California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has a new proposal. He wants to add a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would restrict access to guns for the entire country.
The proposed amendment would raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 years old. Universal background checks would be required. And there would be a waiting period from when a person purchases a gun and when they receive it. But how long the waiting period would be is not specified. The amendment would also ban American citizens from purchasing assault weapons like AR-15s.
It’s a lengthy process to get an amendment added to the U.S. Constitution. There would have to be a convention of at least 33 states in favor of the addition. Newsom released a video on June 8 that looks a lot like a campaign ad. It’s actually an appeal to the public to gain support for the proposed 28th Amendment.
“Every time it’s the same, they tell us we can’t stop these massacres,” Newsom says in the video. “They say we can’t stop domestic terrorism without violating our Second Amendment. I’m here to say that’s a lie. Convening a constitutional convention calls for two-thirds of the states to call for this. California will be the first.”
He also takes a swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), calling them NRA-owned politicians. Newsom also claims the American public and gun owners overwhelmingly support the gun ownership requirements in his proposal.
California has the strictest gun laws in the nation. The state also has one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation, something Newsom touts in advocating for gun safety laws at the federal level.
Mass shootings have an unpredictable pattern. According to the Gun Violence Archive, from 2013 to 2019, there were more than 2,100 mass shootings. More occurred in California, the most populous state in America, than in any other state.
