FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of White House

FILE: USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Man in gun shop
3. Various of gun for sale

San Jose, California, USA - Oct 6, 2023 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Greg Woods, professor, Justice Studies Department, San Jose State University (partially overlaid with shot 5):
"This is an attempt by the governor to first of all incentivize individuals to perhaps use a cost benefit analysis and determine whether or not truly they need to lawfully purchase the weapon. And in doing so, it's going to increase the cost of doing business not only for the manufacturers but also the retailers. But then we also have to remind ourselves that no matter how much money is acquired by this additional 11 percent excise tax, it won't necessarily speak to those individuals who might very well be motivated to engage in gun-related offenses. They steal the firearms or they acquire them through nefarious means."
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5. Interview in progress
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6. Article published on California Rifle and Pistol Association
(CRPA) website titled "SB 2 becomes law, CRPA and Allies already challenging it"
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Greg Woods, professor, Justice Studies Department., San Jose State University (partially overlaid with shot 8-9):
"The California Supreme Court will have no problem affirming the constitutionality of these particular laws, but when they’re challenged in the Supreme Court of the United States, I predict the opposite result. As flaccid as an attempt this may be, it will certainly place this issue at top of mind so that we might be able to discuss it in the highest courts."

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FILE: Crystal Lake, Illinois, USA - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of guns

San Jose, California, USA - Oct 6, 2023 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of interview in progress
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FILE: Crystal Lake, Illinois, USA - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Salesmen, customers in gun shop

FILE: California, USA - March 25, 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of customers buying guns

Lawmakers in California, a state that has some of the strictest gun laws in America, have passed new measures aimed at discouraging gun purchases and restricting where they can be carried.

California has a significantly lower rate of firearm deaths than the rest of the U.S., but there has been an increase in gun violence in recent years.

In September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a number of gun control measures, including an 11-percent tax on the sale of guns and ammunition on top of what the federal government already taxes.

The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition at either 10 percent or 11 percent, depending on the type of firearms. The law Newsom signed adds another 11 percent tax on top of that - making it the only state with its own tax on guns and ammunition, according to the gun control advocacy group Brady.

The money will be used to pay for more security at public schools and violence prevention programs.

California is the first U.S. state to implement a special tax just for guns and ammunition.

"This is an attempt by the governor to first of all incentivize individuals to perhaps use a cost benefit analysis and determine whether or not truly they need to lawfully purchase the weapon. And in doing so, it's going to increase the cost of doing business not only for the manufacturers but also the retailers. But then we also have to remind ourselves that no matter how much money is acquired by this additional 11 percent excise tax, it won't necessarily speak to those individuals who might very well be motivated to engage in gun-related offenses. They steal the firearms or they acquire them through nefarious means," said Greg Woods, professor of Justice Studies at San Jose State University.

Newsom also signed into law Senate Bill 2, which increases the minimum age for a concealed weapons permit from 18 to 21. It also bans people from carrying guns in numerous locations, including parks and playgrounds, schools, government buildings, churches, public transit, and properties where alcohol is sold. That's only a small part of the list.

The California Rifle and Pistol Association has already filed a lawsuit claiming the net effect will be to disarm the lawful.

In fact, last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6 to 3 decision that people in a number of states have a right to carry a concealed gun in public for self-defense.

In a major expansion of gun rights after a series of mass shootings, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more legally armed people. About one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law.

The high court's first major gun decision in more than a decade split the court 6-3, with the court's conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

"The California Supreme Court will have no problem affirming the constitutionality of these particular laws, but when they’re challenged in the Supreme Court of the United States, I predict the opposite result. As flaccid as an attempt this may be, it will certainly place this issue at top of mind so that we might be able to discuss it in the highest courts," said Woods.

Among the gun laws just passed is also the requirement that semiautomatic pistols sold in California use microstamping technology which etches unique identifiers on expended cartridges. According to Woods, that not only helps law enforcement trace shooting suspects, but could also open a litany of liability for individuals who purchase firearms.