In his six years as governor, Gavin Newsom has signed some of the nation’s strongest gun control laws.
It was a surprise to some, then, when Newsom accepted a Sig Sauer P365-Xmacro pistol from the conservative podcast host Shawn Ryan while the two recorded a four-hour episode last week in Tennessee.
“Everybody gets a gift,” Ryan said, before presenting the governor with the gun.
“Brother, this is fabulous,” Newsom responded. “The last thing people would expect is that I respect this gift.”
“Really?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, man. I’m not anti-gun at all,” Newsom said.
The gun, which is legal to own in California, will be the first firearm registered in Newsom’s name, his spokesperson Izzy Gardon confirmed. The pistol typically retails for around $700; state ethics rules limit the value of gifts politicians can accept at $630. Gardon said Newsom will pay Ryan the difference.
But transporting the gun from Tennessee back to California is a logistically — and politically — tricky process, and one that gun rights advocates say will show the governor firsthand how difficult it has become to own firearms in the Golden State.
“King Newsom is going to have to go through everything that all of the subjects of California, the plebeians, have to go through,” Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said in an interview.
Here’s the checklist that Newsom would generally have to follow to receive the gun:
- Ryan would have to bring the pistol to a licensed dealer in Tennessee to be transported to an authorized dealer in California.
- Once the gun arrives, Newsom would have to fill out forms, including a Dealer Record of Sale document, for the dealer to submit to the California Department of Justice.
- Newsom would have to wait 10 days before he could receive the gun. During that time, the DOJ would run a background check to ensure he is not banned from possessing firearms. (California generally bars former felons from owning guns, as well as those convicted of certain domestic violence crimes and those subject to restraining and other protective orders.)
- The governor would have to obtain a Firearm Safety Certificate, which requires a 75% score on a written test “pertaining to firearm laws and safety requirements” administered by a certified instructor from the DOJ. State law additionally requires a gun owner to perform a “safe handling demonstration” at the dealership before taking possession of the firearm.
- If Newsom does not own one, he would have to purchase a certified lock box or other DOJ-approved safety device to store his gun.
- Once satisfying those requirements, Newsom could take the gun home. But he would have to start a separate licensing and training process in Marin County, where he lives, with the sheriff’s department if he wanted to obtain a concealed-carry license.
Gardon did not confirm whether Newsom had started the process of transferring the gun to California or if it had already arrived.
During his conversation with Ryan, Newsom defended California’s gun laws, arguing that they have earned the state one of the country’s lowest rates of gun-related deaths. In contrast, Republican-run states, including Tennessee, typically have the highest rates.
But 2nd Amendment activists have long argued that California’s restrictions have made it onerous to own firearms in the state. Paredes called Newsom’s acceptance of the gift “the height of hypocrisy.”
“He is the chameleon governor who is now changing his stripes and is excited about receiving a gun, where he has done absolutely nothing but travesties against the 2nd Amendment as governor,” Paredes said.
Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said Newsom’s foray into gun ownership is likely part of a broader effort to “break down his national image as an unabashed progressive on every policy” ahead of a likely 2028 presidential run.
“By accepting that gun … he may have tried to send the message that gun control is about stopping people from having assault weapons and not opposition to any licensed gun ownership,” Kousser said. “He’s both trying to change his image and trying to kind of create a new image for what a progressive today stands for.”
Gun control advocates who have worked with Newsom to tighten California’s rules said they see no problem with the governor’s new weapon.
“Gun owners make our movement stronger,” Monisha Henley, senior vice president for government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. “From tackling ghost guns to taking the gun industry head on, Gov. Newsom has shown his commitment to gun safety.”
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino who has written several of California’s restrictive gun laws, said he doesn’t “see any contradiction between responsible gun ownership and supporting strong, commonsense gun safety laws.”
“In fact, many of the most passionate and engaged gun safety advocates we’ve worked with are themselves gun owners — because they understand that commonsense laws can protect communities without infringing on 2nd Amendment rights,” Gabriel said.
In his conversation with Ryan, Newsom said he spent Mother’s Day shooting skeet with his kids and wife. Newsom noted that his father-in-law, a staunch conservative who has donated to Republican political campaigns, gifted his young son his first rifle.
But he also said he was “challenged by large-capacity magazine clips in urban centers” and the proliferation of “weapons of war.” California’s rules around background checks, age requirements for gun ownership, and restrictions around those deemed unsafe from possessing firearms have contributed to a safer state, he argued.
“But otherwise, man,” Newsom said, “people have the right to bear arms.”