Gavin Newsom rages at Supreme Court over New York Second Amendment decision

California Gov. Gavin Newsom had some choice words for the United States Supreme Court after the body struck down a New York law that tightly regulated the act of carrying guns outside the home, setting precedent for the repeal of similar laws in California and other progressive states.

“A dark day in America,” he tweeted. “This is a dangerous decision from a court hell bent on pushing a radical ideological agenda and infringing on the rights of states to protect our citizens from being gunned down in our streets, schools, and churches. Shameful.”

The justices ruled 6-3 that the New York law, which required concealed-carry applicants to demonstrate a compelling need to carry a firearm outside the home, infringed on a person’s right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.

While no specific California laws were directly overturned in the court’s ruling, many state and local laws are now vulnerable to legal challenges. For example, California requires applicants to demonstrate that they have “good cause” to carry a weapon outside the home. Legal scholars have typically defined “good cause” as an immediate danger to the applicant or a family member.

Under current law, local law enforcement agencies — such as city police departments or county sheriff’s offices — are responsible for determining if an applicant has good cause for carrying a weapon outside the home.  

Just hours after the ruling, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that his office was working with Newsom and other Democratic leaders in the state Legislature to craft a bill in response to Thursday’s decision. The new bill would specifically prohibit concealed firearms in places such as schools and voting centers, and would update the qualifications for obtaining a concealed carry permit in California. Bonta said completion of a robust “assessment of dangerousness” would be a perquisite for obtaining such a permit.  

“While this decision is no doubt a setback for the safety of Americans, it also affirmed the rights that states maintain to protect our people,” Bonta said at news conference. “It leaves us with options to protect our families, and we intend to use those options.” 

Thursday’s ruling came just weeks after 19 children and two staff members were killed by a gunman in an elementary school in Ulvade, Texas, and roughly a month after 10 people were shot and killed in a racist attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. In response to the Uvalde shooting, Newsom vowed that he’d fast-track and sign at least 12 gun control laws that were worming their way through the state Legislature at that time.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has already signaled that she may call a special session of that state’s Legislature to address the court ruling, and it would be unsurprising if Newsom and Democratic leaders in the state Legislature move quickly to pass the bill Bonta announced.