‘Never tried before’: California lawmakers use Texas tactics in bid to tackle ‘ghost guns’

Measure would let people sue weapons traffickers but faces skepticism from Democrats and gun policy groups

Stung by a deadly mass shooting on Sunday mere blocks from the state capitol, California lawmakers on Tuesday advanced an innovative yet untested approach to gun control that would empower private citizens to sue those who traffic in illegal weapons.

California already has some of the country's strictest firearms rules, but it has struggled to curb the spread of stolen or homemade and increasingly prevalent ghost" guns.