Golden State Democrats this week have erased any doubt they are determined to destroy the Second Amendment by throwing their support to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed gun control amendment to the Constitution, according to published reports.
The Sacramento Bee is reporting Democrats “are backing a campaign by Gov. Gavin Newsom to amend the United States Constitution with gun ownership age limits, universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.”
A joint resolution was introduced earlier in the week by Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward) and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) supporting Newsom’s proposed amendment, the newspaper said.
AmmoLand News first reported Newsom’s proposal on June 8. At the time, his idea was thought to be just an effort to get attention, but with the Wahab-Jones-Sawyer joint resolution now in play, gun owners might not be so ready to dismiss this as a publicity stunt.
Wahab was quoted by KCRA News, explaining, “It’s still a tall order. It’s not easy, and our country is very much divided, and the Second Amendment is a very respected and loved and feared amendment to touch in any way. I think this particular resolution protects the Second Amendment but also ensures states have the right to enforce and create their own laws.”
But Newsom’s proposed constitutional amendment does not protect the right to keep and bear arms, according to critics. Instead, the consensus is that the Newsom proposal guts the Second Amendment.
A report in The Patch spells out Newsom’s proposed 28th Amendment as AmmoLand did more than two months ago: “According to Newsom’s office,” The Patch detailed, “the Right to Safety Amendment…would leave the Second Amendment intact and would:
- Raise the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21;
- Mandate universal background checks;
- Institute a waiting period for all gun purchases;
- Ban assault rifles for civilians; and
- Affirm Congress, states and local governments can enact common-sense gun safety laws that save lives.”
But that doesn’t “leave the Second Amendment intact” at all. These changes would irreparably erode the Second Amendment. Currently, federal lawsuits are challenging limits placed on gun ownership and firearms carry for young adults, whose rights would essentially be trampled by Newsom’s scheme.
For example, the Second Amendment Foundation is fighting in Minnesota over that state’s ban on carry by young adults in a case known as Worth v. Harrington.
Newsom is taking this seriously, and so should gun owners, especially up and down the West Coast. Neighboring Oregon and Washington are no less dominated by far-left Democrats, who have been pushing extremist gun control laws for the past several years.
KTVU News quoted a Newsom statement: “In this country, we do have the power to change things. That power is written into the Constitution, and today we’re using it to end America’s gun violence crisis.”
Adding the gun control amendment to the Constitution is admittedly long shot, say observers. For example, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Professor Chris Micheli told KCRA, “The governor has his work cut out for him.”
And the Sacramento Bee noted in its report that Newsom told reporters last week he is convinced “this is going to happen, that we’re going to get enough states” to approve the amendment.
That much was explained by the newspaper: “Two-thirds of states must pass similar constitutional convention legislation for the amendment to be successful. None of the 27 amendments have come from the convention process, and constitutional scholars have said the governor’s effort is ‘essentially impossible.’”
Seventy-five years ago, people said putting a man on the moon was impossible.
Also, Newsom has been critical of the U.S. Supreme Court in the wake of last year’s Bruen ruling, which has become something of a launch pad for legal actions challenging gun control laws across the country.
One glimmer of hope in an effort to fight Newsom’s proposal was revealed by The Patch. It quoted Adrian Malagon, chair of the Libertarian Party of California, which is an admittedly small group with “some 204,000 members as of 2021,” The Patch said.
Malagon reportedly said Newsom’s policies are “unconstitutional,” so he is now trying to change the Constitution.
“This is a hallmark of authoritarian leaders,” Malagon reportedly asserted.
This new development in Newsom’s effort raises the stakes just a bit, and removes any question that Democrats are a party—at least in California—determined to turn the right to keep and bear arms into a heavily-regulated government-controlled privilege.
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About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.