Newsom still hasn’t picked up the gun he received as a gift

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed some of the nation’s toughest gun control laws, but he had nothing but good things to say to a conservative podcaster who gave him a new gun last year.

“Bro, that’s great,” Newsom told host Sean Ryan, last summer. “The last thing people would expect is that I respect this gift … I’m not anti-gun at all,” Newsom said.

Well, as it turns out, Newsom still doesn’t have possession of his firearm — the first registered in his name — likely due to California’s strict gun control regulations, which he has supported throughout his political career. Those rules make obtaining a gun more difficult in California than in other states, including those whose voters Newsom would hope to court in an expected presidential campaign.

On Monday, Newsom filed his mandatory state ethical documentationwhich requires him to disclose his sources of income, sponsored trips and the gifts he received last year.

Newsom listed a SIG Sauer gun among the wine, tote bags, tickets to the San Francisco 49er and NBA All Star Game, and $21,585 in sponsored travel to Brazil for a climate change summit.

Comments under the gun reveal read: “Governor Newsom has reimbursed SIG Sauer in excess of $600; it is currently held by (a) licensed firearms dealer and is not in the possession of the Governor.”

According to the state’s ethics rules, a California politician can only accept a gift worth less than $630so Newsom had to pay the remainder of the gun’s total value. The gun retails for about $700.

Newsom’s office did not respond to CalMatters when asked if the firearms dealer holding his gift was in California or another state, such as Tennessee, where Ryan’s podcast is based. Last year, CalMatters asked Newsom’s press team how he planned to take the gun home. They did not respond to multiple inquiries.

It’s entirely possible that Newsom simply hasn’t prioritized spending time on his new gun, but Second Amendment advocates say it’s just as likely that the very barriers to gun ownership in California that Newsom maintains are making the process difficult for him.

“You would think that maybe he would look at this and think, ‘Maybe I should do some things differently here because this is causing (me) difficulty,'” said Adam Wilson, director of legislative affairs at Gun Owners of California. “But he doesn’t understand that because he doesn’t care what ordinary gun owners go through.”

To take the gun home, Newsom must first jump through a number of regulatory hoops that will take time away from his busy schedule to run the state, as well as travel around the country and the world, raising his profile for a potential presidential campaign.

First, he had to arrange for the gun to be shipped to a licensed firearms dealer in California. Newsom will then have to pass a background check, provide thumbprints, take a gun safety test, sign affidavits, provide a driver’s license and documents that contain his name and address, such as a current utility bill. Newsom will also have to pay about $300 in fees and taxes on the $700 gun.

He has to do everything himself since gun owners have to appear in person to complete the paperwork. He will then have to make a return trip after completing the 10-day waiting period in California to sign for and pick up his new firearm.

Newsom’s record on gun control

Newsom has long made gun control his political brand.

As lieutenant governor, he supported a successful ballot initiative for mandatory background checks on ammunition purchases, the first in the nation. The same initiative also banned anyone from possessing “high capacity” ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Second Amendment groups have challenged California’s background check system and magazine ban in federal court, though the rules remain in place pending appeal.

Since being sworn in in 2019, Newsom has signed several other gun control bills, including bill of 2023 addition of 11% excise duty on arms and ammunition. They also face legal challenges.

Newsom also proposed adding the 28th Amendment to the US constitution to impose new age restrictions, background check requirements and mandatory waiting periods for gun buyers. His proposed amendment would also ban civilian ownership of so-called combat weapons. No other state has signed on to Newsom’s proposal.

Last year, a few months after receiving a SIG Sauer from Ryan, he signed four new gun control laws, including the first ban in the country about the new Glock pistols and their various off-brand imitators. The new ban does not apply to Ryan’s gift.

The new law targets Glocks because criminals can modify certain models to fire in fully automatic mode with what’s known as a 3D-printed “switch.” It is illegal to possess an automatic weapon without a special federal permit.

“We are extremely grateful to the governor for his leadership and signing the bill into law,” its author, Jesse Gabriela Democrat representing the Encino area told CalMatters after Newsom signed it. “And I think that just underscores what a champion he has been on these issues.”
Another account Newsom signed last year limits the number of guns a Californian can purchase in a month to three. He signed it several months after a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found unconstitutional a previous California law that Newsom signed in 2019 that limits handgun sales to one weapon per month.

“We are not aware of any circumstances in which the government can temporarily limit the exercise of constitutional rights in this way,” the judges wrote in their decision. “We doubt that anyone would think that the government could limit citizens’ right to free speech to one protest a month, their right to free exercise to one place of worship a month, or their right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures to only apply to one search or arrest a month.”