California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Saturday that he would push for a new law modeled after Texas' anti-abortion law to tackle gun control in his state.
The big picture: The Democratic governor said he directed his staff to work with the legislature and the state's attorney general to work on a bill that would allow private citizens to sue for up to $10,000 “anyone who manufactures, distributes or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts in the State of California.”
- "If the most efficient way to keep these devastating weapons off our streets is to add the threat of private lawsuits, we should do just that," Newsom said.
The backdrop: Newsom's remarks come on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow the six-week abortion ban in Texas to remain in place as lawsuits are heard over it. The law enforces a six-week ban on abortions by allowing private citizens to sue other citizens who provide or facilitate them.
- “I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’ ban on most abortion services to remain in place, and largely endorsing Texas’ scheme to insulate its law from the fundamental protections of Roe v. Wade," Newsom wrote.
- Newsom said that while Texas shielded their laws from review by the federal courts to "put women in harm's way," California would employ those legal tactics to "protect people's lives."
Go deeper: What abortion access would look like if Roe v. Wade is overturned
