Gavin Newsom’s New-Found Respect for the Second Amendment Went Up in a Puff of Ninth Circuit Smoke

Anti-gun Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is having a hissy fit over Thursday’s 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Golden State’s requirement for background checks on ammunition purchases are unconstitutional, quite a change from his pro-gun remarks a week ago.

But the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is reminding the Golden State governor that when rights are on the table, his opinion doesn’t really count, especially when he seems to change it from week to week. Last week, Newsom appeared on Shawn Ryan’s podcast, where he accepted a SIG SAUER pistol and professed his support for the Second Amendment. This week, he’s reverted back to being an anti-gunner.

Newsom called Thursday’s ruling a “slap in the face to the progress California has made in recent years to keep its communities safer from gun violence.” He referred to the voter-approved ballot measure, passed in 2016, noting Californians “voted to require background checks on ammunition and their voices should matter.”

“Newsom’s so-called newly found support for the Second Amendment vanished overnight,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “He is a lying politician who can’t be trusted. We warned at the time that his pro-gun pronouncement needed affirmation, and he has failed to deliver, just as we expected.

“We’ve got some bad news for Gavin Newsom,” Gottlieb continued. “Constitutional rights are not up to a public vote, which the 9^th Circuit panel recognizes, even if he doesn’t. Neither are rights subject to essentially getting permission from the state, via a background check, in order for citizens to exercise them.”

The ruling came in a case known as Rhode v. Bonta, a case dating back to 2018. It was authored by Circuit Judge Sandra S. Ikuta, a George W. Bush appointee. Concurring was Judge Bridget S. Bade, a Donald Trump appointee. Judge Jay S. Bybee, also a George W. Bush appointee, dissented. The appeals court ruling upheld an earlier district court decision to grant a permanent injunction against the law.

Writing for the court, Judge Ikuta stated, “Given the fees and delays associated with California’s ammunition background check regime, and the wide range of transactions to which it applies, we conclude that, in all applications, the regime meaningfully constrains California residents’ right to keep and bear arms.”

“Gov. Newsom is widely considered to be running for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination,” Gottlieb observed. “Ranting that a constitutional right should be decided essentially by a popularity contest among California voters is not the way to win the hearts and minds of voters across the country.”