Gavin Newsom took to Twitter this morning to propose a new constitutional amendment for the purposes of implementing gun control because, as he claims, “The American people are sick of Congress’ inaction” on the ‘gun violence crisis’.
NEW: I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to help end our nation’s gun violence crisis.
The American people are sick of Congress’ inaction.
The 28th will enshrine 4 widely supported gun safety freedoms — while leaving the 2nd Amendment intact:
1)… pic.twitter.com/ZJ7fyfH0Cf
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 8, 2023
Twitter truncates large messages, but here is what it says:
NEW: I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to help end our nation’s gun violence crisis.
The American people are sick of Congress’ inaction.
The 28th will enshrine 4 widely supported gun safety freedoms — while leaving the 2nd Amendment intact:
1) Raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21
2) Universal background checks
3) A reasonable waiting period for gun purchases
4) Banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons
Republicans control the majority of legislatures – by a lot – so this is dead on arrival, at least in the short term. Republicans have 28 state legislatures where Democrats only have 19.
Even in the long term I just don’t see this happening. Heck, we can’t even get enough Republican legislatures to agree to convene a convention of the states in order to return DC’s power back to the states. A new gun control constitutional amendment seems even less likely, especially because it’s a terrible idea.