Newsom signs new gun control laws, including one requiring owners

California already has some of the tightest gun laws in the country, so what does Gavin Newsom do? He signs ten more. The headline grabber is the new four-hour safety course requirement, as if a classroom session is going to stop a single person from committing a crime. It won't, but it will cost law-abiding owners time and money, which seems to be the point. This is bureaucracy dressed up as public safety.

The legal challenges are coming, and they should. Requiring a safety course to exercise a constitutional right is a poll tax with a PowerPoint. Nobody is arguing against safe storage or responsible ownership, but these laws pile burdens on the people who already follow the rules. The criminals buying guns off the books? Not exactly signing up for a Tuesday night class. The Second Amendment exists precisely for moments like this, when a governor decides his own judgment trumps the Bill of Rights.

Newsom knows exactly what he is doing. He is playing to a national audience of primary voters, not solving a problem in his own state. California's crime problems are not driven by licensed gun owners sitting through a four-hour lecture. It is a performative stunt with real consequences for honest citizens. Maybe he should spend that time reading the Constitution instead of finding new ways around it.