the definition of hypocrisy.”
The governor told O’Donnell that “this Second Amendment’s becoming a suicide pact, it feels like. California’s 37% lower gun death rate of the rest of the nation, and yet, with all that evidence, no one on the other side seems to give a d–n.”
Almost in the same breath, Newsom said he has “great respect” for the Second Amendment.
Newsom claimed he is not ideologically opposed to responsible firearm owners and asserted that his opponents smear him with lies. “That’s what they immediately do,” he said. “‘He wants to take away your guns.’”
The governor said that is not the case, that he simply wants to take away “weapons of war” that are illegal in California and “should be illegal across the United States.”
Meanwhile, his state has some of if not the strictest gun control laws in the nation. Gun purchasers have numerous hoops to jump through, including waiting periods and mandatory background checks.
Military-style weapons, or so-called “assault weapons,” are banned in the state. The sale of high-capacity magazines was ended in 2013 and they became illegal to possess in 2016. Newsom this week doubled down on his opposition to these magazines, saying perhaps they should be the “fundamental focus” of gun control efforts.
“Large capacity clips. There’s no justification. Period,” he said. “Full stop.”
The state also features sweeping red flag laws that permit officials or family members to ask a court to confiscate firearms from an individual believed to present a threat to themselves or others.
Giffords Gun Owners for Safety, an advocacy group working to end gun violence, rates California an “A” on its rankings of states that regulate firearms the most stringently.
And still there are mass shootings.
Newsom, who apparently has never met a gun control law he didn’t like, signed a package of measures last year that supporters claimed would address criminal violence. The intent was to hold gun dealers “accountable” and limit the types of firearms available.
California citizens are now allowed to sue gun dealers who “sell, supply, deliver, or give position or control of a firearm” to anyone under the age of 21. Firearms businesses also face stronger sanctions through civil courts if their products are used to commit a crime.
The Golden State is “Exhibit A” in proving that gun control laws have little to no impact on the rate of violent crimes. Disarming law-abiding citizens, despite what Newsom claims, is the one guaranteed outcome of measures that destroy Second Amendment freedoms.
And for the governor to make his statement while flanked by armed security is, as the NRA correctly noted, ripe with hypocrisy. His right to self-defense is no less important than that of any other citizen, and that right is worth fighting for.
