California should pass a "vigilante" anti-gun law

[HariSeldon]

Roe vs. Wade is the right-wing's Constitutional obstacle; the closest equivalent I can find on the left is liability for gun violence. If California passes a law in the same template as Texas, except targeting those who "aid and abet" gun-wielding murderers, it will put the Supreme Court under a lot more pressure, or at least make the hypocrisy more blatant.

[intrepidity]

1. Agreed. All blue states should.

Fight fire with fire. And not just guns, also anti-maskers, etc.

[CanonRay]

2. I was thinking the same thing.

They should just pass an unconstitutional gun ban, then let anyone enforce it. Same as the Texas shit.

[Klaralven]

3. First step would be a $10,000 reward for successful prosecution of illegal gun possession

Fund it from confiscated drug money.

Lots of people know who has illegal guns. Make it worth their while to turn them in.

[Walleye]

4. Yeah, people don't brandish their pregnancy and threaten to shoot people with it

In fact no one’s life is threatened except the woman who is pregnant, which is basically nobody else’s business anyway

[fescuerescue]

5. Make it legal to shoot gun owners?

I suspect the Supreme Court will strike that one down.

[AZ8theist]

7. Why would they?

How many states currently have "Stand your ground" laws?

They are the equivalent of shooting ANYONE you feel threatened by. And most, I think, would feel threatened by someone with a gun.
The SC hasn't ruled against THAT law, so your point is moot.

[fescuerescue]

8. why would they need a reason?

They would just do what they want.

That's the point.

[HariSeldon]

15. My apologies for being unclear

I meant that California should enact a law creating a private right of action for residents with a minimum, statutory award of $10,000 against anyone who "aids or abets in any way, even unknowingly" the commission of a murder with a firearm. This is the model Texas used to end-run Roe v. Wade.

[dalton99a]

6. As envisioned by the Federalist lawyer behind the bounty hunter law

A law review article Mitchell wrote that was published in 2018 gave guidance to lawmakers worried about courts blocking their laws. He said lawmakers could protect their legislation by including a private right of action. He said the strategy could apply to a wide range of laws such as campaign finance, gun control and abortion.

“It is practically impossible to bring a pre-enforcement challenge to statutes that establish private rights of action, because the litigants who will enforce the statute are hard to identify until they actually bring suit,” he wrote in one footnote.

In the case of Texas’ law, things have played out as he predicted.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-us-supreme-court-laws-185e383ba4aa6cfc558231dcabd4104a

[LeftInTX]

11. Scary stuff

I wonder if any suits were filed in those other Texas towns?

[sl8]

10. Do you think the Texas law is good law, apart from who it targets?

[HariSeldon]

12. Absolutely not!

But if Republicans get their way on their issue with an end run around the Constitution, why shouldn't we get our way on our issue with the same legislative gambit?

And if Republicans want the anti-gun law struck down, they'll essentially be making the argument against the Texas anti-abortion law, too.

[sl8]

14. I agree with you about the Texas law.

It's a shitty law, regardless of which group it targets.

I don't think that creating an equally shitty law, targeting a different group, is an appropriate remedy. I'd feel a bit hypocritical if I supported that. Also, you end up with one more shitty law, which I think is a bad thing.

I think we should fight the Texas law, not emulate it.

On edit:
I don't know how important it is, but if you advocate for or pass a law similar to the Texas law, but targeting a different group, you've lost a good bit of the moral high ground when arguing against the Texas law.

[HariSeldon]

16. At this moment, "vigilante" enforcement is legally supportable

The Supreme Court had the opportunity to stop this and elected not to. Texas opened a Pandora's Box by enacting SB8, a move of severe legislative impolitesse. You and I may disagree on this, but I want to see more industries at the sharp end of these private-right-of-action laws since, in this country, money talks; if the targeted industries are ones of which I disapprove, it becomes a win-win for me.

[MurrayDelph]

13. I don't think we should even talk about this

until after the recall.