California Enacts Gun Control Law Modeled on Texas' SB 8 Anti-Abortion Law

Yesterday, California enacted SB 1327, a gun control law deliberately modeled on Texas' SB 8 anti-abortion law. The purpose of both is to evade judicial review by delegating enforcement exclusively to private "bounty hunter" litigants, thereby making it difficult to for people whose rights are targeted to file preenforcement challenges to the law:

The bill, SB 1327, allows Californians to sue those making, selling, transporting or distributing illegal assault weapons or ghost guns for at least $10,000 in damages. Gun dealers who illegally sell firearms to those under the age of 21 could also be liable for the same damages.

The law is modeled after the Texas "heartbeat act," SB 8, which prohibits abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.