SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 California punched back Friday against two recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a controversial, first-in-the-nation gun control law patterned after a Texas anti-abortion law and urged other states to follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acted one month after conservative justices overturned the constitutional\u00a0right to abortion\u00a0and undermined\u00a0gun control laws\u00a0in states including California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom stitched the two hot-button topics together in approving a law allowing people to sue anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50-caliber rifles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sick and tired of being on the defense in this movement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to put them on the defense. You cannot sell, you cannot manufacture, you cannot transfer these illegal weapons of war and mass destruction in the state of California. And if you do, there are 40 million people that can collect $10,000 from you, and attorney fees, for engaging in that illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers patterned\u00a0the bill, at Newsom\u2019s request, after a Texas law allowing citizens to sue anyone who provides or assists in providing an abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court gave preliminary approval to the Texas law, but California\u2019s law will automatically be invalidated if the Texas law is eventually ruled unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court\u2019s support for the Texas law was \u201ca terrible decision,\u201d Newsom said. However, \u201cif they\u2019re going to use this framework to put women\u2019s lives at risk, we\u2019re going to use it to save people\u2019s lives here in the state of California.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom also placed $30,000 worth of\u00a0full-page advertisements\u00a0in three Texas newspapers Friday criticizing what he said is Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s hypocrisy on gun safety. The ads parrot a comment by Abbott about children\u2019s right to life but substitute \u201cgun violence\u201d where he said \u201cabortion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGovernor Newsom should focus on all the jobs and businesses that are leaving California and coming to Texas,\u201d Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a similar tactic to the television ad that Newsom, a Democrat running for reelection, recently\u00a0aired in Florida\u00a0targeting Gov. Ron DeSantis. Newsom again denied presidential aspirations Friday even while\u00a0stoking that speculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t take what\u2019s happening in this country,\u201d Newsom said in explaining the ads. \u201cCan\u2019t take the assault on liberty and freedom, can\u2019t take the rhetoric, can\u2019t take the … bullying, the zest for demonization of these governors, not just Abbott, DeSantis, but many of these other governors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An unusual combination of gun owner advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized Newsom for creating what they said amounts to a bounty system to encourage such lawsuits. The ACLU called California\u2019s law\u00a0\u201can attack on the constitution\u201d\u00a0for deliberately trying to sidestep judicial review by empowering enforcement by citizens and not governments, and for undermining due process rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about these two big issues that are facing us. And you can\u2019t have a double standard. You can\u2019t have one standard for guns and another standard for women\u2019s reproductive health. It\u2019s not right,\u201d Democratic state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, who carried the bill, said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gun control advocacy organizations Moms Demand Action and affiliated Students Demand Action backed the bill\u2019s potential to combat\u00a0untraceable \u201cghost guns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom signed the bill at Santa Monica College, where five victims were killed in 2013 by a gunman using such a gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new law \u201cwill make it easier for victims of ghost gun violence like myself to help enforce our laws,\u201d said Mia Tretta, who was shot in Santa Clarita during a 2019 attack at Saugus High School. She is now an incoming senior and a volunteer with Students Demand Action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom grew emotional as Tretta introduced him. He later said he couldn\u2019t help but recall her optimism as he visited her in the hospital after an attack that he said personalized the danger for him as the father of a pre-teen daughter himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aside from the merits of the bill, opponents say it is written to discourage any legal challenges to California\u2019s myriad gun regulations by requiring plaintiffs or lawyers to pay attorneys\u2019 fees if they lose the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That portion of the law \u201cis intended to make it impossible to file a Second Amendment challenge to an unconstitutional gun control law. That is itself unconstitutional,\u201d said Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom acted a day after he signed eight other gun laws among numerous measures adding to California\u2019s already strict regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They encourage the\u00a0safe storage of firearms\u00a0and limit gun making including\u00a0with a 3D printer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others bar gun sales\u00a0on state property, boost\u00a0inspections\u00a0of gun dealers,\u00a0limit dealer fees, and add\u00a0child and elder abuse\u00a0to the list of crimes that block gun ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor recently signed\u00a0another bill\u00a0patterned after\u00a0a New York law\u00a0that empowers anyone who suffered harm to sue gun makers or dealers who fail to follow precautions under a \u201cfirearm industry\u00a0standard of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further criticized the high court and conservative Republicans in\u00a0a video message\u00a0after he signed\u00a0two earlier gun bills\u00a0into law, one also addressing ghost guns and the other barring\u00a0marketing firearms to minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
California and New York also are scrambling to update their laws regulating the concealed carrying of firearms after the nation\u2019s high court ruled that Americans have a right to\u00a0carry firearms in public\u00a0for self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called lawmakers there back into a special session to approve changes that\u00a0take effect Sept. 1, including requiring gun owners to allow an examination of their\u00a0social media accounts. California legislators expect to\u00a0act in August\u00a0on concealed carry restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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