Gun-bounty law pitched in California

Use Texas-style legislation to go after firearms violators, governor says

Angered by the U.S. Supreme Court decision to continue allowing private citizens to sue Texas abortion providers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday called for a similar law giving ordinary residents legal standing to file lawsuits against purveyors of restricted firearms.

“SCOTUS is letting private citizens in Texas sue to stop abortion?!” Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted. “If that’s the precedent, then we’ll let Californians sue those who put ghost guns and assault weapons on our streets. If TX can ban abortion and endanger lives, CA can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives.”

The governor’s response seemed to contradict his earlier criticism of the Texas law, which Newsom had previously described as a cynical attempt to undercut federal rights.

In a statement released Saturday evening, Newsom said he had instructed his staff to work with California’s Legislature and attorney general to write a bill that would let citizens sue anyone who “manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts” in California. The governor called for damages of at least $10,000 per violation, plus costs and attorney’s fees.

“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 the statement.

The governor’s response seemed to explicitly position California opposite Texas in the divisive battles over abortion rights and gun control — and to position him personally on a national front in the culture wars.

The governor’s vow to use California courts against gun violence followed the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to let stand Texas’ ban on most abortions.

The law allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion performed after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That development typically occurs around six weeks and often before women realize they are pregnant.

Newsom’s response seemed to fulfill warning that if the high court backed Texas’ legal strategy, liber al-leaning states might use the same tactic to limi rights dear to conservatives such as gun rights.

The governor said that “i states can now shield thei laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swis Army knives, then Califor nia will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.”

The reference was a swipe at a court ruling thi year in which a federal judge overturned California’ 30-year ban on assault weap ons, comparing the guns fre quently used in mass shoot ings to pocketknives.