Democratic governor Gavin Newsom reportedly got exactly what he wanted when a federal court stopped California from enacting a gun control plan that was purposefully based on an anti-abortion Texas law.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California granted a permanent injunction against the “fee-shifting” portions of the state’s gun law.
Benitez ruled that they provisions were illegal and allowed anyone to theoretically sue gun manufacturers.
The Texas law prohibits abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected and gives individuals up to $10,000 in damages to sue abortionists or anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion.
By using this fee-shifting method, the Supreme Court’s previous Roe v. Wade abortion precedent would be avoided, protecting the 2021 statute from judicial scrutiny.
Since then, the Supreme Court has overruled that ruling, allowing states to restrict or liberalize abortion, making the fee-shifting now entirely unnecessary.
Days after the Supreme Court determined that the Texas heartbeat legislation could continue to be in force despite a legal challenge, Newsom urged the California Assembly to pass a comparable gun control bill.
The gun laws in California also provide individuals a private right of action to sue gun manufacturers for $10,000 if they produce “assault weapons and ghost guns.”
According to Newsom, the statute is nearly identical to the Texas regulations.
A clash in the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to result from the judge’s order.
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