In an effort to shackle the right to keep and bear arms at the highest level, a high-profile state governor is seeking to staple an epic gun ban to the U.S. Constitution.
In Sacramento this week, progressive California Gov. Gavin Newsom, often seen as a potential Democratic candidate for President, debuted his plan for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Holding in almost-Orwellian doublethink that the proposed amendment leaves "the 2nd Amendment intact and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition," Newsom's proposed addition to the Constitution would permanently enshrine universal background checks, waiting periods on all gun purchases, raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, and ban "civilian purchase of assault weapons."
Once adopted and ratified, such an amendment could only be repealed by a later amendment.
What would have to happen?
A Constitutional amendment is one of the hardest legal processes to see to success, as they can only be brought about by an almost unheard-of two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress or by a similar vote by an Article V convention of all 50 states. The state convention process has never successfully been used to amend the Constitution, although there have been scores of attempts.
The polished 55-year-old former mayor of San Francisco took to the "Today Show" on Thursday and then to social media to stump for his 28th Amendment, saying California would be the first state to call for an Article V Constitutional convention to propose the amendment.
His office detailed that a joint resolution calling for the convention would be introduced by California State Sen. Aisha Wahab and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. Besides California, 33 other states would need to join the call to convene such a convention and 38 – three-fourths – would have to ratify it to add it to the Constitution. That is an uphill fight when just 20 or so states are considered "Blue."
To put it in a more gun-centric argument, currently, only 10 states have bans on "assault weapons," while 27 have adopted "constitutional carry" laws.
When it comes to the history of proposed Constitutional Amendments, the last Amendment to be added, the 27th, was first proposed in 1789 and only ratified in 1992. While most Amendments expanded civil rights – for instance, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, and the 19th granted women the right to vote – few are restrictive or reactionary, such as Newsom's proposal. One rare prohibition, the 18th Amendment, or Volstead Act, attempted to ban most consumer liquor sales in the country in a concession to the extremist Temperance movement but only managed to unleash a decade of increased crime and widespread non-compliance that resulted in its repeal by the 21st Amendment in 1933.
Who is behind the push?
Newsom's two-minute trope-filled 28th Amendment video was paid for by the Campaign for Democracy PAC, a newly formed group with no financial information posted by the Federal Election Commission. In his 2022 campaign for governor, he was strongly endorsed by national anti-gun groups such as Everytown and Giffords. While it is not clear if the large gun control groups support Newsom's effort, his office cited research from Giffords in the press release for the proposed amendment.
Reaction
"That Newsom is willing to offer this route to impose his immoral policies on the entire nation is an ironic recognition that the tide of history has turned against him and a genuine admission that his failed policies cannot withstand court scrutiny," said the Firearms Policy Coalition on Thursday in a statement emailed to Guns.com. "Newsom’s naked ambition, conceit, and depravity in calling for the criminalization of tens of millions of peaceable Americans is a wakeup call to all those who oppose despotism and state violence."
Meanwhile, Alan Gottlieb, the chair of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, told Guns.com that the Governor's vanity efforts smelled foul when it came to the squaring with the Constitution.
"Newsom’s proposal reeks of infringement on Second Amendment rights," said Gottlieb. "He wants gun controls permanently enshrined, while claiming these measures ‘will respect the country’s gun-owning tradition protected by the Second Amendment.’ That is so self-contradictory it is laughable. If he truly respected this nation’s tradition of private gun ownership, he wouldn’t attack it by pushing this nonsense."
The California Rifle and Pistol Association, which has repeatedly challenged Newsom in court over gun control efforts, basically opined that Newsom's latest move is largely just a vehicle for higher political office and faces an unlikely chance of success.
Banner image: Korth .44 Magnum revolver, imported by Nighthawk Custom. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
