New CA gun law garners mixed reaction from locals
A new gun law that Governor Gavin Newsom signed this week has gotten mixed reaction from locals.
The bill clears the path for gun violence victims to file civil suits against the companies that manufacture the firearms used in crimes.
The move effectively tightens gun laws in California, which has the strictest gun safety measures in the nation, according to the Giffords Law Center.
A 2005 federal law protects gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits when the weapons they produce are used to commit crimes.
Storm Jenkins, Owner of Guns of Distinction, believes the law is vague. “It's just it's it's so specifically targeting a constitutionally protected, practice constitutionally protected business. And it's pathetic."
He also believes it holds gun shop owners liable of the actions of others. “if someone dies from cirrhosis of the liver, do they get to so sue Jack Daniels? I mean, at some point, there's responsibility on the person who actually does something, and particularly in in business that is constitutionally protected.”
Gun makers and dealers in California will be required to block firearms sales to anyone they have “reasonable cause to believe is at substantial risk” of using a gun illegally or of harming themselves or others, under a new law that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he had signed.
“What are we supposed to do, you know, to be able to determine what someone has in their mind. The law is very specific on to whom we may and may not sell a firearm, and we got tons of paperwork, there's background checks," Jenkins added.
Ellie Kurpiewski with the Democratic Headquarters of the Desert believes otherwise. “If someone comes in and buys an AR 15, and an enormous amount of, of bullets, I think you should be asking the question of why. And I think you should say, You know what, I'm not going to do that," Kurpiewski added, “I think the owners of these gun shops have a duty in protecting the citizens, particularly the children.”
She believes tightening the gun restrictions should be of top priority, especially after recent mass shootings. “If they're going to manufacture them, if they're going to let 18-year-old who cannot buy a beer, but they can absolutely buy an AR15. Then yes, I think the manufacturers should have to pay up on that.”
Kurpiewski said she’s not against owning a gun, but doesn’t see the need for assault weapons. “When you see what an AR15 does to the body. This is a slaughter and yes, people kill they kill because they have a gun," she added, "And it has to stop. We have to start taking some responsibility. And that includes the owners of the gun shops.”
