California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced in June that he wanted to add a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would effectively gut the Second Amendment. Now we know what his proposal entails.
Making its way through the California legislature in the form of SJR 7, the text for this proposed amendment includes “universal” background checks, raising the age to purchase a firearm to 21, bans on “assault weapons,” and more.
In its own words, the bill seeks to establish an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would: “(a) Affirm that federal, state, and local governments may adopt public safety regulations limiting aspects of firearms acquisition, possession, public carry, and use by individuals, and that such regulations are consistent with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the understanding that throughout American history private individuals have possessed firearms for home defense, hunting, and recreational purposes;
(b) Impose, as a matter of national policy, the following firearms regulations and prohibitions: (1) universal background checks as a prerequisite to purchase or acquisition of a firearm, (2) a prohibition on sales, loans, or other transfers of firearms to those under 21 years of age, subject to limited exceptions, (3) a minimum waiting period after the purchase or acquisition of a firearm before that firearm may be delivered to the buyer or acquirer, and (4) a prohibition on the sale, loan, or transfer of assault weapons and other weapons of war to private civilians; and be it further.”
The bill has already made its way through the California State Senate, where it passed by a vote of 24-11, and it will now head to the California State Assembly for a vote.
“Today we are one step closer to safer communities in all 50 states,” said Newsom after the Senate vote.
In order to add a constitutional amendment, as Newsom seeks to do, there are two possible paths, according to Article V of the U.S. Constitution. The first, used for adoption of the current 27 amendments, is a two-thirds vote by both chambers of Congress to call for an amendment and a further three-fourths vote to ratify it by the states.
Newsom is instead opting to use the other pathway, in which legislatures from two-thirds of the states ask Congress to call a convention to propose constitutional amendments that must then be approved by three-fourths of state legislatures or conventions.
“It’s also important to understand that what Newsom is really proposing is a fundamental constitutional revolution that would turn a constitutional protection against government overreach into a tool for the government to crack down on the people. That explains more about how Gavin Newsom approaches governance than anything his critics could say,” reported the NRA Institute for Legislative Action of Newson’s proposal.
America’s 1st Freedom will keep you updated on the status of this bill in California and any similar ones that may receive traction in other legislatures throughout the country.
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