Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a invoice that may enable personal residents to sue individuals who promote, manufacture or distribute assault weapons and unlicensed “ghost weapons” in violation of California legal guidelines.
The legislation is a swipe at a Texas legislation that permits people to sue anybody who helps a girl receive an abortion in that state.
Newsom, a Democrat who has been talked about as a doable presidential contender, signed the California laws on the identical day he launched an advert in Texas criticizing the state’s reproductive rights insurance policies.
“If Texas goes to make use of this authorized framework to primarily outlaw abortion and hurt ladies, all with the Supreme Court docket’s blessing, California goes to make use of it to avoid wasting lives and take AR-15s off our streets,” mentioned State Senator Robert Hertzberg, a Democrat who co-authored the Senate Invoice 1327.
Newsom has pushed for the legislation since final 12 months, when the Supreme Court docket upheld the Texas legislation permitting the vigilante-style lawsuits.
“Our message to the criminals spreading unlawful weapons in California is straightforward: you haven’t any protected harbor right here within the Golden State,” Newsom, who signed the invoice in Santa Monica, mentioned in a information launch. “California will use each device at its disposal to avoid wasting lives, particularly within the face of an more and more excessive Supreme Court docket.”
Within the advert positioned in Texas newspapers, Newsom confirmed an anti-abortion quote by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that mentioned abortion price kids their “proper to life.”
Newsom changed the phrase abortion with the phrase “gun violence,” altering the that means of the quote to claim that gun violence was killing kids somewhat than abortion.
He mentioned the brand new California laws was the state’s reply to “Texas’ perverse invoice that positioned bounties on docs and sufferers.”
Abbott didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Reuters.
Newsom final week positioned an advert in Florida criticizing that state’s conservative Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who, like Abbott, is taken into account prone to make a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
The adverts, together with a latest journey to Washington, have prompted hypothesis that Newsom himself is planning to run for president. To date, he has mentioned he’s not intending to take action.
