Governor Newsom Signs Hertzberg & Portantino’s Major Gun Reform Measure
For Immediate Release: July 22, 2022
Contact: Aaron Skaggs, (916) 651-4025
Governor Newsom Signs Hertzberg & Portantino’s Major Gun Reform Measure
Bill Modeled on Texas Private Right of Action Abortion Ban
Santa Monica, California - Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1327, a major gun reform bill jointly authored by Senators Bob Hertzberg and Anthony Portantino. SB 1327 allows private citizens to sue a person who manufactures, distributes, transports, imports, or sells assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles, ghost guns, or ghost gun kits in California. It allows citizens to sue for $10,000 on each weapon involved, as well as attorney fees. Governor Gavin Newsom is the official sponsor of the legislation, which takes its framework from a Texas anti-abortion bill declared to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The continued need to adopt sensible solutions to our nation’s tragic history of gun violence is dire and necessary,” said Senator Portantino. “That includes SB 1327 - which I am proud to jointly author with Senator Hertzberg. I am grateful to Governor Newsom for his partnership on this important bill that will keep our communities safe and improve public safety for all Californians. If Texas can outrageously use this type of law to attack a woman’s reproductive freedom, we can do the same thing in California to hold gun dealers accountable for their actions,” stated Senator Portantino.
“Any tool we can use to protect the public is the right thing to do,” Senator Hertzberg said. “If have a situation with ghost guns, assault weapons and 50-caliber machine guns killing innocent men, women and children then we have an obligation to act. There’s no higher calling for state policymakers than to protect the public they serve.”
SB 1327 continues Senator Portantino’s record as one of California’s most ardent gun reform advocates. During his time in the Assembly, the Senator successfully banned the open carry of handguns and rifles in California and as Senator, he raised the general gun purchase age in California to twenty-one. In 2019, Governor Newsom also signed Senator Portantino’s SB 172. The bill enacted a slate of significant provisions related to firearms storage by broadening criminal storage crimes, adding criminal storage offenses to those offenses that can trigger a 10-year firearm ban, and creating an exemption to firearm loan requirements for the purposes of preventing suicide. The same year, SB 376 was signed into law, which reduces the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is annually able to sell and the frequency with which they are able to sell. In 2021, Senate Bill 715 was signed into law, which enacts important gun purchase safeguards. Senator Portantino is working with Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta on SB 918, California’s answer to the recent Supreme Court decision on Concealed Weapons Permits.
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