SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Gavin Newsom signed a gun control bill into law today. It allows victims of gun violence, the attorney general and local governments to sue gun manufacturers when they don’t follow state law.
The California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) said they have plans to file a lawsuit within the week to fight back against this new law.
The author of the bill, however, Assemblymember Phil Ting said he wrote the bill anticipating a lawsuit and believes it will survive in court. Ting said he's been working toward the signing of the bill for a year.
“Californians will now be able to take the power back into their own hands and sue the firearms industry, gun manufacturers, gun distributors, gun store owners, if they're not following California law,” Ting said.
The bill doesn’t go into effect for another year to allow more time for the state to prepare, Ting added. That means it will not apply to shootings that happen before then.
“So unfortunately, we'll have to wait for the next firearms shooting to occur before someone can hold the industry accountable,” Ting said.
While Ting said the bill is based off a New York State law, the California Rifle and Pistol Association said it violates both federal law and the constitution.
“It seems like every law coming out of the legislature and being signed by the governor is like going through that checklist of the “thou shalt nots” and doing it anyways,” Rick Travis with CRPA said.
His organization plans on suing within the week.
“When people go and use cars incorrectly from drunk driving, we don't go to Ford and say, 'Hey, we can sue Ford now because somebody had too much tequila last night and killed somebody'," Travis said. "But yeah, that's exactly what they're trying to do.”
Ting said this law is simply a consumer protection law.
"They have to be good corporate citizens. If they produce a product that is faulty and liable there, they can be held accountable," Ting said.
Craig Deluz is the publisher of a 2nd Amendment news outlet. He said the law is aimed at destroying the industry.
"The primary goal of this law is to put firearms retailers and manufactures out of business by burying them in legal fees from frivolous lawsuits," Deluz said.
He offered a solution of his own: "Perhaps what they should consider is a law allowing individual citizens to sue elected officials for passing laws and policies that have put violent criminals back on our streets. That is the real cause other jump in violent crime."
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