SACRAMENTO.- Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to amend the US Constitution with a right to safety (now moving through the California Legislature as a resolution) includes common sense gun safety policies that build on successful laws here in California.
Here are the top four ways California is keeping people safer from gun violence:
- Keep weapons out of the wrong hands. California leads the nation with gun safety laws that work: universal background checks, 10-day purchase waiting periods, mental health reporting, requiring gun buyers to be 21 or moreover, allowing people to sue those responsible for the proliferation of assault weapons and ghost guns. and gun violence restraining orders (red flag law).
- Banning assault weapons and suppressing ghost guns. State law prohibits civilian purchases of assault weapons. Additionally, as ghost guns proliferate, Governor Newsom and the legislature have put in place policies that limit their proliferation.
- Invest more money than ever in preventing gun violence. Last year, Governor Newsom announced a record $156 million investment in anti-violence programs tailored to individual community needs.
- Answer the gun manufacturers. Governor Newsom signed legislation last year that allows state, local governments and Californians to sue irresponsible gun manufacturers and sellers for the lethality of their products.
California’s gun safety laws are working, and Right to Safety will give communities the tools they need to adopt similar policies to keep people safe.
- California Ranks No. 1 for Gun Safety
- The state’s gun death rate is 43% lower than the rest of the US.
- Gun laws have helped save 19,000 Californians in the last decade
- Since the early 1990s, California has cut its gun death rate in half.
- More than half of the weapons tracked by authorities were sold in other states
