© AP
CALIFORNIA-AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed allowing state citizens to sue firearms manufacturers to force them to curb their production of automatic rifles, much like Texas allows its residents to sue abortion clinics. . Newson then challenged the Supreme Court of the United States to treat the two issues in the same way.
At a news conference Friday in the coastal city of Del Mar, north of San DiegoNewsom said he thinks the Texas law is flawed and that the Supreme Court’s decision in December to keep it in place was “absurd” and “outrageous.”
“But they opened the doors. They set the tone, the tone and the rules. And we can either stay defensive, complain, or play by those rules. We are going to play by those rules,” he said. He later added: “We’ll see how straight the United States Supreme Court is.”
The unusual Texas law, passed last year, bans all abortions once a heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy. The law does not allow the government to enforce it. Instead, citizens can sue abortion clinics or anyone who “instigates and assists” the procedure.
California’s bill, released Friday, would do the same. But instead of suing abortion clinics, it would authorize suing firearms manufacturers and others who sell, produce or distribute assault rifles in the state.
California has banned the manufacture and sale of many assault weapons for decades. But last year, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez struck down that law, saying it was unconstitutional and likened AR-15s to a Swiss Army knife, stressing they were “good for both home and battle.” The ruling outraged Newsom, who promised to respond.
The proposal in California is exactly what gun rights groups feared would happen if the US Supreme Court upheld the Texas law.