Newsom's 28th Amendment proposal highlights need to protect Constitution

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 8 announced his proposal to add a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ultimately negate the power of the Second Amendment.

This is the same governor who, while banning indoor dining during the height of COVID, was caught partying with family and friends at the French Laundry restaurant and who warned Floridians to not let Gov. Ron DeSantis take their freedoms away.

Hypocrisy is second nature to him, of course, and it strikes again with his attack on the Second Amendment. You might remember how he flaunted his anti-gun contempt for the courts.

The California Governor's Office posted Newsom's plan, saying it means "leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America's gun-owning tradition."

Except, it wouldn't leave the Second Amendment unchanged — at all.

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The Second Amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Merriam-Webster's definition of infringe is "to encroach upon in a way that violates law or the rights of another."

Newsom's 28th Amendment does nothing but infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners under the usual disguise of "common sense" gun control measures.

Here are the highlights of what it means, in his own words:

• Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
• Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
• Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
• Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.

Moreover, it would allow Congress, states, and local governments to enact additional gun control measures.

This proposal is a prime example of why constitutions must not be so easy to amend, hence our continued support for state Issue 1, requiring a 60% threshold to amend the Ohio Constitution. We've already seen how far some Ohio cities are willing to go with gun control.

Fortunately, this involves the U.S. Constitution, where an amendment may be proposed only by a two-thirds vote of both the House of Representatives and the Senate or, if two-thirds of the states request one, by a convention of states. Then it must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each state for ratification, according to the Constitution webpage at whitehouse.gov.

Imagine if a proposal like this were to require a simple majority — 50% plus one vote.

Here's some of the text as it appears online on the state of California's website, with claims that these are "Principles ... broadly supported by the American public and gun owners":

Today Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to enshrine fundamental, broadly supported gun safety measures into law. While leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition, the 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.

“Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “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.”

The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:

• Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
• Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
• Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
• Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.

Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.

Passage of the 28th Amendment will require a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention. Working in partnership with members of the California State Senate and Assembly, California will be the first state in the nation to call for such a convention with a joint resolution being introduced by California State Senator Aisha Wahab and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. The Governor will work with grassroots supporters, elected and civic leaders, and broad and diverse coalitions across the nation to fight for the passage of similar resolutions in other state legislatures to ensure the convening of a constitutional convention limited to this subject. 33 other states, in addition to California, would need to take action to convene such a convention.

There's little doubt Gov. Gav is jockeying for an opening in the Oval Office. We must not let that happen.

Joe D. "Buck" Ruth is a longtime small-game hunter and gun owner who spent nearly three decades in the news industry.