2023 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Gun Control

Dan McKee: I'm ready to sign a ban on sale of assault style weapons

We worked together to pass and sign common sense gun safety legislation. Our work in this area is not done--let's follow the lead of other states and send a bill to my desk that bans the sale of assault style weapons. I'm ready to sign that bill into law. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the R.I. legislature Jan 17, 2023

Gretchen Whitmer: It's time for commonsense action to reduce gun violence

The time for only thoughts and prayers is over. It's time for commonsense action to reduce gun violence in our communities. Let's enact universal background checks for people who want to buy firearms. Let's enact safe storage laws so we can make sure firearms are stored safely at home. And let's enact extreme risk protection orders, so we can keep guns out of the hands of those who might represent a danger to themselves or others. If Florida and Indiana can get this done, we sure can, right? Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Michigan legislature Jan 25, 2023

Jay Inslee: Require safety training; ban assault weapons

One of the most meaningful measures we can take is requiring that people have safety training before they purchase a gun. We expect that people have completed safety training in multiple parts of our lives. We should expect that before someone buys a gun they have some basic safety training. It has worked in other states. It's time to put it to work in Washington.

The time has come for this Legislature to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons. These weapons are designed for the sole purpose of destroying lives--the lives of school children, law enforcement officers, concert-goers, nightclub patrons, and people gathered in houses of worship. We owe our children the assurance we're doing all we can to keep them safe. Let's prove to them that the gun lobby doesn't make the rules in Washington state--we do.

Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Wash. legislature Jan 10, 2023

Kathy Hochul: Developed new strategies to deal with rise in gun violence

The pervasive unease that wormed its way into our day-to-day lives, the social isolation and the economic distress, led to a nationwide rise in crime and gun violence that we are now combatting. To respond, we developed new strategies and invested in new programs.

Strengthening our gun violence prevention laws by passing even stronger ones and closing loopholes.
Banning ghost guns and expanding bail eligibility for gun crimes. Tougher prosecutions of gun trafficking.
Mandating the use of Red Flag law leading to more than 5,000 cases where we kept guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them and kept innocent people from being hurt.
Raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase semi-automatic weapons.
Launching a first-in-the-nation 9 state task force on illegal guns which took more than 10,000 illegal guns off our streets this past year.
And tripling our investments in gun violence interruption programs.

Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the New York legislature Jan 10, 2023

Michelle Lujan-Grisham: Ban assault weapons; civil suits against manufacturers

That is why I am calling for a ban on assault weapons. I am calling for an end to the state loophole on straw purchases of guns because people with a history of violence should not be able to get a firearm. I am calling for safe storage reforms that impose penalties on anyone who fails to secure an unattended firearm and leaves it accessible to an unsupervised minor. And I am calling for legislation that would allow victims of gun violence to bring civil suits against firearm manufacturers. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the N.M. legislature Jan 19, 2023

Greg Abbott: Mandatory minimum sentence for illegally possessing guns

Another public safety issue is gun crime. Some want more gun laws, but too many local officials won't even enforce the gun laws that are already on the books. Most gun crimes are committed by criminals who possess guns illegally. We need to leave prosecutors and judges with no choice but to punish those criminals and remove them and their guns from our streets. I want a mandatory minimum sentence for criminals who illegally possess guns of 10 years behind bars. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Texas legislature Feb 16, 2023

The above quotations are from 2023 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for definitions & background information on Gun Control. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Andy Beshear on Gun Control. Click here for more quotes by Dan McKee on Gun Control.
*Candidates and political leaders on Gun Control:*
*Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:* GA:Chambliss(R) IA:Harkin(D) MI:Levin(D) MT:Baucus(D) NE:Johanns(R) OK:Coburn(R) SD:Johnson(D) WV:Rockefeller(D) *Resigned from 113th House:* AL-1:Jo Bonner(R) FL-19:Trey Radel(R) LA-5:Rod Alexander(R) MA-5:Ed Markey(D) MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R) NC-12:Melvin Watt(D) SC-1:Tim Scott(R)	*Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:* AR-4:Tom Cotton(R) GA-1:Jack Kingston(R) GA-10:Paul Broun(R) GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R) HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D) IA-1:Bruce Braley(D) LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R) ME-2:Mike Michaud(D) MI-14:Gary Peters(D) MT-0:Steve Daines(R) OK-5:James Lankford(R) PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D) TX-36:Steve Stockman(R) WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)	*Retired House as of Jan. 2015:* AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R) AR-2:Tim Griffin(R) CA-11:George Miller(D) CA-25:Howard McKeon(R) CA-33:Henry Waxman(D) CA-45:John Campbell(R) IA-3:Tom Latham(R) MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R) NC-6:Howard Coble(R) NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D) NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R) NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D) NY-21:Bill Owens(D) PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R) UT-4:Jim Matheson(D) VA-8:Jim Moran(D) VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Apr 02, 2023