This week, Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom proposed an amendment to the US Constitution to introduce sweeping gun control measures that would impact all Americans. This would include restrictions on up-to-date sporting rifles like the AR-15, AK-47 and M-16, which liberal gun control advocates call “assault weapons.”
Newsom’s office said Thursday press release that his proposed amendment “guarantees common-sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, independent voters and gun owners overwhelmingly support – including universal background checks, raising the age to purchase firearms to 21, implementing a waiting period to purchase firearms and prohibit civilian purchases of “assault weapons.” He argued that his amendment would leave the Second Amendment “intact.”
Additionally, Newsom, a longtime gun control supporter, took aim at several Republican lawmakers, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, for their calls for “thought and prayer” in response to mass shootings and claimed are “owned” by the National Rifle Association.
“28. The amendment permanently includes four additions to our nation’s law,” Newsom explained. “And it ensures that NRA-member politicians can never strip away these protections.”
NEW: I am proposing a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to facilitate end the gun violence crisis in our country.
Americans are fed up with the passivity of Congress.
The 28th Amendment will provide 4 widely supported gun safety freedoms while leaving the 2nd Amendment intact:
1)… pic.twitter.com/ZJ7fyfH0Cf
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 8, 2023
In an interview on NBC’s “The Today Show,” Newsom said the proposed amendment is a response to gun control measures that have been rolled back by the courts.
“This is an existential crisis that we experience every day,” Newsom said in an interview. “These federal judges want to turn America into Texas,” he said, explaining that more gun deaths have occurred in Texas than in his state.
EXCLUSIVE: California Governor Gavin Newsom makes a historic announcement that could have a nationwide impact on gun control: he is proposing a novel 28th Amendment to the US Constitution. @jacobsoboroff shares their conversation. pic.twitter.com/oIltNhHl7f
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 8, 2023
Townhall told how several blue states, including Colorado, Michigan and Illinois, have introduced laws aimed at limiting Americans’ Second Amendment rights. On the other hand, several Republican-led states, such as Florida and Nebraska, have passed legislation protecting these rights. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s unconstitutional gun control law that would have required permit applicants to show “good cause” to carry a firearm.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote majority opinion in this case, pointing out that the right to bear arms should not be governed by a different set of principles than other rights specified in the Bill of Rights. This decision paved the way for several other federal court decisions across the country aimed at protecting the Second Amendment, including in Massachusetts, West Virginia and Tennessee.
