More than 17 percent of the annual firearm murders in the United States occur in gun-controlled California, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
PEW Research reported that CDC figures show 20,958 people were murdered with firearms in 2021.
The CDC’s state-by-state map shows that 3,576 of those murders occurred in California alone.
Ironically, California is the number one state in the U.S. for gun control, according to Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety.
California gun controls include universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a 10-day waiting period, a red flag law, firearm registration requirements, a ban on campus carry for self-defense, a ban on K-12 teachers being armed for classroom defense, a limit on the number of guns a law-abiding citizen can purchase each month, and a background check requirement for ammunition purchases, among many other controls.
Yet California is also number one for “active shooter incidents,” according to FBI figures.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) contrasts gun violence in his state with that of other states–especially red states–he does not mention California firearm homicides. Rather, he talks about homicide rates and claims a lower rate in California than in other states.
On Thursday, he took this approach with Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R):
By shifting the focus to rates, Newsom does not mention that Mississippi only had 962 firearm homicides compared to 3,576 such homicides in California.
Related — AWR Hawkins: “America Has a Gun-Free-Zone Problem”
Related — AWR Hawkins: When Dems Press Gun Control, Hold Your Republican Majority Accountable
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.