National

Gavin Newsom Trolls Gov. Abbott On Guns And Abortion

California Gov. Gavin Newsome placed full-page ads in several Texas newspapers Friday drawing attention to a new California gun law which emulates Texas’ vigilante abortion law. The legislation will enable private citizens to sue people who make or sell banned weapons and is billed as “California’s answer to Texas’ perverse bill.”

“If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives. If Governor Abbott truly wants to protect the right to life, we urge him to follow California’s lead,” reads the ad.

The controversial Texas abortion law, passed prior to the Supreme Court case overturning Roe v. Wade, includes an unorthodox enforcement mechanism. The “vigilante-enforcement” mechanism empowers private citizens to sue abortion providers or individuals who assist someone seeking an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

These ads come on the heels of television ads aired by Gov. Newsome in Florida attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, feeding speculation that Gov. Newsome is contemplating a presidential run in 2024.

The California law is part of a recent backlash against the Texas vigilante-abortion law in states led by Democrats. The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized both the Texas and California laws because they encourage vigilantism. The ACLU warned that the laws could “escalate an ‘arms race’ … by setting up bounty-hunting schemes on politically sensitive issues.”

But in a telephone interview with NBC News, Newsom said Democrats need to start playing hardball. “I think Democrats have been playing a little soft,” he said.

Nick Anderson

Writer, editor, photographer and editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson has joined the Reform Austin newsroom, where he will employ the artistic skill and political insights that earned a Pulitzer Prize to drive coverage of Texas government. As managing editor, Anderson is responsible for guiding Reform Austin’s efforts to give readers the unfiltered facts they need to hold Texas leaders accountable. Anderson’s original cartoons will be a regular feature on RA News. “Reform Austin readers understand the consequences of electing politicians who use ideological agendas to divide us, when they should be doing the hard work necessary to make our state government work for everyone,” Anderson said. “As a veteran journalist, I’m excited about Reform Austin’s potential to re-focus conversations on the issues that matter to common-sense Texans – like protecting our neighborhoods from increasingly common disasters, healthcare, just to name a few.” Anderson worked for the Houston Chronicle, the largest newspaper in Texas, from 2006 until 2017. In addition to the Pulitzer, Anderson earned the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award. He’s also a two-time winner of Columbia College’s Fischetti Award, and the National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award. Anderson’s cartoons have been published in Newsweek, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and other papers. In 2005, Anderson won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning while working for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. The judges complimented his “unusual graphic style that produced extraordinarily thoughtful and powerful messages.”