Pro-gun activists slam Newsom on pledge to model assault weapons ban on Texas abortion law
LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing for an assault weapons ban modeled after the Texas abortion law, which allows private citizens to sue doctors or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.
When the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene in the Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, it sent shockwaves across the country, especially in California. Now, Newsom says California will use the Supreme Court's decision to reduce the already illegal sale of "ghost" guns and assault rifles in the state.
"The Supreme Court has opened up the door," Newsom said during an exclusive interview with ABC7's sister station KGO-TV. "(Chief Justice John Roberts) was absolutely right in his dissent around the concern about this opening up the door for similar laws for states that want to turn over enforcement to the public, and provide upwards of $10,000 dollars in legal fees to be recovered for people to report the illegal sale of 'ghost' guns and the illegal sale of weapons of war, assault weapons."
Newsom says gun violence isn't just on the rise in California, but across the United States. But gun owners say they will fight Newsom's proposal to the end.
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"I am 100% secure in the thought that he is not going to get away with this," said Sam Paredes, the executive director of Gun Owners of California. "As he proposes this to his attorneys, I think they will see that if they pursue this it will be a monumental waste of taxpayer dollars. Equating California gun laws and the ruling on the Texas case is comparing apples to nuclear submarines. They have no relation."
Newsom says he's against the Texas law because it puts women's lives at risk, but believes failing to act on gun control does the exact same thing.
"I think what Gov. Newsom is trying to project out is, 'Well, if the way to make sure that we can insulate our laws from a federal court overturning them is to say, OK, it's going to be a private actor, not the state that enforces it, then I'm going to go ahead and do that.' So, is this is a political move? Absolutely. Is it a legal move? Absolutely. It's a little bit of both," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The California state legislature could act on Newsom's proposal as early as Jan. 3 and if it becomes law, it would certainly be challenged. If it makes its way to the Supreme Court, legal scholars believe the majority-conservative court won't view gun rights the same as they view abortion rights, likely striking down the law.
