Gavin Newsom takes aim at Texas gun laws

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has lately gone on the offensive, taking out a TV ad in Florida attacking Republican politicians running the state for repressive policies on voting rights, schools, and free speech, and urging those who care about freedom to join him in California.

On Friday, NBC News reported that Newsom is now bringing the same fight to Texas.

"Newsom is running full-page ads in Texas newspapers Friday trolling Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to highlight a new California gun law modeled on the Lone Star State’s restrictive abortion law," reported Alex Seitz-Wald. "The ads, first shared with NBC News, will run in the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and El Paso Times. They modify an Abbott quote about the state's abortion ban and promote 'California’s answer to Texas’ perverse bill.'"

“If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives," says the ad. "If Governor Abbott truly wants to protect the right to life, we urge him to follow California’s lead."

Texas is one state that has allowed a near-total abortion ban to take effect after the Supreme Court eliminated Roe v. Wade. Even before that, the state passed a controversial law allowing private citizens to sue anyone who "facilitates" an abortion after six weeks since a woman's last period, triggering a wave of Texas women seeking abortions in neighboring states. At the same time, Texas recently enacted a law allowing anyone who passes a federal background check to carry guns without training or a state permit — and appears to have no plans for revisiting state gun laws after the elementary school massacre in Uvalde.

Newsom's campaign-style offensive has led some Democrats to speculate the governor, who recently beat back a GOP-led recall attempt in a landslide, is mulling a presidential run, although he has made clear he has no plans to challenge President Joe Biden.