Meet the California Gun Law That Copies the Texas Heartbeat Law’s Unique Feature

Well, we can’t say we weren’t warned.

In keeping a promise he made last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed a bill modeled on the Texas heartbeat law. Their unique feature? Both laws seek to evade pre-enforcement judicial review by eliminating the power of state officials to enforce the law.

Both the California and Texas laws can only be enforced by “private civil actions” seeking damages, and not by the public officials normally tasked with enforcing state and federal law.

While the Texas law is designed to prevent abortions, the California law instead takes...