California Gov. Gavin Newsom is going to use Texas’s abortion law as a template for new gun legislation.
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I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place and largely endorsing Texas’s scheme to insulate its law from the fundamental protections of Roe v. Wade. 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.
I have directed my staff to work with the Legislature and the Attorney General on a bill that would create a right of action allowing private citizens to seek injunctive relief, and statutory damages of at least $10,000 per violation plus costs and attorney’s fees, against anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts in the State of California. 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’s announcement is exactly what Republicans feared. There is a reason why the gun groups have filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging that the Texas law be overturned.
It was only a matter of time before Democrats started using the Texas abortion law template to carry out their priorities. Imagine legislation that made it easy for citizens to sue corporations that are destroying the environment. Not only could it happen, but it is likely to happen.
Texas Republicans passed an illegal bill that the Supreme Court still has not overturned. The longer the Texas abortion bill remains the law, the bigger the crisis grows for the Republican Party.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
