While hundreds of Second Amendment activists were in Dallas, Texas attending the 41st annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was busy in Sacramento, inking ten new gun control measures, including Senate Bill 948, which will require new gun buyers to take a gun safety class in order to buy a firearm, starting in 2029.
The legislation was authored by Berkeley Democratic Sen. Jesse Arreguín.
As stated in the legislation, “This bill would require an applicant for a firearm safety certificate, on or after January 1, 2029, to complete within the prior year a training course no less than 4 hours in length that, among other things, includes instruction on firearm safety and handling and live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range. The bill would authorize the Department of Justice to promulgate regulations and provide additional information for the implementation of these provisions.”
All ten bills are being misidentified as “gun safety laws” by Cal Matters, which noted that the California Rifle and Pistol Association considers the four-hour class requirement to be a “possible infringement on Second Amendment rights.” Coincidentally, CRPA President Chuck Michel was in Dallas, attending the Gun Rights Policy Conference.
In a news release, Newsom declared, “California has been a leader in gun safety because survivors, advocates, researchers, law enforcement, legislators and communities have continued to come together to turn hard-earned lessons into action. Today’s laws continue that work – using data, prevention and proven tools to help keep firearms out of dangerous situations and support communities affected by violence.”
Cal Matters quoted Emma Brown, executive director of the anti-gun Giffords lobbying group, stating, “California leads the nation in gun safety because its leaders work tirelessly to prevent violence and keep communities safe. The policies enacted today will save lives by closing loopholes and investing real resources in community violence intervention.”
Newsom’s office listed the bills signed by the outgoing Democrat governor:
- Assembly Bill 1743 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) — Firearms
- Assembly Bill 1753 by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani (D-San Francisco) — Protective orders: firearms and ammunition: notice and procedures
- Assembly Bill 1943 by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) — Pupil safety: notifications: firearms
- Assembly Bill 1974 by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani (D-San Francisco) — Firearms: voluntary firearm storage program
- Assembly Bill 2047 by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) — 3-dimensional printing blocking technology
- Assembly Bill 2339 by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) — Firearms: prohibited persons
- Assembly Bill 2378 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) — California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program
- Assembly Bill 2636 by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey) — Juveniles
- Senate Bill 948 by Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) — Firearms: safety certificates
- Senate Bill 1220 by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) — Firearms: prohibited persons
Newsom’s news release also touted the news that billionaire-backed Everytown for Gun Safety ranks California as No. 1 nationally for gun-law strength. There is no small irony here, as Statista shows California in 2024—the most recent year for which data available—logged the most murders of any state in the nation, racking up 1,782 slayings, based on FBI data.
Everytown also noted that 42 percent of firearms recovered and traced in California in 2025 originated from out-of-state dealers.
Mandated gun safety training as a prerequisite for purchasing and owning a firearm are seen by many to be the equivalent of an unconstitutional “literacy test” once required for voting in some states.
Newsom’s move came on the heels of the Department of Justice’s announcement it has sued the State of Minnesota, and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, alleging that Minnesota’s “permit to purchase” and waiting period regulatory scheme violate the Second Amendment.
“For Minnesotans who do not intend to carry in public, state law imposes a thirty-day waiting period. The lawsuit also challenges waiting periods in St. Paul and Minneapolis, where some citizens are forced to wait nearly 60 days,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“The Supreme Court held that the home is where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute. When a person needs to defend their home, they need to defend it now, not thirty to sixty days from now,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Law-abiding citizens do not need government permission to purchase a firearm, and forcing a citizen who has already passed a background check to wait up to sixty days to obtain a firearm is intolerable under the Constitution.”
The announcement left some gun owners in Washington state wondering when the DOJ will take a similar action against their “permit-to-purchase” requirement, which they believe clearly violates both the Second Amendment and Article 1, Section 24 of the State Constitution. The Second Amendment prohibits infringement of the right to keep and bear arms. Washington’s RKBA provision says the right to bear arms “shall not be impaired.”
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About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
