NRA Takes Aim at California’s Gun Ban

The National Rifle Association is pushing back hard against a novel California law that outlaws the sale and transfer of one of the country’s top-selling handguns, the Glock and its equivalents.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom put his signature on the bill last Friday, with enforcement kicking in on January 1, leading the NRA to initiate legal action on Monday by asserting that it tramples on the Second Amendment freedoms of state residents.

“Our message to Governor Newsom is simple: we will see you in court,” NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director John Commerford said. “Gavin Newsom and his gang of progressive politicians in California are continuing their crusade against constitutional rights.”

“Once again, they are attempting to violate landmark Supreme Court decisions and disarm law-abiding citizens by banning some of the most commonly owned handguns in America. This flagrant violation of rights cannot, and will not, go unchecked,” he added.

Breaking Down the Ban and the Lawsuit

California’s legislation bars firearm vendors from selling, offering for sale, exchanging, giving, transferring, or delivering any “semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistol.” It defines this as “any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted by hand or with common household tools,” zeroing in on Glock and similar designs.

Proponents from the Democratic side claim it’s designed to curb the illegal modification of these pistols into machine guns—a practice already prohibited under federal statutes, punishable by up to 10 years behind bars.

The lawsuit, targeting California Attorney General Rob Bonta, brings together the NRA, two of its members, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Second Amendment Foundation. It points out that Glocks are some of the “most popular firearms in the nation.”

In comments to The Daily Wire, Commerford stressed that the suit shows the NRA’s stance against allowing “a rabid anti-gun governor” to mandate from afar how people can uphold their Second Amendment entitlements. He invoked the Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller decision, which safeguarded the right to possess handguns for personal protection, contending that Newsom’s prohibition equates to a blanket ban on such arms.

Commerford told The Daily Wire that the lawsuit shows that the NRA “will not stand by while a rabid anti-gun governor dictates from their office how individuals can exercise their Second Amendment rights. The Supreme Court has opined that you cannot wholesale ban handguns, and that’s exactly what Governor Gavin Newsom just did.”

Newsom’s Erosion of Core American Liberties

Governor Newsom’s drive to implement this sweeping ban represents a direct onslaught on the foundational rights of Americans, masquerading as a safety measure while systematically dismantling the ability of everyday citizens to defend themselves.

By prohibiting access to trusted, commonplace handguns like Glocks that countless responsible individuals use for self-protection, this policy blatantly disregards constitutional safeguards and Supreme Court rulings, leaving people vulnerable and stripping away their autonomy in personal security decisions.

This kind of governmental intrusion not only defies the Second Amendment’s promise of the right to bear arms but also paves the way for further encroachments on individual freedoms, prioritizing political agendas over the safety and independence of law-abiding Americans.