(PresidentialHill.com)- On Tuesday in a 24-10 vote, the California Senate passed a bill permitting private citizens to sue gun manufacturers and gun dealers who make or sell weapons that are illegal to own in the state of California.
The California bill, which was initially passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, is based on the Texas abortion law that allows private enforcement by Texas citizens through civil lawsuits.
That’s just dippy.
The Texas abortion law permits citizens to sue the doctor or clinic that performs an abortion. If the California law was based on that, the only person who could get sued is the one who pulls the trigger.
The California bill couches the distinction by claiming a gun manufacturer or gun dealer is “engaging in conduct that aids and abets” someone who uses an “illegal” gun. The Texas abortion law doesn’t permit citizens to sue the person who drives a woman to a clinic. Citizens in Texas can’t sue the construction company that built the abortion clinic.
When Governor Gavin Newsom first suggested a gun law that mirrors the Texas abortion law, he claimed that if the Supreme Court was going to allow the Texas law to remain in place, then California was going to do the same thing for guns.
The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the Texas law as yet.
It’s never smart to use the power of government to send a petulant “well oh yeah?!” response to another state. But this is California we’re talking about. That state is run by politicians with the emotional maturity of a teenage girl.
The bill still has to pass the California Assembly. But since the Assembly is just as radical as the Senate, it will likely pass with ease.
The larger question is whether the courts will permit the law to stand.
Last month, the California law barring the sale of firearms to anyone under 21 was found unconstitutional by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
