Lawmakers in California are gunning for the passage of a new law, Senate Bill 553, that would bar retail stores throughout the state from confronting shoplifters.

Submitted by State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), SB 553 has already passed in the State Senate and is currently being deliberated upon by the Democrat-controlled State Assembly.

On its surface, the bill aims to "prevent workplace violence and protect staff from being forced by their employees to step in during robberies." In practice, though, SB 553 sounds like an open invitation to thieves "to come in and steal," to quote the California Retailers Association, which opposes the bill.

SB 553 was introduced just a few weeks after a 26-year-old Home Depot security guard named Blake Mohs was shot to death during an attempted store robbery in Pleasanton, in the East Bay. The incident prompted California lawmakers to reevaluate the state's standards for dealing with robberies.