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<\/a>A woman places flowers at a memorial outside the Walmart store in El Paso where 22 people were fatally shot on Aug. 3.(Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n
By PATRICK MCGREEVY, STAFF WRITER
\nLos Angeles Times<\/p>\n
SACRAMENTO \u2014\u00a0<\/span>Following a string of mass shootings across the country this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday toughened California\u2019s already strict gun control laws, signing a raft of bills that broadly expand the state\u2019s \u201cred flag\u201d law and limit the purchase of semiautomatic rifles by individuals to one per month.<\/p>\n Newsom, who was elected last year on a campaign that\u00a0promised strict limits on firearms<\/a>, signed 15 bills passed in response to recent mass shootings.<\/p>\n \u201cThis continues California\u2019s leadership in terms of gun safety,\u201d Newsom said at a state Capitol bill signing ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cGun violence is an epidemic in this country, one that\u2019s been enflamed by the inaction of politicians in Washington,\u201d Newsom added.<\/p>\n The measure restricting purchases, SB 61, prohibits Californians from buying more than one semiautomatic rifle per month and is one of two gun bills by state Sen.\u00a0<\/b>Anthony Portantino (D\u2013La Ca\u00f1ada Flintridge). It also bans the sale of semiautomatic centerfire rifles to people under the age of 21, removing a provision of the law that allowed younger people to buy such weapons guns if they have a hunting license.<\/p>\n \u201cOur efforts to keep high-capacity weapons out of the hands of teenagers, continuing to close loopholes in law, and working with the DOJ and governor\u2019s office this past year on this slate of bills is important and appropriate work that will continue to make our communities safer,\u201d Portantino said Friday.<\/p>\n The restrictions on gun buying were opposed by groups representing gun owners, including the National Rifle Assn. and its state affiliate, the California Rifle and Pistol Assn.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill places burdens on law-abiding residents,\u201d said Amy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the NRA, about SB 61. \u201cIt will not make anyone safer.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Portantino measure signed by Newsom reduces the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is annually able to sell and the frequency with which they are able to sell.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is my hope that these bills can prevent a future horrendous violent situation,\u201d Portantino said.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s action comes just days after a new poll found that 68% of Californians say laws covering the sale of guns should be more strict. The poll, released Oct. 2 by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, found that 38% of state residents said they are very concerned about the threat of a mass shooting in their area, an increase from 28% who had the same fear in a PPIC poll two years ago.<\/p>\n Republican legislators opposed the one-gun-a-month bill and criticized the state for failing to remove guns from the hands of thousands of felons and people judged by the court to be severely mentally ill as it is already empowered to do.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead we continue to do more and more legislation that interferes with the law-abiding citizen\u2019s right to own and possess firearms, which is their constitutional right to do,\u201d said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).<\/p>\n The measure eliminating an exemption to the rifle-purchase ban for those under 21 who have hunting licenses was proposed after law enforcement discovered that the 19-year-old who committed a\u00a0mass shooting at a synagogue in Poway<\/a>\u00a0had applied for a hunting license.<\/p>\n However, the hunting license wasn\u2019t valid at the time of the April shooting, which left one person dead and three injured.<\/p>\n A mass shooting that left 17 dead at a\u00a0high school in Parkland, Fla.<\/a>, in 2018 was cited by lawmakers who approved legislation to expand \u201cred flag\u201d laws that allow people to petition the courts to remove guns from persons judged a danger to themselves or others.<\/p>\n The law currently allows law enforcement and family members of troubled individuals to ask the courts to issue a \u201cgun-violence restraining order\u201d that takes away their firearms, but the measure signed Friday by Newsom adds teachers, school administrators, employers and co-workers to the list of those who may petition the courts to remove guns.<\/p>\n Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) authored the bill after school officials said they had raised concerns about the behavior of the Parkland shooting suspect before he allegedly went on a rampage in February 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cThoughts and prayers are no longer enough,\u201d Ting said Friday. \u201cWith school and workplace shootings on the rise, it\u2019s common sense to give the people we see every day the power to intervene and prevent tragedies.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom, who led the 2016 campaign that won voter approval of the gun control initiative Proposition 63, had signaled for months that he wanted to expand the state\u2019s red flag law.<\/p>\n Another measure signed by the governor extends the length of gun-violence restraining orders from one to five years.<\/p>\n Despite gun laws that are the strictest in the nation, California has seen its share of mass shootings, including one July 28 at the\u00a0Gilroy Garlic Festival<\/a>\u00a0that left three people dead and 17 injured.<\/p>\n Within days of the Gilroy shooting, a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso and another man gunned down nine people outside a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio.<\/p>\n Newsom has reacted angrily to the carnage and demanded that Congress adopt national gun safety measures.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no problem with the 2nd Amendment \u2014 you have a right to bear arms, but not weapons of goddamned mass destruction,\u201d Newsom told reporters during a visit to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center after the Gilroy shooting.<\/p>\n Portantino and Newsom criticized the U.S. Congress on Friday for failing to take action of its own on gun violence.<\/p>\n \u201cI am very pleased that California continues to lead the nation on gun control, but saddened that despite tragedy after tragedy Washington remains incapable of acting on a national level in the best interests of all our communities,\u201d Portantino said.<\/p>\n