By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – August 18, 2021 It has not been hard to gauge where Gavin Newsom is on Gun Violence and Control. Since his days as San Francisco Mayor, he has been fully entrenched in the camp of "more" gun control, As governor of California he has shepherded a regular parade of gun control measures through California's legislature and subsequently signed them into law. Statistics seemed to show that this is working as gun violence has dramatically declined since the 1980's in California. But is this the entire story, or is something else at work? Californians are for the most part uncomfortable with guns primarily due to the often well publicized experiences with massed shootings, despite the fact that these incidents are relatively rare. Violent crime and suicide make up a majority of gun related deaths in California. Mass shootings represent less than two percent nation wide of gun deaths and injury. While the hype is on mass shooting, California legislators have leaped to the opportunity it affords to pass some of the most restrictive gun measures in the Country. Newsom's administration and Newsom himself have been very vocal about their part in this long list of gun regulation that have found their way to Newsom's desk to be signed into law. Something has changed over the past couple of years that has caused some Californians to rethink their stance on gun control and sales of guns has jumped by a significant margin. The change is a combination of things, unchecked riots in California's major cities, rise in violent crime, calls to de fund police, increasing theft, home invasions and a general unease surrounding government's ability to protect them if it becomes necessary. It can happen, this change in attitude in even the most gun challenged households. There continues to be this feeling that inspite of all of California's gun control measures that Newsom's administration has authored, it does not prevent criminals from acquiring weapons or gun violence from occuring in the streets. There is a growing sentiment that Newsom has failed in his duties to keep them safe and more attention is being paid to self protection with the purchase of a firearm. Clearly gun control is and always will be a contentious issue. Some want less regulation guaranteed by the US Constitution, others wish that guns were eliminated entirely from society. Those people and Governor Newsom do not realize that it is not possible to put the rabbit back in the hat. Guns have uses, that cannot be denied. Top down regulation, and hundreds of new laws will not change the problems that not the guns present, but the people that wield them. While Newsom focuses on the kind of gun and its appearance that is legal in the State, not enough attention is being paid to the why people use guns to commit mayhem particularly in our minority communities. Isolating people like second class citizens because they own guns does nothing to prevent irrational acts, suicide, murder, and violent crime. Newsom is great at twenty second sound bites demanding "gun control" yet solutions have clearly eluded him.