California lawmakers prepare to introduce gun bill modeled on Texas abortion law

California lawmakers prepare to introduce gun bill modeled on Texas abortion law

Three Democratic California lawmakers announced Monday they plan to introduce a bill “to enable private citizens to hold firearms manufacturers and dealers liable for the harm their products cause.”

Assemblymembers Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, Chris Ward, D-San Diego, and Mike A. Gipson, D-Carson announced they would hold a news conference Tuesday morning to outline their bill.

This matches an idea floated by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow a Texas law enabling private citizens to sue abortion providers to remain in effect while a court challenge plays out.

“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,” Newsom said in a Dec. 11 news release. “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.”

— Malcolm Maclachlan