September 27, 2023

Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) teamed up with Gun Owners of California (GOC) to promptly serve California AG Rob Bonta in a lawsuit challenging portions of SB 2, a bill that anti-gun Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law yesterday. This unconstitutional legislation was passed in response to the Bruen decision (which ended the state’s draconian “may-issue” policy), and among other provisions would:

• Enact highly restrictive “sensitive locations” where concealed carrying would be prohibited, including all private property unless expressly permitted by the owner;
• Require 16 hours of training;
• And significantly increase the costs associated with securing a permit.

This suit specifically goes after the “sensitive locations” provision of the law.

Several other anti-gun states have enacted similar unconstitutional legislation in response to the Bruen decision, and GOA and GOF are a part of litigation in several of these cases.

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:           

“This is just the latest assault on our rights in California. Just as concerning, Governor Gavin Newsom has already made his anti-gun intentions quite clear: he wants to effectively repeal the Second Amendment. Sadly, his acknowledgment that doing so would be the only way to enact more gun control did not dissuade him from violating his oath when he signed this law into effect, but we are fully prepared to fight back.” 

Sam Paredes, on behalf of the board for GOF and in his role as the Executive Director of Gun Owners of California, added:   

“Pro-gun groups in California have had success when pushing back on legislation like this – just look at our victory last week against the state’s magazine ban. And just like in that case, we are confident SB 2 will be overturned. I’ve been warning governors and legislatures across the country since the Bruen decision that these “response bills” will not stand, but unfortunately, many have still been pushed through. That won’t stop us however – states should fall in line, or we will make them.”    

GOA spokesmen are available for interviews.  Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

-GOA-