PA Bill Number: HB1472
Title: In primary and election expenses, further providing for reporting by candidate and political committees and other persons and for late contributions ...
Description: In primary and election expenses, further providing for reporting by candidate and political committees and other persons and for late contrib ...
Last Action: Referred to STATE GOVERNMENT
Last Action Date: Apr 22, 2024
California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for nationwide background checks on ammo purchases :: 06/05/2019
Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses delegates at the California State Democratic Party convention at the Moscone Center on Saturday in San Francisco. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday called for nationwide background checks on people purchasing ammunition, saying it would be the “next phase” in the heated debate over gun control.
Talking to reporters after a Saturday morning speech at the California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco, Newsom also criticized President Trump for tweeting his condolences to the Virginia Beach community, saying he had failed to do anything to stem the epidemic of gun violence in America.
“Grow up. Recognize and reconcile that we live in the only country in the world where anything like this happens,” Newsom said of the president. “He has completely failed to address this issue in any meaningful way. The words become insulting the more they are repeated [with] no action to follow them up. His positions are extreme.”
Newsom was the official proponent in 2016 of Proposition 63, which mandated background checks for ammunition purchases, outlawed high-capacity magazines and levied fines for failing to report when guns are stolen or lost. It also created a process for removing guns from people who are convicted of a felony, which puts them in the state's Armed Prohibited Persons System.
“We just don’t need background checks on guns, we need background checks on every single ammunition purchase,” Newsom said. “We need to get serious about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous and previously convicted felons, we need to make sure we address the issue of people who are dangerously mentally ill.”
In his proposed budget, Newsom has incorporated funding increases for a state program to seize guns from thousands more people who are ineligible to possess firearms because of criminal convictions or mental illness, as well as for the Firearms Violence Research Center at UC Davis.
The governor said the presidential candidates would be wise to embrace the progressive policies and ideals of California, instead of only turning to the state for campaign donations.
“It’s not just about the ATM now. It’s about policy. It’s about values. It’s about what we’re framing, not just in the context of resistance but framing a positive alternative to Trump and Trumpism,” Newsom said.
“This is a tax on the American people,” Newsom said. “I hope he comes to his senses.”
Phil Willon covers Gov. Gavin Newsom and California politics for the Los Angeles Times. He reports from Sacramento and his previous assignments included the 2018 governor’s race and the 2016 U.S. Senate race. Before heading north, Willon covered Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and roamed Southern California’s mountains and deserts as the paper’s state correspondent in the Inland Empire. Prior to joining The Times, Willon served as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Tampa Tribune. At the Tribune, Willon also covered Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, Hurricane Andrew and the investigation leading to the arrest of serial killer Danny Rolling. He began his newspaper career as the Kent Island correspondent for the Capital in Annapolis, Md. Willon grew up in Southern California and graduated from UC San Diego.
