Newsom wants Texas-like law to ban assault guns

By ADAM BEAM

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom connected Saturday pledged to empower backstage citizens to enforce a prohibition connected the manufacture and merchantability of battle weapons successful the state, citing the aforesaid authorization claimed by blimpish lawmakers successful Texas to outlaw astir abortions erstwhile a heartbeat is detected.

California has banned the manufacture and merchantability of galore assault-style weapons for decades. A national justice overturned that prohibition successful June, ruling it was unconstitutional and drafting the ire of the state’s Democratic leaders by comparing the fashionable AR-15 firearm to a Swiss Army Knife arsenic “good for some location and battle.” California’s prohibition remained successful spot portion the authorities appealed.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers successful Texas this twelvemonth passed a instrumentality banning abortions aft a fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs astatine astir six weeks into pregnancy. The Texas instrumentality allows backstage citizens to enforce the ban, empowering them to writer termination clinics and anyone other who “aids and abets” with the procedure.

Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Texas instrumentality to stay successful effect portion termination clinics writer to artifact it. That determination incensed Newsom, a Democrat who supports termination rights.

“If states tin present shield their laws from reappraisal by the national courts that comparison battle weapons to Swiss Army knives, past California volition usage that authorization to support people’s lives, wherever Texas utilized it to enactment women successful harm’s way,” Newsom said successful a connection released by his bureau astatine 7 p.m. connected Saturday.

Newsom said helium has directed his unit to enactment with the state’s Legislature and its Democratic lawyer wide to walk a instrumentality that would fto backstage citizens writer to enforce California’s prohibition connected battle weapons. Newsom said radical who writer could triumph up to $10,000 per usurpation positive different costs and attorneys fees against “anyone who manufactures, distributes, oregon sells an battle weapon” successful California.

“It the astir businesslike mode to support these devastating weapons disconnected our streets is to adhd the menace of backstage lawsuits, we should to conscionable that,” Newsom said.

The ineligible combat implicit the Texas termination instrumentality has focused connected its antithetic operation and whether it improperly limits however the instrumentality tin beryllium challenged successful court. Texas lawmakers handed work for enforcing the instrumentality to backstage citizens, alternatively than authorities officials.

The lawsuit raised a analyzable acceptable of issues astir who, if anyone, tin writer implicit the instrumentality successful national court, the emblematic way for challenges to termination restrictions.

Newsom’s weapon connection would archetypal person to walk California’s authorities Legislature earlier it could go law. The Legislature is not successful league present and is scheduled to reconvene successful January. It usually takes astir 8 months for caller bills to walk the Legislature, barring peculiar circumstances.

State Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican from Bieber, would reason the program but predicted it could astir apt walk California’s Democratic-dominated authorities Legislature. He said the connection was astir apt a stunt for Newsom to triumph favour with his progressive basal of voters up of a imaginable tally for president successful the future.

“The close to carnivore arms is antithetic than the close to person an abortion. The close to person an termination is not a Constitutional amendment. So I deliberation he’s mode disconnected base,” Dahle said. “I deliberation he’s conscionable utilizing it arsenic an accidental to grandstand.”

But Newsom’s Saturday nighttime declaration is simply a fulfilled prophecy for immoderate weapon rights groups who had predicted progressive states would effort to usage Texas’ termination instrumentality to restrict entree to guns. That’s wherefore the Firearms Policy Coalition, a nonprofit radical that advocates for weapon rights, filed a little with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the Texas law.

“If Texas succeeds successful its gambit here, New York, California, New Jersey, and others volition not beryllium acold down successful adopting arsenic assertive gambits to not simply chill but to frost the close to support and carnivore arms,” lawyer Erik Jaffe wrote connected behalf of the Firearms Policy Coalition.