Tag: gavin newsom

Protection Orders, Gun Training, And 3D Printing Laws Among Gun Bills Signed By California Governor

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 10 gun bills into law that he says will enhance what he considers to be the state’s already exemplary record of firearms safety.

Newsom’s office announced the signing in a press release on Monday. According to the release, the laws are meant to reduce violent crime involving guns and reduce the number of illegal guns on the street, among other things.

They include a training requirement for the purchase of a gun, expanding criteria for the state’s extreme risk protection orders, voluntary firearms storage by law enforcement to prevent violent crime and suicide, and a requirement for firearms blocking technology on 3D printers in the state by July 1, 2029.

“California has been a leader in gun safety. 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,” Newsom stated in the press release.

Senate Bill 948 will make a training requirement necessary for acquiring a state firearms safety certificate for the purchase of a gun. Existing law requires the certificate for the purchase, transfer, or importation of guns within the state within 60 days of the transaction.

The new law adds a requirement for a four-hour training course that must cover firearm handling and safety as well as a live-fire component. The law becomes effective Jan. 1, 2029.

The press release also touted the state’s Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO), crediting them with preventing 58 mass shootings and reducing violent crime overall.

Assembly Bill 175 expands this by allowing courts to issue extreme risk protection orders even if the subject of the order has not been notified. It also prohibits courts from requiring petitioners to show that exceptional circumstances exist that make the order necessary.

Thousands of GVROs have been issued since the first laws were implemented in 2016, the press release states.

“Between 2021 and 2024, the number of longer-term GVROs issued each year in California more than doubled. In 2024 alone, California courts issued GVROs against 1,727 individuals found to pose a significant danger of firearm violence toward themselves or others,” the release states.

Newsom also signed a law meant to prevent suicides by providing temporary gun storage for those who are in crisis.

Assembly Bill 1974 allows law enforcement agencies to establish programs to take temporary possession of firearms from those who request such. The law requires the agency to provide clear instructions on voluntarily transferring custody of a firearm and instructions on requesting its return.

It also requires the agency to ensure the person is not prohibited from owning a firearm. The agency must also ensure the firearm has not been reported lost or stolen, used in a crime, or part of an active investigation. Guns that are not picked up by their owners will be destroyed.

The law also exempts the agencies and gun owners from certain requirements for concealed carry and transfer of firearms.

Assembly Bill 2047 is meant to hamper the production of homemade guns that do not have serial numbers or other identifying marks. The law sets a deadline of July 1, 2029, for any 3D printer sold in the state to have firearms blocking technology.

This technology would prevent the user from 3D printing so-called “ghost guns.” These guns are most often frames of synthetic materials produced on a 3D printer with metal parts purchased separately. The fact that the homemade guns have no serial numbers makes it difficult to trace them back to their source.

The press release states that the number of unserialized guns has been on the decline in recent years.

“Seventeen percent fewer ghost guns [were] recovered as crime guns in 2025, bringing the decline since 2021 to 37 percent,” the release reads.

Gun rights advocates decried the package of gun laws, saying they are about gun control more than gun safety.

Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), was especially critical of the training requirement, which he considers an obstacle to legal gun ownership.

“It comes after California has already passed an 11 percent excise tax on guns and ammo, and carry permits cost anywhere between $500 and $2,500 in the state, depending on the county. SAF is currently litigating against both of those abuses and will consider a lawsuit against SB 948 as its effective date in 2029 approaches,” Kraut stated in an email to The Epoch Times.

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Newsom Signs Laws Banning Shock Gloves And Taxing Immigration Detention Centers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 21 bills on Sept. 29 aimed at limiting federal immigration enforcement in the state, including a ban on officers using shock gloves and a new 25 percent tax on private detention centers.

“California is taking action to strengthen transparency, accountability, and oversight around immigration enforcement in our state,” Newsom said in a statement.

“This is about stepping up where the federal government has failed our communities,” the Democratic governor said. “We will continue protecting our people, upholding the rule of law, and making clear that if the federal government operates in California, we will hold them accountable.“

The shock glove ban applies to all officers in California, including federal immigration agents. It takes effect next year, expires Jan. 1, 2030, and requires the state Department of Justice to complete a safety study on the devices by Jan. 1, 2029.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded a $16.7 million no-bid contract last month for 6,000 pairs of the gloves, which deliver an electric shock at the push of a button. ICE said at the time that the devices would help officers control resisting detainees and protesters.

“Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from any safety equipment is despicable and a deliberate attempt to undermine and endanger our officers,” the agency said in a statement at the time, responding to a group of Democratic lawmakers who urged the agency to abandon the plan.

California law enforcement groups broadly opposed the shock glove ban, including Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper, a Democrat and former state lawmaker.

“When the federal government does something, the state Legislature wants to ban it,” Cooper said at a news conference last month.

“For me, use of force is so important. We talk about it all the time. De-escalating [to] a lower level of force. What they’re doing by trying to ban this glove, and it conducts electricity – a much lower voltage than a taser – they’re making our job harder.”

Newsom also signed a revised ban on officers wearing masks. A federal judge blocked the state’s first mask ban in February, ruling that it unfairly targeted local and federal officers because it exempted state officers. The new law applies to all officers.

Other bills Newsom signed on Tuesday restrict the use of state-owned property for immigration enforcement staging, processing, or detention, and one allows people to sue federal officials accused of violating their constitutional rights.

Another law protects people traveling to and from courthouses from civil arrest, and another bars ICE officers who have committed serious misconduct from becoming police officers or public employees in California.

A fifth law requires rental vehicles that law enforcers use for arrests or transport to display a decal identifying the agency, with limited exceptions.

Detention center taxes will go to state immigration-related services. A separate bill ends a property tax exemption claimed by some detention facilities.

Newsom’s office acknowledged in its announcement that California “cannot dictate federal immigration policy.” It said the state can set requirements for state property, state resources, detention facilities, public records, and law enforcement practices where federal enforcement operates in California.

Courts have mostly sided with the Justice Department in challenges to state limits on federal agents. In April, an appeals court blocked California’s separate law requiring officers to wear identification, ruling that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Federal judges have since blocked mask bans in Virginia on June 30, Philadelphia on July 2, and New York on Aug. 3.

States have fared better on other measures. On Sept. 4, a federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit challenging an executive order by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, that bars federal immigration officers from using state property for enforcement. California’s package includes a similar ban on state-owned property.

“To be crystal clear: we will not abide by unconstitutional mask bans,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in an emailed response to an inquiry from The Epoch Times on Tuesday.

“The Supremacy Clause makes it clear that California’s sanctuary politicians do not control federal law enforcement. No tax will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make California safe again. We need California to cooperate with our officers and stop releasing criminals from their jails into California’s neighborhoods. Seven of the 10 safest cities in America cooperate with ICE.”

The spokesperson said that enforcing immigration law is a federal responsibility under the Constitution. Concerning the shock gloves, the spokesperson said that ICE reviews its equipment to make sure it is “consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards,” and that officers are “highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

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CA Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs ‘No Kings Act,’ Making It Easier to Sue ICE Agents

Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 21 bills into law on Tuesday, one of which, the “No Kings Act,” makes it easier for left-wing migrant activists and others to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

One of the bills attempts to impose a 25-percent tax on private detention centers, another purports to ban law enforcement from using electric shock gloves, and another has a provision that makes it easier to sue federal immigration officers for doing their job.

“Trump has put his political interests above the health, safety and livelihood of American families,” Newsom said in a statement upon signing the bills, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “California is taking action to strengthen transparency, accountability, and oversight around immigration enforcement in our state. This is about stepping up where the federal government has failed our communities.”

“We will continue protecting our people, upholding the rule of law, and making clear that if the federal government operates in California, we will hold them accountable,” Newsom added.

Radical left-wing state Senator Scott Wiener (D), who sponsored the bill, celebrated the signing.

“ICE and Border Patrol have terrorized California communities with impunity,” Wiener claimed. “That ends today.”

He continued:

When federal agents act lawlessly, they should be held accountable the same as any other lawbreaker. But for too long, a loophole in the law has shielded them from accountability. The No Kings Act provides long overdue accountability to end the impunity powering ICE and Border Patrol’s terror campaign.

It is likely that some of the provisions in these various bills won’t pass legal muster for their attempt to interfere in federal law enforcement matters.

Other provisions include requirements to disclose 911 and emergency response records, the creation of a so-called “detainees’ bill of rights,” a ban on the use of flash-bang devices, and a ban on former ICE officers being hired by state law enforcement agencies.

The Chronicle reported in August that ICE had arrested nearly 50,000 migrants across the state, some 6,800 of them in Southern California and 11,500 in Los Angeles.

California has opposed the Trump administration’s voter-mandated efforts to institute mass deportations of illegal migrants after the state used migrants for years to pad state tax subsidies, especially where it concerned the fattening of education budgets as millions of migrant children flooded the state’s school systems.

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Democratic megadonor who gave to Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris linked to murky honeypot spy saga

A California family who has injected millions of dollars into Democratic campaigns are facing renewed scrutiny over their connections to people and organizations tied to suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang.

The Yin family, who made a fortune operating McDonald’s franchises in the state, has donated more than $4.4 million to state and federal political causes — including hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and other prominent Democrats, according to campaign records, CBS News reported.

The family’s political connections have drawn attention following the release of FBI files concerning Fang, also known as Christine Fang, whose relationship with disgraced former California Rep. Eric Swalwell became the subject of a major national-security controversy.

The documents released by the White House in August describe a working relationship between Fang and CC Yin, the 89-year-old patriarch of the Yin family, through the Asian Pacific American Public Affairs (APAPA) organization, which he helped establish.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Bills Making it a FELONY to ‘Seize’ Ballots Before Crooked State Officials ‘Certify’ Elections – U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli Responds

California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially decided to go to war with the Trump Administration after signing legislation that would likely enable even more widespread voter fraud.

Newsom announced on Saturday that he had just signed multiple laws that would, in his words ‘stop Trump’s attacks on vote by mail” by making the seizure of ballots a felony before state officials certify the elections.

“I just signed new laws protecting your ballot and STOPPING Trump’s attacks on vote-by-mail — making it a felony to seize ballots or interfere with our elections,” Newsom bragged on X.

“Trump can try all he wants. California WILL protect your right to vote!”

“Donald Trump won’t stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November. California will stop him at every opportunity,” Newsom said in a separate statement.

” We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling — the future of democracy is on the line.”

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Newsom Signs Executive Order Directing California to Develop an AI Kill Switch Plan

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday directing California agencies to speed up independent oversight of frontier AI companies and study an emergency shutoff, a “kill switch,” for the most powerful models.

The order tells the Government Operations Agency, working with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, to work with experts and deliver recommendations within two months.

Newsom said in a statement:

The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation.

We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late. We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action.

While Washington abdicates its responsibility to protect Americans, California is building on the strongest AI regulatory framework in the nation. California has already built a national model, and our policy should be the national baseline.

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Democrats Still Don’t Know How to Read Charts

Democrats can be unintentionally hilarious sometimes. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) reposted a chart on X Tuesday claiming housing prices are “the most unaffordable in history,” and that it was Trump’s fault.

There was just one huge problem.

The chart Newsom shared showed that the housing affordability gap actually widened during Joe Biden’s presidency, and X users noticed almost instantly, flooding his replies with screenshots of the very data he’d just posted as though it helped his argument. It didn’t take long for the pile-on to turn Newsom’s own post into a meme about his reading comprehension.

But the funny thing about it is that Democrats keep doing this. In July 2025, the Democratic National Committee posted a chart that they thought proved grocery prices were spiraling out of control in Trump’s second term.

The chart told a different story. It showed a huge spike under Biden. The DNC had unwittingly undermined its own attack on Trump. Social media users mocked the party within hours, dissecting the chart line by line, forcing the DNC to quietly delete the post… not that that stopped us from making fun of them anyway.

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“I Wouldn’t Do That to People” – Gavin Newsom Says He Won’t Run for President if Kamala Harris Runs During Fly Fishing Outing with Jake Tapper

California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed speculation of a 2028 bid for the White House in a CNN interview on Monday. 

Holding fly rods, knee-deep in the Bitterroot River in Montana, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Newsom discussed the 2028 election, with Newsom saying he “would never” have usurped Biden in the 2024 election and he wouldn’t challenge Kamala if she tries to run again.

Newsom was calmly dismissing his White House ambitions while fly fishing in Montana with Jake Tapper, in an obvious appeal to voters.

“I wouldn’t run if she ran,” he said, adding that he “wouldn’t do that to her” or “waste everyone’s time.”

“Electorally, it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They’d enjoy the hell out of it, mutually assured destruction. It services no greater good,” he said of a primary race with the ex-VP and himself.

Tapper noted that “she had a shot, and you’ve never run, and she’s run twice,” which Newsom agreed with, calling it a “good” case to make.

However, Newsom said, “I wouldn’t do that to people,” noting the “pure crossover” between his and her base of supporters, friends, and donors.

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California Passes Insane New ‘GTFO’ Law Blacklisting Anyone Who Worked for ICE

If California were a person, they would most likely be diagnosed as clinically insane.

In their latest bid to give the finger to the federal government, legislators in late August passed a juvenile, punitive law that would prohibit the state from hiring any agents who worked on immigration enforcement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during Donald Trump’s second presidential term.

It’s called the GTFO Act, which stands for Get the Feds Out, but which could be interpreted in a different, vulgar way. That, I am quite sure, is not accidental. State Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez (CA-84) and Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-CA) were behind the discriminatory act.

Even for the formerly Golden State, this is fourth-rate banana republic stuff.

Now that it’s through the legislature, it’s headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, where he will almost certainly sign it into law to appease his left-wing base as he preps for an all-but-certain presidential campaign. He has until September 30 to make it law.

If he does, expect the measure to be challenged in court — posthaste.

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DOJ Conducting Criminal Investigation Into Governor Newsom’s International Travel and Personal Spending

The Justice Department is investigating California Governor Gavin Newsom’s international travel and personal spending.

The US Attorney’s office issued subpoenas this month requesting testimony and communications with Newsom and others.

Prosecutors requested six years of records from the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit that has paid for Newsom’s international travel.

Newsom has directed millions of dollars in donations to the Protocol Foundation, according to records reviewed by the California Post.

“Since 2019, Newsom has directed more than $7.5 million in donations from outside groups to the Protocol Foundation, according to state records reviewed by The California Post. Roughly $5.1 million of that amount came from leftover inaugural funds,” the California Post reported.

The San Francisco Standard reported:

The federal government is conducting a criminal investigation related to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s international travel and its funding, according to subpoenas reviewed by The Standard.

The subpoenas — which were issued in early September and requested testimony and communications with the governor, among others — seek six years of records involving the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit that has paid for Newsom’s overseas travel, as well as communications with a circle of his current and former aides, advisers, and associates. Those aides include Rebecca Prowda, who oversees Newsom’s overseas travel as his chief protocol officer and is the wife of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.

The documents provide the clearest picture yet of the scope of a federal investigation effort Newsom first disclosed in June(opens in new tab), which he said was focused on him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

“The records requested by this subpoena are for use in a criminal investigation pending in the Eastern District of California,” according to one of the subpoenas. It was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Anderson.

The records obtained via subpoena will be presented to a grand jury, a group of jurors that acts like a judge, reviewing evidence and testimony to decide if there’s sufficient grounds for an indictment.

In addition to investigating the Protocol Foundation, federal prosecutors are probing the taxes of Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Seibel Newsom.

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