By: José Niño
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) proposed an amendment to the United States Constitution which he hopes can be used as a launchpad for establishing gun control at the national level.
According to an Associated Press report, Newsom’s amendment, which would be the 28th Amendment, would establish a waiting period on gun purchases, prohibit firearms that fall under the category of “assault weapons,” and enact universal background checks.
Newsom’s office published a statement on the 28th Amendment. AWR Hawkins of Breitbart News noted that Newsom’s statement did not outline any specifics on what the waiting period proposal entails. The statement said the waiting period should be “reasonable.”
On top of that, the statement expanded on the governor’s opposition to “assault weapons,” in which he described the firearms as “weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.”
Further, Newsom’s proposed amendment banned 18- to 20-year-old individuals from buying firearms. Passing such an amendment would be a tall order. Newsom would need 34 state legislatures to pass resolutions pushing for a constitutional convention to kick off the process of ratifying a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution.
For this process to go through, Newsom will need both red and blue states to give the green light to such a proposal. That will be a difficult task due to how polarized many red states have become on the gun issue, where they are now more decidedly pro-gun than in previous decades.
By contrast, California is an anti-gun stronghold through and through. For example, it is ranked in 48th place according to Guns & Ammo magazine’s best states for gun owners. Passing such a resolution would be a cakewalk in the Golden State. However, in other states it would be much more difficult.
The National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown opined on Newsom’s constitutional amendment proposal:
“Governor Newsom obviously recognizes that his gun control laws are unconstitutional. That’s why he is trying to amend away the Second Amendment. Tyrants will do whatever it takes to disarm law-abiding citizens, but the National Association for Gun Rights will always be there to stand in their way.”
One thing is abundantly clear in light of Newsom’s anti-gun announcement: California is a thoroughly anti-Second Amendment state and most gun owners in the Golden State will likely have to move to experience real Second Amendment freedoms.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.