The 28th Amendment-- Enough To Make Newsom President?
Today Gavin Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the Constitution, “to enshrine fundamental, broadly supported gun safety measures into law.” It doesn’t contravene the 2nd Amendment, just "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."
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.
Politico threw a little cold water on it within minutes of Newsom releasing his proposal to the media: “Getting 33 other states on board would be almost impossibly difficult. Democrats now control 20 state legislatures across the country. But Newsom, who seeded his political committee with $10 million and has spent time on the national stage trolling Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, has for years crusaded against the gun industry and reaped the political benefits in a state where voters broadly support strong curbs on firearms.”
But speaking of Politico, coincidentally, they published a piece this morning by Juan Perez, GOP’s booming support for guns is turning off millennial, Gen Z Republicans, that holds a kernel of hope for Newsom’s proposal. “A significant share of younger conservatives,” wrote Perez, reared in an age of mass violence, embrace firearm restrictions. One poll conducted by Harvard’s political institute this spring found that a clear majority of young conservatives supported mandatory psychological exams for gun purchasers. A separate, recurring survey from YouGov concluded in March that Gen Z and millennial Republicans are more likely to believe in tougher gun laws than older Republicans and that young conservatives’ support for the idea has grown in the past year. The generational disconnect suggests broader GOP opposition to gun restrictions will be a steady irritant inside a party already struggling to appeal to young voters. It could also challenge White House hopefuls and members of Congress to eventually refine their message on guns with Republican primary and general election voters, even if the concerns of young people won’t transform GOP politics overnight.”
A partisan divide and age gap on gun restrictions remains deeply embedded in American politics. Concern about mass shootings tends to spike in the aftermath of attention-grabbing attacks before fading. But access to firearms has been a bedrock principle for the GOP for decades, and polls show older Republican primary voters remain some of the strongest firearm supporters in the country. Plus, recent polling from ruby-red Texas underscores the complexity of the GOP’s internal split.
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll last month found 64 percent of all Texas Republicans supported raising the age limit on gun purchases and the concept of “red flag” laws that require people determined to be a risk to themselves or others to surrender their firearms. Republicans under the age of 45 tended to support those measures at higher rates than older party supporters, Texas Politics Project Director James Henson said after examining the poll’s underlying response data at Politico’s request.
Yet Texas legislators have considered an array of gun restrictions with little progress. Low voter turnout in the state helps create competitive GOP primaries that invite challengers eager to exploit any backlash to liberal-backed gun safety policy. Other political concerns are competing for attention and Texas conservatives overall tend to blame a wide range of factors for mass shootings— but not guns.
…[Y]oung conservative attitudes seem to be evolving nationwide in a way that some Democrats and gun safety advocates see as an opening for new policies.
Not only are a significant share of Republicans voicing support for liberal-aligned gun laws, but politicians are increasingly confronted with a cohort of young people whose lives have been marked by campus gun attacks and schoolhouse shooter drills.
No doubt Newsom sees this as a ticket to ride… all the way to the White House. As one member of the California Democratic Party Central Committee said this morning, “I didn't take this seriously but MSNBC is all over it and 2028 is coming sooner that we think.” Personally, I'm good with Newsom's proposal-- and I'll vote for it happily-- but I just want to remind readers who Gavin Newsom is:
