On May 2, before the act was passed, 26 Panthers were arrested after interrupting a debate on the bill in the California State Capitol. The act was California's most aggressive piece of gun control legislation, with critics saying that it was "overreaching the political activism of organizations". Hopeful that future handgun buyers would reconsider their own actions in the wake of the protest, Reagan approved additional legislation to establish a waiting period of fifteen days.[122] Although the Panthers gained national attention, their membership barely grew.[123] The act marked the beginning of both modern legislation and public attitude studies on gun control.[121]
After Reagan won the 1966 election, he and his advisors planned a run in the 1968 Republican presidential primaries.[124] He eventually stated that he was a Vietnam War hawk[125] while the other candidates' views on the war contrasted from each other.[126] He also ran as an unofficial candidate to cut into Nixon's southern support and be a compromise candidate if there were to be a brokered convention. He won California's delegates,[127] but Nixon secured enough delegates for the nomination.[128]
Reagan was critical of administrators tolerating student demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley.