San Mateo County opts to back Newsom's proposed 28th Amendment

AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 28th Amendment isn’t getting the traction he probably hoped. Rather than accolades aplenty, a lot of people on the gun control side of the debate are nervous. A constitutional convention could go oh-so-many ways, and few of them are actually good for gun control.

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There also hasn’t been a lot of signs of support from within his own state, all things considered.

However, at least one county is supportive of the measure.

San Mateo County is the first California county to declare support for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to add a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment would raise the federal minimum age to buy a gun from 18 years old to 21 years old.

San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said he is tired of seeing people die from gun violence. “Congress can’t fulfill its responsibility of passing common sense gun laws,” he said.

That’s adorable.

He really thinks that Congress has a responsibility to pass gun control rather than uphold the Constitution. He really and truly thinks that.

Ain’t it cute?

Or, well, it would be if it wasn’t so tyrannical.

Look, violence is a problem. The only acceptable number of murders, for example, is zero. The same for any other violent crime. Just a single one is too many.

However, they’re going away.

What’s more, this proposed amendment isn’t going to change that, even if it were to be ratified, which it’s not. If anything would come out of a constitutional convention, it’s more likely to be something that strengthens the Second Amendment completely.

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Which is not exactly what Newsom has in mind.

But, I think that Newsom knows this won’t happen.

My guess has always been that he’s positioning himself to step in and run for president if President Joe Biden cannot run. At his age, it could be literally anything up to and including his death.

Yet he can’t run right now because Biden is still in the race. Doing so now would make it appear that he’s not a loyal Democrat. So, he’s laying the groundwork now and this amendment proposal is, in his mind, a hell of a way to start.

Plus, he’s starting with a petition. That’s a nifty tool to get names and email addresses for a campaign. Worst case scenario, he can provide those to the Biden campaign, but he also has them on hand for his eventual White House run.

Of course, missing from this discussion is that this amendment proposal is a tacit admission that the Second Amendment does not permit any of these things. I mean, if it does, why do you need an amendment specifically allowing them?

“But Congress…” someone like the San Mateo County supervisor might start, but keep in mind that regular legislation is easier to pass than a constitutional amendment, so the refusal of Congress to do something isn’t a valid reason to try something like this.

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If anything, it means it’ll be harder than just passing a law.

So yeah, this is basically an admission that none of this is permitted under the Second Amendment, but also an acknowledgment that a repeal of the Second isn’t going to happen.

San Mateo County can throw in its support, but it will change nothing.

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