Gov. Newsom, abortion and guns: Two wrongs don’t make a right

Texas vigilante justice attack on women should not serve as a model for California to target assault weapons

Two wrongs don’t make a right, governor.

Three months ago, Gavin Newsom understandably railed against a new Texas law that undermines abortion rights and allows any private citizen to enforce it in court.

Yet, on Saturday, Newsom said he would work to create a modified assault weapons law premised on the same despicable legal tactic. It would allow California residents to seek damages of up to $10,000 plus attorney’s fees against anyone who manufactures, distributes or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit in the state.

“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,” said Newsom.

It’s all too typical of the governor, who seldom misses an opportunity to tweak his political foes on social issues. But his misguided approach gives credibility to a dangerous enforcement tactic: vigilante justice.

Berkeley Law School Dean and constitutional expert Erwin Chemerinsky is right when he says the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to let the Texas law stand while it’s being fought in court “has opened a dangerous door” by allowing citizens to enforce questionable laws.

The Texas law was specifically drafted to evade federal court review. The last thing Newsom should be doing is encouraging more widespread use of the tactic. It isn’t difficult to imagine Texas or another red state drafting laws against gay marriage, vaccinations, birth control, transgender rights or gun control.

“You can go on and on with examples,” said Chemerinsky.

Of late, we’ve witnessed far too many examples of what can transpire when citizens feel empowered to take the law into their own hands.

The Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was led by a mob that wanted to decertify the presidential election. Two people were killed and another wounded after teenager Kyle Rittenhouse drove 20 miles from his Illinois home to help “impose order” on civil unrest. Three white Georgia men chased down and murdered Ahmaud Arbery, a black man they suspected of burglary who was jogging along a street.

We should be seeking to curtail vigilante justice, not encourage it.

Yes, Newsom’s proposed law differs from the Texas abortion law in subtle ways, including the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has never specifically ruled that citizens have a right to sell, manufacture or distribute assault weapons or ghost guns. But that doesn’t justify the governor’s approach.

There’s work to be done reducing the deadly impact of assault weapons in California. That should be accomplished with laws that respect our legal processes, not by trying to run roughshod over them.

Texas leaders salivate over chaotic rebellion. Californians should be better than that.