Governor Gavin Newsom (D) reiterated President Joe Biden’s call for gun control during the State of the Union address, advocating for the nationwide adoption of laws that have repeatedly proven ineffective in preventing high-profile shootings in California over the past three decades.
Breitbart News highlighted Biden’s demand for an “assault weapons” ban and universal background checks during the SOTU. However, California has had such measures in place since 1989 and 1991 respectively, yet the state continues to witness some of the most notable shootings in the country.
Several of these incidents include:
- The Santa Barbara attack (6 fatalities on May 23, 2014)
- The San Bernardino attack (14 fatalities on December 2, 2015)
- Yountville Veterans Home of California attack (4 fatalities on March 9, 2018)
- Thousand Oaks Borderline Bar and Grill attack (12 fatalities on November 7, 2018)
- Orange, California, VTA Line attack (9 fatalities on March 31, 2021)
- Downtown Sacramento attack (6 fatalities on April 3, 2022)
- Goshen attack (6 fatalities on January 16, 2023)
- Monterey Park attack (11 fatalities on January 21, 2023)
- Half Moon Bay attack (7 fatalities on January 23, 2023)
The frequency of shootings in California has become so alarming that on June 22, 2023, the Public Policy Institute of California observed, “Attacks resulting in the injury or death of at least four individuals have begun to increase: in 2023, Californians experienced a mass shooting every six days.”
Despite the ineffectiveness of an “assault weapons” ban and universal background checks in preventing such incidents, Newsom advocated for their implementation on a national scale during Thursday night’s address.
We need a national ban on assault weapons.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 8, 2024
We need universal background checks.
We also need to raise the age to purchase a gun to 21 and have a standard waiting period.@POTUS is right.
It’s why we need to pass a Constitutional Amendment to get this done.
Time to enact a…
In his recent X post, Newsom referenced a waiting period, yet another gun control measure in California that has proven ineffective in preventing the aforementioned shootings. California currently enforces a ten-day waiting period for all gun purchases.
