The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Mark Oliva tells Bearing Arms Cam & Co that the firearms industry trade group is waiting to see the specific text of Gavin Newsom’s latest gun control proposal, but he believes the governor’s plan to let private citizens sue over the possession or manufacture of “assault weapons” and “ghost guns” is an attempt to pander to his political base as well as an affront to the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

“As we’re starting to try to look into this and what it’s going to mean to the industry and what it’s going to mean to our customers, it is something that we think may be untenable,” says Oliva. “And it comes down to the fact that you have a constitutionally-protected, enumerated, God-given right to keep and bear arms. That is noted in the Constitution. And I’m not trying to mix the two different issues here, abortion and firearm possession, which is of course what Gavin Newsom is trying to do because it preaches to his base.”

Oliva goes on to say that Newsom’s proposal makes for good headlines and is sure to rile up those voters who may be aligned with the governor on abortion rights and gun control.

“But when you start talking about firearm possession, which is specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights as a right of the individual which has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, now we’re having some issues. So if he’s gonna allow individuals to take lawsuits against other individuals or firearm manufacturers, there are a lot of legal options that have to be overcome, not the least of which is the Constitution, but also the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”

While Newsom may be trying to earn brownie points with abortion rights activists, Oliva says that the governor’s pandering is likely to fall flat with many Californians who are watching Newsom once again blame legal gun owners and the firearms industry for violent crime while staying silent about the actual perpetrators.

“Governor Newsom came out and said that he was going to allow ordinary citizens as well as municipalities to go after the firearms industry and individual gun owners for simply exercising their Second Amendment rights, but he didn’t say anything about allowing them to go after the people who are perpetrating the crimes. Meanwhile you have district attorneys who are turning out criminals literally the day they commit a crime, right back out onto the streets and they commit the same crime again.”

Of course Gavin Newsom just keeping quiet about those committing violent crimes. He’s not going to say a bad word about Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin, or Gary Bonta, his own handpicked Attorney General, either.

“So when he’s targeting gun owners and not the criminals and telling people you can sue people who follow the law but not hold those accountable who are breaking the law,” asks Oliva, “who is Governor Newsom really representing? Is he representing the people of California or is he representing the criminals of California? I think that right now that’s a fairly obvious answer.”

There’s much more to Mark Oliva’s interview in the video window above, and I encourage you to check out the entire conversation along with today’s armed citizen story, our good deed of the day, and a plea deal that put a domestic abuser on probation despite a laundry list of charges he was facing.