New: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to target the gun industry through private lawsuits is coming together in legislation unveiled Tuesday that would allow gun violence survivors and other citizens to sue firearm manufacturers and dealers.
would hand the state, local governments, gun violence survivors and victims’ families the power to pursue legal action against “irresponsible, reckless or negligent gun manufacturers, importers and dealers,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco, one of three Democrats pushing the plan. The proposal predates the Texas bill and replicates athat targets manufacturers, Ting said, but still “gets at the spirit of what the governor called for.
“What we are quite simply trying to do is just to make sure gun manufacturers are really held responsible for the harm that guns do on our streets everyday here in California,” he added. “We think that if the manufacturers, importers and dealers will take greater responsibility that will make our streets much safer.”
“If we can sue car dealers, if we can sue lawyers for malpractice, if we can sue a barrage of individuals, why should not the people of this state of California have the same ability to sue a gun manufacturer?” Gipson said. “He’s not even proposing a law that is clearly unconstitutional, but it is a little risky because he is going to call attention, an enormous amount of attention, to those restrictions and subject them to challenge,” Levinson said. “And we know with this particular court, that’s risky business.”