New California governor recycles bill to limit individual gun sales

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is aiming to limit individual gun sales to one per month. (REUTERS/Mike Blake, File)

Newly inaugurated California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing a bill to limit individual gun sales to one a month - a measure that even the recently departed former governor, Jerry Brown, didn't try to push through the legislature.

But this time might be different.

“The Democrats have a supermajority in California,” Los Angeles-based firearms policy, risk, and strategy analyst Dennis Santiago told Fox News. “The bill is likely to pass.”

California Senate Bill 61, introduced by Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, will ban the purchase or transfer of more than one firearm within a 30-day period. The state already has laws to prohibit an individual from buying more than one handgun a month.

“Make no mistake, there are powerful forces arrayed against us,” said Newsom, a Democrat, who took aim at the gun lobby during in his inaugural address Monday. “A gun lobby that’s willing to sacrifice the lives of our children to line their pockets.”

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, addresses an election night crowd after he defeated Republican John Cox to become the 40th governor of California Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Despite pressure from state lawmakers last year, then-Gov. Brown vetoed a similar measure. In 2016, he also rejected “well-intentioned” legislation to impose the gun purchasing limit, claiming it “would have the effect of burdening lawful citizens who wish to sell certain firearms that they no longer need.”

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California has a wide array of new gun control laws that have come into effect this year, including a mandate that applicants for concealed carry licenses undergo a minimum of eight hours training and demonstrate proficiency. There's also a new law prohibiting anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense from possessing a firearm for the duration of their lives, and banning anyone under 21 from purchasing a long gun from a licensed dealer, with the exemption for law enforcement, military and licensed hunters.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Newsom will recycle gun control agenda items his predecessor vetoed. He does not have the same independent streak that Brown had,” Santiago added. “There is now little to stop his progressive agenda. But California alone will not be alone in this pattern of recycling. I expect to see the same in Congress under the Democrats.”