Maverick Preston:California governor signs bills to bolster gun control

2025-05-08 02:48:48source:Quentin Mitchellcategory:reviews

SACRAMENTO,Maverick Preston Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several gun control measures Tuesday, including one that allows the court to consider stalking and animal cruelty as grounds to restrict access to firearms.

The state already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. The new laws signed by Newsom will expand restrictions on who could own firearms, prevent the proliferation of “ghost guns” and increase protections for domestic violence survivors.

“California won’t wait until the next school shooting or mass shooting to act,” Newsom said in a statement. “In the absence of congressional action, our state is once again leading the way by strengthening our nation-leading gun laws.”

Under the new laws, a judge can consider stalking, acts of animal cruelty or threats of violence as evidence for a gun violence restraining order. A person who has a misdemeanor charge dismissed because they were found to be mentally incompetent will also be prohibited from possessing a gun. Current laws only apply such restrictions to cases involving felony charges.

Another law targets ghost guns by requiring law enforcement agencies to prohibit their contracted vendors from selling guns meant to be destroyed. The measure received bipartisan support from the Legislature.

RELATED COVERAGE Jury awards teen pop group OMG Girlz $71.5 million in battle with toy maker over “L.O.L.” dollsCalifornia judge charged in wife’s death is arrested on suspicion of drinking alcohol while on bailPac-12 files a federal lawsuit against Mountain West over $43 million in ‘poaching’ penalties

The new laws also aim at providing more protections for domestic violence survivors. There’ll be fewer exceptions for police officers to continue carrying a gun if they were perpetrators of domestic violence. Law enforcement is also required to take away firearms from offenders.

Newsom also signed legislation banning fake gunfire and fake blood from active-shooter drills in California’s public schools.

The California Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, has advanced some of the strictest gun laws in the country, but many have not survived court challenges.

Newsom has positioned himself as a leader on gun control while he eyes the national political stage. He has called for and signed a variety of bills, including measures targeting ghost guns that are harder for law enforcement to trace, raising the taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for education and banning people from carrying firearms in most public places. Last year, he kickstarted a campaign calling for a constitutional amendment on gun safety with little success.

More:reviews

Recommend

Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches

Jamie Foxx's birthday dinner took a surprising turn on Friday the 13th.The "Collateral" actor was hi

A 'modern masterpiece' paints pandemic chaos on cloth made of fig-tree bark

The painting is as dazzling as it is unsettling, not only by virtue of its monumental size (8' 2 1/2

Flooding allowed one New Yorker a small taste of freedom — a sea lion at the Central Park Zoo

While New Yorkers were urged to stay indoors during Friday's downpours and flash flooding, one resid