{"id":93677,"date":"2023-06-17T12:18:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T17:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93677"},"modified":"2023-06-17T12:18:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T17:18:12","slug":"93677","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93677","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Self-serving or not, Newsom\u2019s 28th Amendment is a threat to the rights of all<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom garnered national attention by proposing\u00a0his vision for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution<\/a>. Unsurprising given Newsom\u2019s policy goals for the Golden State, the proposed amendment would advance Newsom\u2019s gun control dreams nationwide. While it\u2019s unlikely Newsom can gather the support necessary to make his dream a reality in the near-term, that doesn\u2019t mean we should ignore the dangers of his narrative.<\/p>\n

On June 8, Newsom\u00a0issued a press release<\/a>\u00a0outlining his specific vision for a new constitutional amendment that he describes as \u201ccommon sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support.\u201d The proposed amendment would write four key tenets of Newsom\u2019s gun control religion into our federal system of government: (1) raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21; (2) mandating (so-called) \u201cuniversal background checks\u201d; (3) instituting a waiting period for all gun purchases; and (4) barring \u201ccivilian purchase of assault weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be exceedingly challenging today for Newsom to actually achieve his goal.\u00a0Article V of the U.S. Constitution<\/a>\u00a0sets forth the procedure necessary to amend the Constitution. First, two-thirds of Congress or two-thirds of the states have to propose an amendment (with agreed upon language). Then, three fourths of states have to ratify that amendment for it to become effective. Given only 10 states and Washington D.C. have any form of\u00a0ban on so-called \u201cassault weapons\u201d<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0any form of waiting period<\/a>, while 27 states have enacted some iteration of\u00a0free\/constitutional\/permitless carry<\/a>, it is clear that there isn\u2019t currently much appetite for Newsom\u2019s particular brand of gun control across the country.<\/p>\n

Setting that aside, Newsom\u2019s rhetoric is still dangerous for a couple reasons. First, while Newsom\u2019s campaign is, at face value, a poorly disguised political stunt and fundraising effort for his political ambitions, it continues to paint gun control as \u201cpopular\u201d and those standing in its way as responsible for violence. Newsom\u00a0quite literally called those opposing his proposed amendment\u00a0<\/a>\u201cMerchants of Death.\u201d This rhetoric\u00a0continues to push gun control activists\u2019 twisting of language<\/a> to psychologically manipulate the public and advance the activists\u2019 cause. It aims to shift public perception until enough people will assent to the authoritarian regulation of all individual\u2019s natural rights.<\/p>\n

Second, and to that point, Newsom\u2019s proposed amendment carries with it the implication that, if enough people agree, the government should have the power to infringe on the People\u2019s natural right to self-defense and to possess the tools necessary to effectuate that defense. The idea that the People\u2019s rights can be put up to a decision of a popular vote is offensive and immoral. The entire purpose of our system of government was to protect the rights of the few from the many. Yet, today, we\u2019ve strayed far from that original vision. Newsom\u2019s proposed amendment is evidence of just that.<\/p>\n

Not only is Newsom\u2019s proposal an admission that he is losing his battle for civilian disarmament, and that he knows the Constitution and the Second Amendment stand in the way of his authoritarian utopia, but it also reveals just how far our Nation has strayed from its aspirations of individual liberty, choosing instead to grow the leviathan that is government.<\/p>\n

Natural rights are not mere political talking points, nor are those who cherish them second class citizens, subject to the whimsy of polling results or political fads. The People should never weaken in their resolve to protect those rights that once one generation loses, future generations may never know.<\/p>\n

Whether Newsom\u2019s proposed amendment is likely or not in the immediate future, one thing remains constant\u2014all those who cherish individual rights must treat each trespass exactly for what it is, a bridge to the next trespass.<\/p>\n

Cody J. Wisniewski (@TheWizardofLawz<\/a>) is a senior attorney for constitutional litigation with\u00a0FPC Action Foundation<\/a>\u00a0where he regularly represents\u00a0Firearms Policy Coalition<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Self-serving or not, Newsom\u2019s 28th Amendment is a threat to the rights of all Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom garnered national attention by proposing\u00a0his vision for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Unsurprising given Newsom\u2019s policy goals for the Golden State, the proposed amendment would advance Newsom\u2019s gun control dreams nationwide. While it\u2019s … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,9,24,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-o-the-day","category-enemies-foreign-domestic","category-rights","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93678,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93677\/revisions\/93678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}