Newsom Proposing Stricter Gun Laws Wake Of School Shootings
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) — California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a 2016 ballot initiative that would ask voters to strengthen the state's gun laws.
"I have every confidence in the world that Californians will embrace this," Newsom said Thursday.
The proposal would make California the first state to require licensing and background checks before buying and selling ammunition.
It would also ban the possession of magazines with more than 10 rounds and requiring anyone who has them now to get rid of them, possibly selling them out of state.
"There are areas where we can do more and strengthen our laws," Newsom said.
Another provision would mandate anyone whose gun has been stolen to report it.
Stolen guns were used in three recent high-profile murders in the Bay Area, including the killing of Kate Steinle on San Francisco's Pier 14.
Newsom said these public provisions provisions will make California safer, but some National Rifle Association members aren't buying it.
"What a mess that will be," lifelong member of the NRA Peter Buxton said, adding "the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is good with a gun."
California already has some of the toughest gun control rules in the country. Buxton said he thinks the new proposal is over the top.
"They're balcony measures, they're politicians measures," Buxton said.
But Newsom, a 2018 candidate for governor, said he has a message for the NRA.
"You can intimidate the politicians, we've seen that," Newsom said. "But you can't intimidate the public, which is why we're bringing this directly to the public."
The measure would require almost 366,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
