CA Bill Would Use Texas Abortion Tactic To Enforce Weapons Ban

San Diego CA

19 February, 2022

5:15 PM

Description

DEL MAR, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a bill on Friday that would allow private citizens to sue gun makers, a move that would hinder the ability to sell assault weapons in the state. The legislation borrows tactics from a controversial approach to outlawing most abortions in Texas, in which residents are allowed to sue abortion clinics to stop procedures. Newsom said he thought the Texas abortion law was wrong and lambasted the Supreme Court's decision in December to uphold it. "But they opened up the door. They set the tone, tenor, the rules. And either we can be on the defense complaining about it or we can play by those rules. We are going to play by those rules," Newsom said. "We'll see how principled the U.S. Supreme Court is." Last year, conservative legislators in Texas passed a law banning abortions after about six weeks into pregnancy or when a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law enables private citizens to enforce the ban by suing abortion clinics or anyone who "aids and abets" with the procedure. After the Supreme Court's decision in December, Newsom said that he would set to work on outlining a similar law that would enforce California's ban on assault weapons. "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 said in December. Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, told the Associated Press he believed the bill's true purpose is to ban guns altogether in California. "There's no question that it would put some of the smaller mom-and-pop gun stores out of business if they were challenged in court. They don't have the resources to defend themselves, even if they are not guilty," he said. "This will have a huge chilling effect, and that's their intent." Last year, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez overturned a decades old law that banned the sale and manufacture of many assault-style guns. Benitez said the law was unconstitutional and compared the AR-15 rifle to a Swiss Army knife. The ruling enraged Newsom and prompted him to strategize a new way to keep assault weapons out of the Golden State. "We need to call this federal judge out. He will continue to do damage, mark my word," Newsom said, calling the judge a "stone-cold ideologue." California law defines assault weapons as semiautomatic rifles or pistols that have a variety of functions. The bill would let people seek a court order to stop the spread of these weapons and recover a minimum of $10,000 in damages for each weapon, plus attorney's fees. Authored by Democratic state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, the bill is not yet available on the state's website. The bill would apply to those who manufacture, distribute, transport, import into California, or sell assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles or "ghost guns" — untraceable weapons that can be bought online and assembled at home, according to a fact sheet provided by Hertzberg's office. The bill is a fulfilled prophecy for some gun rights groups who had predicted progressive states would attempt to use Texas' abortion law to restrict access to guns. That's why the Firearms Policy Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates for gun rights, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the Texas law. "If Texas succeeds in its gambit here, New York, California, New Jersey, and others will not be far behind in adopting equally aggressive gambits to not merely chill but to freeze the right to keep and bear arms," attorney Erik Jaffe wrote on behalf of the Firearms Policy Coalition. California began restricting assault weapons in 1989 and has updated the law several times since. To date, there are an estimated 185,569 assault weapons registered within California, despite the ban, Benitez said last year. Assault weapons as defined by the law are more dangerous than other firearms and are disproportionately used in crimes, mass shootings and against law enforcement with more resulting casualties, according to the state attorney general's office. The Associated Press contributed to this report.