"If [Texas] can ban abortion and endanger lives, [California] can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives." That's Gavin Newsom's latest stance, and one he intends to try to turn into law. The California governor made his announcement Saturday on the heels of the Supreme Court's ruling the previous day that allowed Texas' so-called heartbeat bill, which bars abortions after about six weeks, to stand. That law isn't directly enforceable by the state, but instead uses a "novel enforcement mechanism," per CNN, which allows private citizens to file civil lawsuits against doctors or clinic operators who help women get abortions. Newsom wants Californians to have the same opportunity to sue, but for an entirely different reason.
"If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people's lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm's way," Newsom said in a Saturday evening statement, referring to a recent decision by a federal court that overturned a California ban on assault rifles, per the Los Angeles Times. The federal judge in that case made the assault weapon-Swiss Army knife comparison, calling guns like the AR-15 "a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment," the paper noted in August.
Newsom wants the new California bill he's proposing to function in the same way as Texas' law, in regard to private citizens being able to wield it to file complaints against manufacturers, sellers, or distributors of assault weapons, as well as ghost gun parts and kits. The governor said in his statement that he's instructed his staff to work in tandem with the state Legislature and Attorney General Rob Bonta on a law that would allow citizens to ask for statutory damages "of at least $10,000 per violation plus costs and attorney's fees."
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"If the most efficient way to keep these devastating weapons off our streets is to add the threat of private lawsuits, we should do just that," Newsom added. The Times reports that the earliest the Legislature could start the ball rolling on this bill would be Jan. 3, when lawmakers come back from the holidays. After that, even if a bill passed, it would face "near-certain legal challenges," the paper notes. (More Gavin Newsom stories.)
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