Lt. Guv and 2018 gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom will announce a campaign today to toughen the state’s gun laws with a new ballot initiative proposal that is sure to rile many Californians. Chris Megerian has details at the Los Angeles Times:
“California already has some of the toughest rules on firearms in the country. But even though buying, selling and manufacturing large-capacity magazines are illegal in the state, possession is not. Under the measure Newsom will propose, thousands of such magazines would need to be taken away.
“Owners would be required to sell them to a licensed firearms dealer, take them out of state or turn them over to police. Possession would be a misdemeanor.”
California’s marijuana industry needs its own bank, says Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma in an op ed published last week. She argues that as long as federal law lags behind state law on the issue, California’s marijuana industry cannot properly function. David Downs, SF Gate:
“[Fiona Ma]: ‘Right now, one of the largest industries in California — and the tens of thousands of citizens who work in it — is being restrained from fully integrating into our financial and tax systems. This is a lose-lose proposition for our state. With legalization looming, we need to ensure that California is fully prepared to answer the difficult questions that come with building a new, regulated industry in a short time frame. Colorado’s growing pains can provide some useful lessons for California, and we need to pay attention to those lessons so that we are prepared for the changes that might be coming next year, and more importantly, to get those changes right the first time.’”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced a new website to help victims of “revenge porn” seek redress. Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times:
“Harris said 90% of the victims of cyber exploitation are women. In some cases, former boyfriends have posted intimate images of victims on websites to humiliate and embarrass them, even listing home addresses or other contact information that led to harassment…
“The new website explains how victims of cyber exploitation can contact different technology companies to have images, including photos and videos, removed. The site also includes contract information for law enforcement agencies where the crimes can be reported.”
Harris is also the Democratic frontrunner in the campaign to replace retiring senator Barbara Boxer. The GOP field appears to be more fluid, but former state Republican Party Chair Duf Sundheim posted a haul of over $240K since announcing for the seat just over a month ago. Also from Phil Willon at the Times:
“Sundheim touted his ability to attract such financial support for a campaign he officially launched just over a month ago, crediting it, in part, to the backing he has received from former Secretary of State George Shultz and Cisco Systems Chairman John Chambers, the co-chairs of his campaign.
“’The people of California are tired of the professional political class of both parties who make promises that they never keep,’ Sundheim said in a statement he released with his campaign finance report. ‘For over a decade, we have taken on the establishment of both parties and won.’”
And, let’s make it a three-fer (a Roundup first): a third story from Phil Willon notes that Sundheim’s rival, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside), has only had $9,528 cash on hand as of Sept. 30, despite holding a lead among GOP candidates:
“Rocky Chavez, a Republican Assemblyman from Oceanside, reported raising $93,579 this year for his campaign to succeed Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate, a high-stakes race that already has generated millions in contributions to the Democratic front-runners.
“Chavez, a retired Marine colonel and former Oceanside City Council member, downplayed his financial disadvantage in the race….
“’Politics isn’t all about money, and it shouldn’t be. We’ve seen time and time again Republican candidates in California raise and spend astronomical sums of money, only to lose by double digits,’ Chavez said in a statement. ‘I'm a Marine, and no stranger to hard work and perseverance. My campaign will continue to be resourceful, innovative, and effective. Let me be clear - I am in this for the long [haul].’”
Congrats to KQED’s Scott Shafer, newly named Senior Editor of the California Politics and Government Desk, taking over from John Myers, who is heading to the Los Angeles Times. Big shoes to fill, but a good choice to fill them.
It’s probably no secret that The Roundup is written by history nerds, so this story is right up our alley… except that it makes us want to retire and spend our days poking through junk shops in the Central Valley: a collector found the second known photograph of Billy the Kid in a Fresno junk shop for $2. It is estimated to be worth millions.
“Henry McCarty, known in Wild West lore as Billy the Kid, lived a brief and violent life, stealing and killing before his death in a gunfight aged 21. He lived with a gun in his hand – and sometimes, it seems, a croquet mallet.
“In a surprising historical twist, the second photo of McCarty ever to be authenticated shows him and his posse, the Regulators, playing the sport in New Mexico in 1878.
“The faded image was among a pile of photos inside a cardboard box at a junk shop in Fresno, California, unearthed by a collector in 2010. Randy Guijarro paid $2 (£1.30) for the image, which is now estimated to be worth millions of dollars. The only other confirmed photo of Billy the Kid, from 1880, sold for $2.3m (£1.5m) in 2011.
“The photo was authenticated by a San Francisco-based Americana company, Kagin’s, which identified Billy the Kid along with several members of the Regulators, as well as friends and family. It was taken after a wedding in the summer of 1878, just a month after the gang took part in the brutal Lincoln County war…”