Before facts in Maine’s shootings were known or the suspect(s) apprehended, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) reacted to the heinous attacks by pushing more gun control.
Newsom posted to X: “Republicans in Maine rejected a bill this year that would have required a waiting period for firearm purchases. They seriously could not fathom waiting 72 hours to buy a gun.”
He added, “Maine also does not … Ban assault weapons. Require permits to carry a gun in public. Require background checks on all gun sales. Our hearts are heavy tonight. We need immediate action — we cannot sit around and wait for Congress. We need to amend the Constitution to help prevent tragedies like this.”
Newsom has spent months pushing a constitutional amendment to restrict the Second Amendment by raising the minimum purchase age for all guns to 21, instituting a waiting period on firearm purchases, banning firearms that Democrats label “assault weapons,” and instituting universal background checks.
He did not mention that California has all the gun controls contained in his amendment proposal and also has the gun controls Newsom outlined individually: California requires permits to carry guns in public and has a waiting period that is seven days longer than the 72-hour period that was proposed in Maine. Despite all these controls, California led the nation in “active shooter incidents” in 2021.
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.