Fact Check: Did Gavin Newsom sign a 2026 law requiring parents to lock up guns from children?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a package of gun-safety measures, including laws addressing firearm storage and a voluntary program for temporarily storing guns outside the home.

The move has prompted claims online that Newsom also signed a new 2026 law requiring parents to lock up their firearms so children cannot access them.

The claim raises questions about whether the requirement is part of the new legislation or whether it refers to an existing California gun-storage law.

Claim: Newsom signed a new 2026 law requiring parents to lock up their guns

The rumor came from an X user named Democrate Deliver, who wrote, “Gov. Newsom signs bill requiring parents to safely store firearms so children cannot access them. Every Republican voted no.”

The post received thousands of views and comments within hours, with users questioning whether the claim was accurate.

The rumor appeared two days after Newsom signed a package of about 10 gun-safety bills on September 26.

The package expands firearm-storage options, including AB 1974, which creates a voluntary program allowing people to temporarily transfer firearms to law enforcement during certain crises.

The measures also strengthen enforcement of firearm prohibitions, address protective orders, expand school safety notifications involving firearms, and establish requirements related to technology that can block the use of 3D-printed guns.

The new measures build on California's existing firearm-storage rules rather than creating an entirely new requirement for parents to lock up guns so children cannot access them.

Fact Check: The claim is misleading

The claim is misleading. 

However, the claim incorrectly suggests that Newsom had just signed a new 2026 law requiring parents to lock up firearms so children cannot access them. California already had laws addressing the safe storage of firearms around children.

State law can impose criminal liability when a child is likely to gain access to a firearm unless the gun is secured in a locked container or with a locking device.

The existing rules were also strengthened for 2026. AB 53, enacted in 2024, amended California's criminal-storage law effective January 1, 2026, removing an exception related to taking "reasonable action" to secure a firearm from a child's access.

Therefore, the September 2026 bills did expand California's gun-safety measures and introduced additional firearm-storage tools, but the viral post conflates those new measures with an existing child-access storage requirement. It is misleading to describe the requirement as a new law that Newsom signed in September 2026.