California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a 28th Amendment has met with fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association (NRA). The amendment, aimed at increasing gun control, was announced on Thursday to “enshrine fundamental, broadly supported gun safety measures into law.” In a scathing statement to Fox News, the NRA denounced the proposed amendment:
“Newsom’s latest publicly stunt once again shows that his unhinged contempt for the right to self-defense has no bounds,” the NRA said in a statement to Fox News. “California is a beacon for violence because of Newsom’s embrace of policies that champion the criminal and penalize the law-abiding. That is why the majority of Americans rightfully reject his California-style gun control.”
Newsom’s office, in announcing the amendment, claimed that it would not keep Second Amendment rights “unchanged,” and that it would regulate weapons while “respecting America’s gun-owning tradition[.]”
“[T]he Governor’s proposal guarantees common sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, independent voters, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – including universal background checks, raising the firearm purchase age to 21, instituting a firearm purchase waiting period, and barring the civilian purchase of assault weapons,” his office said in a press release.
“Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” Newsom said in a statement. “So today, I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that. The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”
Governor Newsom’s statement expressed optimism about the proposed amendment’s impact on America’s efforts to create a more perfect union. He believes that the proposed amendment to the United States Constitution would “make a more perfect union” while leaving the Second Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.
The Governor’s proposal has pitted the NRA and supporters of the Second Amendment against gun control advocates, with the debate likely to continue for months to come.
