Newsom signs gun control bill inspired by Texas abortion ban

(Image credit: Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

published 23 July 2022

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed Senate Bill 1327, a gun control law modeled on the Texas abortion ban known as SB 8, CNN reported. Both pieces of legislation rely on private citizens, not police, to enforce the law.

Specifically, SB 1327 empowers Californians to bring civil action — for a minimum of $10,000 per gun — against licensed dealers who sell firearms to people under 21. It also allows for lawsuits against anyone who manufactures, distributes, transports, or imports assault weapons or ghost guns in California.

Newsom's comments on the bill suggest that it's intended less as a serious piece of legislation than as an way of proving a point. "We believe this will be litigated in the Supreme Court and we believe the Supreme Court will be challenged. Because if there's any principle left whatsoever — and that's an open-ended question with this Supreme Court — there is no way they can deny us the right to move in this direction," Newsom said after signing the bill.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.

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