In responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the Texas abortion ban to stay in place, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday said he plans to propose a gun control law that would be modeled on the Texas one.
Newsom said the Supreme Court’s decision has set a precedent that will allow states to avoid federal courts when enacting laws.
The Texas law allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
If states can shield their laws from review by federal courts, then CA will use that authority to help protect lives.
We will work to create the ability for private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts in CA. pic.twitter.com/YPBJ00vN6z
— California Governor (@CAgovernor) December 12, 2021
“I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place,” Newsom wrote in a statement Saturday. “But 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.”
He said he has already directed his staff to work with the legislature and the attorney general to craft a bill that would allow private citizens to sue those who manufacture, distribute or sell an assault weapon or ghost gun kit.
“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,” he wrote.