Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) yearslong pursuit of the presidency is running into a problem: He is trying to portray himself as a moderate, while California Democrats keep pushing him to govern as the progressive disaster he has been.
California Democrats are attempting to ban the sale of new Glock handguns and similar off-brand guns, arguing that the bill targets the kind of guns used by criminals in violent crimes. These guns are among the most popular in the state of California, meaning that California Democrats are poised to ban a popular gun for law-abiding Californians and open the door for a future ban on all semiautomatic handguns.
For context on just how popular the gun California would be banning is, there are over an estimated million Glock handguns in circulation in the state. This is the same kind of gun that former Vice President Kamala Harris said she owned when she was running for president in 2024 and trying to portray herself as more moderate.
This law would certainly be considered unconstitutional and be struck down in court, another embarrassing black eye for California Democrats. It also highlights the liberal impulse of punishing law-abiding citizens for the crimes of criminals, especially since California Democrats have weakened sentencing enhancements for criminals convicted of gun crimes. It is once again a reminder that the Democratic mantra of “no one is coming for your guns” is a lie, and it would be the biggest, most serious reach in the gun-grabbing direction for any group of Democrats in the country.
COURT STRIKES DOWN CALIFORNIA AMMUNITION BACKGROUND CHECK LAW
The bill has already passed the state Assembly and is on the way to being passed by the state Senate. That means Gavin Newsom will either have to sign the bill, showing that his recent posturing about not being “anti-gun at all” is all a fraudulent act, or veto it, violating California progressive orthodoxy and painting a political target on his back for the 2028 Democrats who want to pander to the gun control activists in the party’s base.
This is how Newsom has operated for the past year. He has postured himself as tough-on-crime while undermining tougher criminal penalties voted on by Californians. He has postured as a moderate on transgender issues while still forcing girls to change next to boys in locker rooms and blocking schools from telling parents about their children’s alternate transgender identities. Newsom wants to be seen as a sensible moderate while governing as a staunch progressive, and this gun ban will once again expose his contradictions, one way or another.