California Advances Gun Control Bills Amid Texas School Massacre

This storywas originally published May 25, 2022 by CalMatters.

As news traveled around the country Tuesday of a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that left at least 22 dead — including 19 children, two teachers and the 18-year-old gunman — California lawmakers were advancing a package of gun control bills, including one sponsored by Gov. Gavin Newsom that co-opts the structure of Texas’ abortion ban to crack down on illegal firearms.

The striking timing highlighted a shared challenge facing California, Texas and other states: reducing gun deaths, which have ticked up dramatically nationwide amid the pandemic.

But it also served as a launchpad for Newsom — a relentless critic of Texas — and other top Democratic officials to castigate Republicans for refusing to support tougher restrictions on guns.

• Newsom tweeted: “Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it. Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe. This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice.”
• Attorney General Rob Bonta tweeted: “These are our children. Our babies. This is sick. And I’m damn angry. The GOP continues to prioritize the gun lobby over the LIVES of our children.”

Democratic legislators invoked the Texas shooting on multiple occasions during a marathon Senate floor session Tuesday: “One more gun death is too many,” said state Sen. Anthony Portantino of Glendale, urging support for the bill inspired by Texas’ abortion ban that would give private Californians the right to sue manufacturers, sellers and distributors of illegal assault weapons, ghost guns and certain other firearms and to collect at least $10,000 in civil damages per weapon.

• The proposal passed on a close-to-party-line vote: Democratic state Sen. Melissa Hurtado of Sanger voted with the Republicans in opposition.

Following last week’s culling of more than 200 bills in a highly secretive and opaque process, the Assembly and Senate are rushing to pass hundreds of bills ahead of a Friday deadline for proposals to clear the house in which they were introduced.

Here’s a look at other gun proposals moving forward:

• A bill to require school officials to report any “perceived threat” of a mass shooting event to law enforcement and mandate districts to share safe gun storage information with families of middle and high school students.
• A bill to ban gun shows and firearm sales on state property.
• A bill to require licensed firearm dealers to have digital video surveillance, burglary alarm and keyless entry systems; carry general liability insurance; and complete annual training.
• A bill to ban the advertising of certain firearms to minors.

And here’s a rundown of other high-profile bills that advanced to the other house:

• A proposal to allow California parents to sue social media companies for harms caused by hooking their kids on addictive algorithms.
• A proposal to require schools to continue COVID-19 testing and create testing plans in conjunction with the state.
• A slew of proposals to expand abortion access for both in-state and out-of-state patients and protect them and providers from civil and criminal liability.
• A proposal to force companies to include pay ranges in job postings, let workers know when promotion opportunities are available, and publish pay data broken out by race and gender.
• A proposal to increase affordable housing construction — which has divided powerful labor unions.
• A proposal to exempt certain university housing projects from California’s landmark environmental law.
• A proposal to launch a pilot project offering universal basic income to farmworkers unable to work due to California’s devastating drought.

One last tidbit of Capitol news: In case last week’s warning that California could be heading toward a “fiscal cliff” wasn’t dire enough, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office on Tuesday released a report reiterating its concerns that Newsom’s $301 billion budget proposal “does not include a plan” to address “looming budget problems.”

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.