Newsom Signs Gun Control Package

Gavin Newsom quietly signed nearly a dozen gun control bills, timing the announcement to land during the Gun Rights Policy Conference.

What happened: After weeks of silence following California's legislative session, Newsom's office confirmed he signed the full package on the same weekend gun rights advocates gathered for their annual conference. The governor's statement claimed the moves keep California "#1 in gun safety."

The bills that matter most:

• SB 948 — requires anyone moving into California with a firearm to complete a four-hour training course with a live-fire component before they can legally keep their gun.
• AB 2047 — mandates 3D printers sold or used in the state include blocking technology to prevent printing firearm components, with penalties for anyone who defeats it.
• SB 1220 — strips gun rights for 10 years from anyone convicted of a misdemeanor "ghost gun" offense.
• AB 1753 — tightens firearm and ammunition relinquishment rules for people under restraining orders.

The restraining order bill isn't a surprise. The Supreme Court's Rahimi decision already gave states room to disarm people under protective orders, so AB 1753 is playing it fairly safe legally.

The bigger problems: SB 948 puts new California residents in an impossible spot — a four-hour course with live fire is barely enough time to safely handle a firearm, let alone qualify on marksmanship the government has no constitutional authority to demand in the first place. Get it wrong on test day and you could be looking at losing your firearm entirely, despite the Second Amendment saying nothing about how well you need to shoot to keep your rights.

SB 1220 continues a pattern gun owners have watched for years: lawmakers using misdemeanors to trigger felony-level consequences. If a "ghost gun" offense is serious enough to cost someone their gun rights for a decade, it should be charged as a felony. Charging it as a misdemeanor while imposing felony-style consequences suggests lawmakers don't actually believe the underlying conduct is that serious — they just want the leverage.

Threat level for 3D printer owners: AB 2047 is the one to watch nationally, not just in California. Because California's market is so large, printer manufacturers may find it cheaper to build California-compliant blocking technology into every unit they sell, everywhere — meaning gun owners in states where home manufacturing is completely legal could still end up buying printers with built-in restrictions baked in by default.

What to watch: Given the current climate around suing manufacturers for what customers do with their products — see the ongoing pressure on companies like Glock — don't be shocked if 3D printer makers become the next target for litigation over jailbroken devices.

The bottom line: None of this is subtle. California isn't hiding the ball on where it stands with gun owners — it's just gotten better at picking the news cycle to bury the announcement in.