Newsom announces Texas-style bill that would let residents sue gun makers
New California legislation encouraging litigation against makers and dealers of assault rifles and ghost guns is modeled on a Texas law allowing people to sue abortion providers.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting the gun control version of Texas’ abortion law that he called for in December.
State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) on Friday unveiled new legislation that would allow Californians to sue makers and sellers of assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles, ghost guns or ghost gun kits. Officials didn’t go into the details of the bill, but made it clear that it’s based on a Texas law allowing people to sue abortion providers.
“If Texas can use a law to ban a woman’s right to choose and put her health at risk, we will use that same law to save lives and improve the health and safety of the people in the state of California,” Newsom said at a press conference where he, alongside Attorney General Rob Bonta and lawmakers, rolled out a slate of gun control legislation.
The governor also dared the Supreme Court to strike it down since the justices in December upheld the Texas law.
“There is no principled way the U.S. Supreme Court can’t uphold this law,” Newsom said. “It is quite literally modeled after the law they just upheld in Texas.”
Hertzberg’s bill represents the state’s latest push for gun control, following a proposal from Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) to bolster gun makers’ and dealers’ liability and a separate bill to ban gun marketing to kids.
Friday’s announcement brings to fruition Newsom’s vow to emulate the Texas law after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it in December. It also sets up a legal test of the logic underlying the high court’s decision.
The governor has said California is merely playing by rules the Supreme Court set. But he has also hinted at his desire to force a legal reckoning, meaning the law’s impact could reverberate nationally.
Newsom and Bonta made it clear they are throwing their weight behind the gun control issue in an election year where Californians are voicing their angst about homelessness and crime.
Asked if he worried the gun industry might try to fight the legislation through a ballot initiative, Newsom said he believes Californians are on his side.
“The public has no patience for these purveyors of violence and death,” he said. “It will get crushed.”