In an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell on Monday, in the aftermath of the Monterey Park mass shooting, California Governor Gavin Newsom reportedly assailed the constitutionally protected right to bear weapons, smearing it as a ‘suicide pact.’
He often asserted that the United States is exceptional among countries due to mass shootings.
He also targeted high-capacity gun magazines and advocated for tighter regulations on them.
“The Second Amendment is becoming a suicide pact, it feels like. And that’s the only question the community wants [answered]: how are you going to — what about our kids when they’re going to school? What more can we do? And you know, again, we look at that all the time. I mean, we did another half-dozen gun safety bills last year, we’ll continue to find whatever loopholes we can, we’ll continue to lead the national conversation on gun safety reform.” Newsom remarked during the exchange.
"This Second Amendment's becoming a suicide pact, it feels like," Gov. Gavin Newsom tells @NorahODonnell in Monterey Park. "California's 37% lower than the death rate of the rest of the nation, and yet, with all that evidence, no one on the other side seems to give a damn." pic.twitter.com/tSz7oawXtR
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 24, 2023
Large capacity magazines do not belong on our streets. pic.twitter.com/kvYXFQBOQs
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 24, 2023
Newsom went on to blame high-capacity magazines for the incidence of mass shootings, which he described as a distinctively American problem.
Later during the exchange Newsom tried to claim he had respect for lawful gun owners, and claimed he had no quarrel with them in spite of his previous statements:
“Yeah, I have great respect. I have no ideological opposition with someone reasonably and responsibly owning firearms and getting background checks and being trained and making sure they’re locked so their kid doesn’t accidentally shoot themselves or a loved one. Absolutely not. Never suggested that. That’s what they immediately do. ‘He wants to take away your guns.’ I just want to take away weapons of war that are illegal on the streets of California and should be illegal across the United States. I mean, literally, just use common sense.” Newsom said.
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