In a victory for the Convention of States movement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has dismissed all the leftist fear tactics related to using Article V of the Constitution to propose amendments.
On Thursday, Newsom shocked both liberals and conservatives when he announced a new effort to use Article V to enact gun restrictions – while claiming to protect the Second Amendment.
“I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to help end our nation’s gun violence crisis,” Newsom declared. “The 28th will enshrine 4 widely supported gun safety freedoms -- while leaving the 2nd Amendment intact.”
While the effort quickly garnered national attention, Article V-educated activists were even quicker to see through his phony endeavor. To call a convention under Article V of the Constitution, 34 states must agree to meet. Currently, 27 states have Constitutional Carry – permitless carry.
This begs the question, can Newsom do math? It’s clearly impossible to ever reach a convention on this matter, no matter what he reasons.
Newsom’s unattainable objectives include raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21; universal background checks; a “reasonable waiting period” for gun purchases; and “banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons.”
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Following an Article V convention, 38 states must ratify any proposed amendments. The vast majority of the states would never agree to these extreme ideas. The partisan effort will appear sincere to strong blue states like California and New York, but it will never garner support across the country.
"I love to see the left waste their money to virtue signal, but it tells you how much money they have if they spend it on something that has absolutely no chance of success," commented former Senator and COSA Senior Advisor Rick Santorum.
While it’s unmistakably a bogus, headline-pursuing agenda, it effectively dismisses the attacks brought against Convention of States by George Soros-affiliated organizations like Common Cause, MoveOn.org, and 250 other left-wing organizations that publicly disavow the use of Article V due to fears of a “runaway convention.” Vocal opponents like former socialist Sen. Russ Feingold and the Arabella Advisors (a Soros lobbying organization) have made it their goal to destroy attempts to rein in the federal government using Article V.
Do they oppose Newsom’s efforts using their normal “runaway” arguments? The Convention of States organization will closely monitor these leftist groups to see how they respond to the promotion of Article V by one of their own.
This brings to light a plausible explanation for Newsom’s new effort. It's possibly a false flag operation intended to crush conservative Article V efforts while deceiving his pro-gun control base.
It’s unarguably impossible for this effort to make sizable progress, but it could be intended to cause uneducated conservatives to question – even fear – any and all Article V efforts, like that of Convention of States Action. Those who know will see right through this effort. And importantly, it shows that one of America’s top leftists knows that the COS effort cannot be used to impose any gun control or negatively affect the Second Amendment. If Newsom thought it could, he’d jump in with COS and not suggest a new initiative.
Our movement is focused on returning power to the people through self-governance and transparency. We seek to enact term limits on Congress and other federal officials, fiscal restraints such as a balanced budget amendment and caps on spending and taxes, and limits to the scope and jurisdiction of the federal government. Just as we know the COS Resolution forces discussion of issues surrounding federal overreach, Newsom's amendment would force discussion of every particular aspect of his resolution.
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Currently, 19 states have passed identical resolutions calling for our specific convention, and our movement is plowing ahead with powerful momentum. Newsom is riding in on the success of COS, but we will ride him out on the success of our work to educate the grassroots.
Please support our efforts to rein in the power of the federal government by signing the Convention of States petition below.
