Given his state’s awful fiscal policy, I generally don’t have anything nice to say about Gavin Newsom, California Governor.
And I don’t like his proposal to amend the Constitution to weaken gun rights, which is our topic for today.
But I give him credit for trying to do the wrong (and ineffective) thing in the right way.
Unlike other leftists, who want to enact laws to limit the right to keep and bear arms, Gov. Newsom is proposing a 28th Amendment to achieve those misguided goals.
I suspect his proposal primarily is designed to help his presidential ambitions, but let’s treat it as a serious idea.
Caroline Downey describes Newsom’s new initiative for National Review.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would enshrine gun restrictions nationwide… The longshot proposal, which Newsom announced on Thursday, would increase the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, mandate universal background checks, impose a waiting period for all gun purchases, and prohibit civilians from acquiring so-called assault weapons. …The liberal California governor hopes that the enactment of the 28th amendment will pave the way for more stringent gun regulations nationally, and at the state and local level.
I don’t like this proposed amendment, especially the ban on “assault weapons.”
As discussed more than 10 years ago, these guns function the same as ordinary rifles. The only difference is that they look scary to some people.
Which means Newsom’s proposal will give politicians and bureaucrats the power to dictate the cosmetic appearance of guns. Or it could be an opening to ban just about every gun.
There’s also a practical issue. As explained in the second half of this Reason video, confiscating tens of millions of guns would be very impractical. If not downright destabilizing and dangerous.
P.S. I have three IQ tests (here, here, and here) on gun control for my left-leaning friends.
