California Considers ‘Vigilante’ Law to Combat Illicit Guns
The proposal, modeled on the new Texas abortion legislation, would allow civil lawsuits against anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons and award individuals who take the cases to court at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon, plus attorneys fees.
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High Schoolers at Alderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA. protest school shootings. Photo by Mark Dixon via Flickr
Following yet another deadly mass shooting, California lawmakers are borrowing a page from Texas’ new “vigilante” law on abortion, with a proposal to empower private citizens to sue those who traffic in illegal weapons, reports the Associated Press.
The proposal would allow people to file civil lawsuits against anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50 caliber rifles, and award them at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon, plus attorneys fees.
The proposal has gained traction in part following last weekend’s mass shooting in Sacramento which left six dead and at least 12 injured. Three suspects have been arrested so far in the incident.
In related news, one of the suspects in the Sacramento shooting was reported to have recently been released from prison. Smiley Martin, a wounded man arrested in connection with a Sacramento shooting that killed six people and injured a dozen more had been released from prison weeks earlier and was rejected for even earlier release after prosecutors argued he “clearly has little regard for human life,” reports the Associated Press.
Hours before the attack, Martin had posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun and was later arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun.
The gun lawsuit bill is is patterned after a similar Texas law allowing citizens to go after those who provide or assist in providing abortions and would not include stolen weapons unless they are otherwise made illegal, for instance by filing off the serial number, bar anyone from possessing or using the weapons, though they are illegal under other laws.
However, as NPR reports, California already has more gun restrictions than anywhere else in the U.S., and making sure all these measures are effective has meant legislators have had to craft new laws to close loopholes and keep up with technology and gun traffickers.
So far this year, California lawmakers have proposed more than two dozen gun safety bills or bills for investments in violence prevention programs. But in a country with hundreds of millions of firearms, even states with strict gun laws have a difficult time keeping illegal guns off the streets. And defending the constitutionality of those laws in a country where gun rights and gun control are a seemingly never-ending battle is a constant struggle.
Additional Reading: Why are Mass Shooting Events Increasing? by Kent Bausman, The Crime Report, April 4, 2022.
