Freshman Senator Catherine Blakespear was in the Capitol in the Senate Chamber when her

ninth grade ninth grade

daughter Ava texted. She was hiding under a desk at school.

Ava tried to protect herself during a mass shooting at her public high school in Encinitas, a picturesque beach town north of San Diego.

Blakespear, a Democrat who represents a highly competitive district, briefly mentioned this scary story Tuesday at a news conference in Sacramento where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 23 bills aimed at reducing gun violence. Two of the measures were Blakespears.

Thousands of families are going through this, she told the gathering of lawmakers, gun control activists and reporters. It doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t need to normalize gun violence.

Later, I called Blakespear to learn more about her terrifying experience as a mother living the nightmare of a daughter potentially becoming another mass shooting victim.

It turns out the senator is a former colleague, and was a Times reporter in the Ventura bureau for two years around 2000. She left to cover the 2002 Salt Lake City conference.

Winter Olympics Winter Olympics

for the Associated Press. Then she wised up and went to law school.

Blakespear returned to her hometown of Encintas and practiced law, became involved in local politics, won a seat on the city council and became mayor. In November, she was elected to the Legislature, edging out a Republican.

She was on the Senate floor in the spring when her daughter texted.

She says, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,'” the senator recalled. I say everything you say as a fearful parent, realizing that guns are the biggest killers of children. You hear helicopters flying and sirens blaring.

There was a teacher at the door shouting down the hall, “Get into this classroom.” “If there are gunshots, I lock the door and don’t open it to anyone,” Blakerspear says. Another teacher pointed to low bushes in the ground as hiding places.

It was like the Lord of the Flies society collapsed.

This is what our society has become, even in California it continued. This is what school is today. It’s horrible.

The Ava’s school had faced what it considered a credible human threat. But there was no shooter.

However, it inspired the new senator to become even more fervent

–

control crusader.

One of her bills signed into law is significant. Beginning in 2028, it will require all semiautomatic pistols sold new or used in California to be equipped with micro-stamp technology. That technology will allow law enforcement to more easily trace bullets and cartridges to weapons used in crimes.

The Legislature thought it accomplished this several years ago by mandating micro-stamps of unique traceable markings on all new pistol models. But gun makers skirted the law by not introducing new models in California. The new law requires micro-stamping of every semi-automatic model sold.

The senators’ other bill is less ambitious. It only requires gun dealers to post warnings about the danger of having a firearm in your home. Research has shown that it is more dangerous to have one than not

because because of

accidents, suicides and domestic violence.

Blakespear is among the growing number of Americans affected by gun violence or the threat of it.

The Public Policy Institute of California reported in July that, based on polling, nearly two-thirds of Californians are concerned about the threat of a mass shooting in their community. And a quarter of people worry almost every day that they or a loved one will become a victim of gun violence.

These numbers will undoubtedly escalate, increasing pressure on lawmakers to control guns. Regulating the types of firearms, those who can obtain them, and requiring substantive background checks are necessary controls that many gun owners can support.

But the latest round of new laws appears to be the first time California’s governor and legislature have targeted law-abiding gun owners, rather than criminals, in one specific case.

A new law that would be the first in the country to impose an 11% state excise tax on firearms and ammunition sales could drive a wedge between practical gun owners and reformers.

And without compromise there

That will probably happen

gun violence in America will never end.

At the signing of the bills, a reporter pointed out to Newsom that he has opposed tax increases in the past. Then why did he agree to implement a new gun tax?

Well, for me it’s a little different, the governor replied. There is no general income tax, no corporate tax. This is, from my perspective, more of a sin tax. The costs borne by taxpayers for gun violence are off the charts. So it’s a small price to pay. This is quite de minimis.

Owning a gun is not a sin. Newsom may have trouble explaining his comment in 2028 if he runs for president in battleground states with a hunting culture like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The gun tax will fund a number of very valuable, proven gun violence prevention programs. But as I’ve written before, they will benefit all Californians and they should be funded by everyone.

Newsom notes that the biggest current obstacle to reducing gun violence is the federal court system, especially the Supreme Court. Several major California gun controls on high-capacity magazines and assault weapons are in danger of being killed in federal courts.

Don’t get me started on how corrupt the United States Supreme Court is, Newsom said.

The gun lobby has already filed a lawsuit against one of the biggest bills Newsom has signed: a law to resume restrictions on carrying concealed loaded weapons.

California can continue to implement more gun controls. But until the courts change and the gun haters and gun addicts agree on practical solutions, moms

like like

Blakespear will continue to receive text messages from her children hiding under a desk.