https://www.newsmax.com/politics/nra-gavin-newsom-california/2023/06/08/id/1122887/The National Rifle Association skewered California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday after the Democrat called for a constitutional amendment on gun safety, saying his state is a "beacon of violence" because of his policies that favor criminals over law-abiding citizens.
Newsom's call for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution comes two months after a federal judge in March blocked key provisions of a California law that restricts the sale of new handguns in the state, saying parts of the legislation violate the Second Amendment.
"Newsom's latest publicity stunt once again shows that his unhinged contempt for the right to self-defense has no bounds," the NRA said in a statement to Newsmax. "California is a beacon of violence because of Newsom's embrace of policies that champion the criminal and penalize the law-abiding.
"This is why the majority of Americans rightfully reject his California-style gun control."
Newsom said his proposal "guarantees common-sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, independent voters, and gun owners overwhelmingly support — including universal background checks, raising the firearm purchase age to 21, instituting a firearm purchase waiting period, and barring the civilian purchase of assault weapons."
The Firearms Policy Coalition, a national gun rights and legal group based in Nevada, said Newsom is "using guns, gun owners, and tragedies to get free press for his perpetual political campaigning by proposing to drag the nation into his failed policy of criminalizing the mere exercise of fundamental rights."
"That Newsom is willing to offer this route to impose his immoral policies on the entire nation is an ironic recognition that the tide of history has turned against him and a genuine admission that his failed policies cannot withstand court scrutiny," the group said in a statement.
"Newsom's naked ambition, conceit, and depravity in calling for the criminalization of tens of millions of peaceable Americans is a wake-up call to all those who oppose despotism and state violence."
