Firearms Policy Coalition: ‘F-You’ Gov. Newsom

In June, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who pretends he isn’t running for President, proposed a 28th Constitutional Amendment to restrict gun national rights:

“Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution. 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.”

I haven’t talked to anyone yet who believes this will “leave the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”

“Today, the California State Senate’s Committee on Public Safety has voted to pass Governor Newsom’s tyrannical push to spread the California-style disarmament agenda across the nation,” the Firearms Policy Coalition said.

The rest of the Firearms Policy Coalition press statement is powerful and priceless:

Governor Newsom’s unabashed pursuit to stifle the rights of countless peace-loving Americans presents a stark awakening for those who stand against authoritarianism and undue state aggression.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed laws to reduce sentence enhancements for the purpose of reducing prison sentences because of “extreme racial disparities.” He is emptying out California’s prisons. His budget even calls for emptying out four more prisons rather than funding them, the Globe reported in July.

Newsom’s four proposed new gun control measures would:

• Raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
• Mandate universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
• Institute a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
• Bar 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.

“Newsom shows an astounding lack of leadership by once again attacking the law abiding Gun owner rather than tackle the hard stuff such as crime control, the fentanyl crisis, homelessness and the multi year state budget deficits,” Rick Travis, Director of Government Affairs for the California Rifle & Pistol Association told the Globe in June.

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) weighed in on Gov. Newsom’s plan to adopt a new constitutional amendment on gun control:*

“Newsom’s proposal is a poorly thought out, attention-seeking stunt from a governor desperate to distract from his ever-growing record of failure. If Newsom is this disinterested in leading California, he should let the Lieutenant Governor take over so he’ll be free to chase the national spotlight full-time.”

“The Second Amendment is about America’s freedom: the freedom to protect oneself, family, home, and homeland,” District Judge Roger Benitez wrote in 2021 for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. “California’s assault weapon ban disrespects that freedom.”

Judge Benitez threw out California’s 32-year ban on assault weapons, while also clarifying the deliberate and incorrect use of the label “assault weapon.” In the case of the AR-15, “AR” stands for “Armalite Rifle,” named after the company that developed it, the Globe reported in July.

Democrats are fearful that Newsom’s Constitutional Amendment will trigger a Constitutional Convention: “members of his own party who worry it could open a Pandora’s box of prospective changes to the U.S. Constitution,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “Twenty-nine state legislatures in the U.S. are controlled by Republicans, and in recent years Republicans have been the ones calling for a constitutional convention.”

Newsom’s claim that his proposed Constitutional Amendment will “leave the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition” is just more Newsom using words without conviction. This was his reaction to Judge Benitez’s ruling overturning California’s assault weapons ban:

Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the decision, calling it “a direct threat to public safety and the lives of innocent Californians, period.”

Gov. Newsom also called the judge a “wholly-owned subsidiary of the gun lobby and the National Rifle Association,” and said, “We need to call this federal judge out. He will continue to do damage. Mark my words.”

Benitez continued, blasting the state and Attorney General:

“This case is not about extraordinary weapons lying at the outer limits of Second Amendment protection. The banned ‘assault weapons’ are not bazookas, howitzers, or machine guns. Those arms are dangerous and solely useful for military purposes,” his ruling said. “Instead, the firearms deemed ‘assault weapons’ are fairly ordinary, popular, modern.”

No one thinks Newsom’s 28th Constitutional Amendment proposal is sincere or substantive; it is just another way for Newsom to gain the media he needs as desperately as a junkie needs a fix.

I do believe the Firearms Policy Coalition got it right in their response to passage of Newsom’s SJR-7:

And to all tyrants, like Gavin Newsom and his legislative co-conspirators, that push these immoral and unjust policies, we say simply this: “Fuck you. No.”