Image by Jason Gillman from Pixabay 

November 7, 2023 - WASHINGTON D.C. – Ahead of oral arguments in United States v. Rahimi, Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a statement urging the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law prohibiting individuals under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms. Today’s statement follows an amicus brief the Governor filed in the Supreme Court earlier this year in the case. In his brief, the Governor argued that the lower court incorrectly interpreted the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision and that the government’s ability to enact gun regulations to protect families from dangerous individuals is supported by a longstanding historical tradition.

WHAT GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAID: “My message to the Supreme Court today is simple: Gun safety laws save lives — and keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers is consistent with longstanding historical tradition and the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court must reverse the lower court’s outrageous decision.”

CALIFORNIA’S GUN SAFETY LEADERSHIP:

✔️ California is ranked #1 in the nation for gun safety, according to the Giffords Law Center.

✔️ California has a 43% lower gun death rate than the national average and according to the CDC, California’s gun death rate is the 44th lowest in the nation, with 8.5 gun deaths per 100,000 people – substantially lower than states like Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.

✔️ California’s red flag laws helped prevent at least 58 potential mass shootings since 2016, according to the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.

✔️  California’s gun homicide rates for women and children are substantially lower than the rest of the nation, according to the California Department of Justice. From 2018 to 2022, California’s gun homicide rate for female victims was 46% below the national average — and 57% below the national average for children victims aged 14 and under.

Since 2019, California has strengthened its nation-leading gun safety laws by making it easier for Californians to sue manufacturers of illegal assault weapons and those bringing them into our communities, allowing lawsuits against irresponsible members of the gun industry, strengthening prohibitions on ghost guns, and restricting marketing to minors. California is the first state in the nation to call for a Constitutional Convention for gun safety.

A copy of the Governor’s amicus brief in Rahimi is available here.
Source: Office of the Governor