In a creative re-usage of the controversial new Texas Abortion law, SB 8, where anyone, anywhere can sue doctors who perform abortions in the state, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced new legislation that would allow residents to sue firearm manufacturers and sellers.

Newsom announced the new proposed gun measures on Saturday, saying the goal for this new legislation is to specifically limit the sale of both assault weapons and ‘ghost guns’ in California.

Ghost guns are homemade and created from items that include, among other things, unfinished receivers or kits. These handmade at-home ghost guns are not yet regulated by criminal, mental health, or other background checks, thereby circumventing gun laws.

Anyone building ghost guns avoids sales records, and the weapons are untraceable since there is no serial number on the receiver. Federal authorities cannot solve crimes by cross-referencing information from these receivers.

As Newsom explains it, the Supreme Court decision to allow people anywhere, even without any relationship to a specific abortion, to sue anyone who performs abortions in Texas paves the way for other states to use this precedent in new ways.

“If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives,” he said.

In a tweet shared two days ago, the governor said it’s logical to pursue this Supreme Court model for new legislation.

“If states can shield their laws from review by federal courts, then CA will use that authority to help protect lives,” said Newsom. “We will work to create the ability for private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts in CA.”

The release shared by Newsom specially referred to the recent Supreme Court decision on the Texas abortion law in both the title and body of the content. In his statement, Newsom said that though he is appalled by the Supreme Court decision allowing almost all abortion services to be banned in Texas, there is something in the legislation he plans on activating, in this case, for gun laws in his state.

“I am outraged by yesterday’s US Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place, and largely endorsing Texas’s scheme to insulate its law from the fundamental protections of Roe v. Wade,” noted Governor Newsom.

“But if states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.”

The new proposed bill would allow all Californians to sue those who make specific weapons available, including “anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts” for damages. This verbiage mirrors that of the Texas ban that is permitted by the Supreme Court.

With this new injunctive relief in Texas, based upon the Supreme Court’s decision, Newsom is now opening the door to numerous other types of legal usage across the US, such as gun legislation.

“I have directed my staff to work with the Legislature and the Attorney General on a bill that would create a right of action allowing private citizens to seek injunctive relief, and statutory damages of at least $10,000 per violation plus costs and attorney’s fees, against anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts in the state of California,” said Newsom. “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.”

The SB 8 law is based upon a unique, new enforcement model written to stymie injunctions. In Texas, where the law now bans all abortions after only six weeks of pregnancy, Texas law officials are prohibited from directly enforcing the law, due to its text.

Under current law, in order to circumvent the Texas officials from outright stopping abortions after six weeks, the SB 8 law states anyone, no matter where they live in the US or even if they have nothing to do with the abortion in question, can sue any abortion provider or anyone even suspected of helping an abortion to be performed beyond the six-week window of time now allowed in Texas.

Other copycat legislation aimed at making abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy is now in the works in Alabama, Ohio and Florida, all of which have introduced bills based upon the convoluted Texas abortion law.

In California, bans on assault weapons have been overturned numerous times. This June, federal district court Judge Robert Benitez overturned the state’s ban on assault weapons.

In 2017, Benitez also ruled against a ban regarding any magazines with a capacity of over 10 bullets. In 2019, he blocked a 2019 law that required people purchasing ammunition to undergo background checks. Benitez, at the time, said the ban violated the Second Amendment, saying the “AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense battle …good for both home and battle.”

With Governor Newsom’s new recipe to make lemonade out of what he considers lemons, all eyes are on California in what is gearing up to be a very creative way to lessen the usage of assault weapons and ghost guns by allowing citizens to sue makers and distributors of these weapons.