Newsom last week unveiled his proposal for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would enshrine his pet gun control measures into the law of the land. This amendment features restrictions that are almost entirely in place already in the Golden State, meaning that his goal is to spread this system from coast to coast.
So, how is it working out in California?
According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 17% of the firearm murders committed in the U.S. happen in California. Only one of 50 states in the Union accounts for a staggering number of firearm homicides.
PEW Research figures show that the CDC calculated that 20,958 people were murdered with weapons in 2021. Broken down in a state-by-state map, we see that 3,576 of these killings took place in California.
Even factoring in the state’s population, which is tops in the nation, that is an incredible percentage. In addition to this figure, the FBI cites the state as number one for “active shooter incidents.”
Yet more startling, at least for the anti-gun crowd, is that California is rated the number one state for gun control by Second Amendment opponents Everytown for Gun Safety.
Of course, statistics may be manipulated by those who seek to hide the truth, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is hardly forthright when it comes to gun control. As he attempts to make California’s example a beacon for all, he carefully avoids mentioning firearm homicides and instead points towards rates as a percentage of the population.
In a Twitter spat last week with Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), Newsom skirted the fact that his state’s firearm homicide total far surpasses the 962 in the southern state in 2021. Instead, he fell back on the rate rather than the sheer number in saying, “Can’t wait for you to defend the fact that Mississippi has the highest gun violence death rate in the nation.”
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as many used to say.
What exactly is it that Newsom wants to impose on the rest of the country through his proposed 28th Amendment?
First, the federal minimum age for purchasing a firearm would increase from 18 to 21. There would be mandatory universal background checks for all weapons purchases, a national waiting period would be established for all gun purchases, and a blanket ban on so-called “assault weapons” would be implemented.
Essentially the same system that is currently institutionalized in California.
Even further, the proposed amendment would clear a path for Congress, state, and local governments to put even harsher measures in place. That is another key plank in the anti-gun platform — a blank check for anti-gun zealots to pursue their ultimate goal of carving the Second Amendment down to nothing.
Supporters note that the Second Amendment is not abolished under Newsom’s proposal. While that is technically true, the new law of the land would greatly infringe on constitutional freedoms in an affront to both the letter and intent of the law.
It is encouraging to observe that this 28th Amendment is merely a pipe dream by those who would ban all firearms if they had the power. It has zero chance of getting through Congress, where it needs to garner a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
Then it would go to the states for ratification, and three-quarters of them would need to approve. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the present political landscape knows that will not happen.
Still, Newsom’s proposal plants a flag and pulls back the curtain on the goals of the anti-gun crowd. In their wildest dreams, they wish to circumvent the Second Amendment — if they cannot outright abolish it — by adding their radical beliefs to the Constitution.
