Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is proposing a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would dramatically restrict Second Amendment rights across the United States.

On Thursday, Newsom laid out his plan for his proposed legislation via a Twitter video.

“Every time, it’s the same. They tell us, we can’t stop these massacres,” Newsom said. “They tell us we have to stand by and watch tragedy after tragedy unfold in our communities. They say we can’t stop domestic terrorism without violating the Second Amendment.”

Newsom’s proposed amendment would raise the federal minimum age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21, mandate universal background checks, institute a “reasonable waiting period” for firearm purchases, and ban semi automatic “assault rifles” (rifles frequently used for hunting, sporting, and home-defense).

Said Newsom:

… The 28th Amendment permanently enshrines four additions to the laws of our land. It raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21. Because if you can’t buy a beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy a gun. It mandates universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that can be used in a crime. It institutes reasonable waiting periods for all gun purchases, and it bans civilians from purchasing assault rifles, those weapons of war our founders never foresaw.

 

This will guarantee states the ability to enact common sense gun safety while leaving the Second Amendment intact and respecting America’s gun owning tradition. The 28th locks in the common sense constitutional protections that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support, and ensures NRA-owned politicians can never strip those rights away.

To become law, Newsom’s proposal would require support from two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and then be ratified by 38 states (three-fourths of the 50).

Newsom’s proposal follows a series of gun rights victories, including the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that New York gun laws were unconstitutionally restrictive and that concealed weapons permits must be easier to obtain within the state.

While Newsom says that universal background checks should be mandated in the amendment, background checks are already legally required for gun purchases, and most mass shootings have been conducted by gun owners who have legally purchased their firearms.

The Biden Administration is already attempting to mandate universal background checks in the near future and has stated that they will take executive action to implement gun control.

As of 2023, twenty-eight of the fifty states have passed constitutional carry laws, also known as permitless carry, which allows citizens who legally can obtain and own a gun to conceal it on their person without an additional government permit.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed back against Newsom’s proposal, stating:

Hey Governor Newsom,

 

The 2nd Amendment already exists—we don’t need a 28th.

 

But what we do need is for Presidential aspirants to stop pushing their extreme positions nationally.

Newsom quickly responded, also via Twitter:

Hey Kevin,

 

What we need is you to own up to the fact that you represent a district with the highest murder rate in our state -- and you’re doing nothing to address it.