Newsom Proposes Gun Control Constitutional Amendment

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a constitutional amendment to address the U.S.’s gun violence crisis on Thursday, reports USA Today. The 28th Amendment would raise the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21, mandate universal background checks, institute a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases and bar civilians from purchasing assault weapons. "This will guarantee states as well the ability to enact common sense gun safety laws, while leaving the Second Amendment intact, and respecting America's gun owning tradition," Newsom said in a video statement. A spokesperson for The National Rifle Association said the majority of Americans reject Newsom's "California-style gun control.”

Six in 10 Americans, including four in 10 gun owners, said controlling gun violence is more important than protecting gun rights, according to a national poll released last month. Adding a constitutional amendment requires either a two-thirds majority vote by both houses of Congress or a constitutional convention convened by two-thirds of state legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution has been proposed by a convention and the last time the Constitution was amended was in 1992. Thomas Donnelly of the National Constitution Center said the process is "meant to be difficult."