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KPBS Midday Edition

How do California and Texas gun laws compare?

Guns sit on a table after being turned in to San Diego police at a gun buyback event on December 21, 2012 at the United African American Ministerial Action Council in San Diego.
Katie Schoolov

Before even the names of the school shooting victims in Uvalde, Texas were known, Texas Governor Greg Abbott was dismissing calls to reexamine that state’s loose gun laws. He said the issue is not access to guns, but mental health.

The same day in California, Governor Gavin Newsom took a different stance. Alongside state lawmakers, he announced new legislation to tighten gun sales and allow citizens to sue illegal gun sellers.

And he urged the public to “not give in to the cynicism and all the crap that you heard today at that press conference around evil and mental health.”

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Newsom also noted that the gun mortality rate in Texas is much higher than in California, citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Just how different are gun laws between California and Texas?

The Mercury News reporter John Woolfolk joined Midday Edition on Friday, he reviewed both states' laws in a recent report.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.