On NBC’s “Today” show last June, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a proposal that seemed politically impossible from the start: persuading two-thirds of the state legislatures in the U.S. to officially Call for constitutional convention to adopt national gun safety legislation,
Newsom didn’t see it that way.
“It’s possible because his constituency demands it,” Newsom said when the interviewer pointed out that more than half of the states are controlled by Republicans, who generally oppose gun restrictions.
One year later, no other states have joined Newsom’s fight.
The inability to advance gun safety proposals beyond California, even in other Democratic-controlled states, shows that — at least so far — Newsom’s plan was more window dressing than reality.
The governor’s move garnered a lot of media attention last year, bolstering his national image as a Democrat trying to do something about mass shootings and other gun violence. Newsom pointed to the findings of a report. Fox News Poll In which there was overwhelming support from voters for the restrictions.
The gun initiative gives him another opportunity to reach out to voters outside of California, increasing his national appeal as a potential future candidate for the White House, and expanding his database of political supporters before his term as governor ends in two years.
Yet Newsom will still have to grapple with the stubborn politics of the Second Amendment. Many lawmakers at the national and state levels are reluctant to stand up to a powerful gun lobby and risk being accused of trying to undermine the constitutional right to bear arms.
The governor said he expects slow progress, and said it could take 20 years to gain support for a constitutional amendment on gun control.
“Let’s just say, nobody was naïve about this,” Newsom said in a recent interview with the Times. “It’s been done before, but not recently. It will have its ups and downs. It will have its champions and it will have its failures.”
So far, the failures have been easy to spot.
Newsom’s plan would require two-thirds of states to pass a resolution supporting a constitutional convention. Through the convention, new federal gun safety measures must be approved by three-fourths of state legislatures. Newsom is calling on states to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring universal background checks on gun purchases and raising the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21. The governor also wants the gathering of states to mandate a “reasonable waiting” period for all gun purchases and prohibit the sale of assault weapons to the public.
California The MPs passed a resolution A call was made to convene a constitutional convention in September to consider the proposal.
After the California Legislature took action, the governor and his political allies began contacting other states, hoping to find lawmakers across the country who had compelling personal stories to lead the effort.
Some states have part-time legislatures, which meet annually or every other year for only a few months, and legislators told Newsom’s aides that passing the proposals this year was unlikely, an adviser to the governor said. In other states, legislators who advocate for gun control had already committed to their bill packages for 2024.
“And others clearly said, ‘Not right now,’ I mean, there are election issues,” Newsom said.
Newsom said he’s had “dozens of conversations,” but the governor and his political staff declined to name the states or individuals they’ve spoken with.
He said he has discussed the constitutional amendment in every state through his political action committee called Campaign for Democracy. He formed it to raise funds for Democrats and fight Republicans at the national level In the 2024 elections.
“That’s why we’re talking to legislative leaders in all of those red states,” Newsom said.
The previous year, a few weeks after launching his call for a constitutional convention, Newsom visits Idaho to meet with Democrats and raising money for Biden’s re-election through his political action committee.
Democrat Melissa Winthrow, the minority leader in the Idaho state Senate, said she had never spoken to the California governor.
“No, I haven’t spoken to Governor Newsom,” Winthrow said. “I don’t know if he’s been talking to anybody. I haven’t.”
Winthrow doesn’t think Newsom’s proposal has any chance of passing in Idaho.
“This is a very red state, probably one of the most conservative states in the country, with some of the tightest restrictions on abortion and things like that,” he said. “So you’re not going to see a movement to ban anything related to firearms.”
Winthrow said she wasn’t sure she could support Newsom’s proposal because, if a convention ever happened, her state would be represented by Republicans who would likely kill any amendment to restrict guns. In California, some Democrats declined to support the measure because legal scholars warned that states might be able to take up other issues beyond the scope of Newsom’s gun amendment at a constitutional convention.
There are also political realities in states like Idaho, where gun culture is so ingrained that Democrats avoid campaigning on the issue. Winthrow has introduced legislation to keep firearms from people convicted of domestic violence and another bill to keep firearms from convicted pedophiles. Both failed.
She can’t imagine a scenario where Newsom’s proposal succeeds.
“The state is not going to agree to this. It’s just not going to happen. As I said, the political climate here is such that this won’t even come up for discussion,” Winthrow said. “They’ll laugh.”
Newsom said he knows his proposal may not succeed in some Republican-controlled states. But there is no sign of it succeeding in blue states either.
Despite Newsom’s cooperation with Democratic leaders from other West Coast states Access to abortion And Curbing climate changeHowever, neither Oregon nor Washington have adopted their gun control amendment.
“Nothing of the sort has happened here,” said Aaron Wasser, a spokesman for Washington state Senate Democrats.
“There has been no discussion with Governor Newsom about this topic,” said Jen Waldref, a spokeswoman for Washington House Speaker Laurie Jinkins.
“This is not a concept that has been considered by the Oregon Legislature,” said Lucas Bezerra, a spokesman for Oregon House Democrats.
Newsom did not directly answer a question about whether a nationwide drive to restrict guns could hurt Biden’s re-election bid if Republicans claim Democrats are out to eliminate firearms. The governor said other issues such as inflation, cost of living and the economy were top of mind for voters.
Newsom reiterated that his proposal would protect Americans’ right to bear arms and focus strictly on gun safety, which most Americans support. Newsom was motivated by Congressional inaction and California’s own efforts to pass gun control laws that have been struck down by federal courts.
“That was done very thoughtfully, because it was dependent on where things actually are and where the American people are in each state,” Newsom said.
Newsom’s political adviser said lawmakers in many states are focused on their own elections or presidential races this year, forcing the governor’s team to reevaluate its strategy and timetable.
Newsom’s team focused on building support locally this year before scaling up its efforts in 2025.
“Since California passed the amendment last year, the campaign has been building an army of grassroots activists who will support national right to protections in states across the country and work with legislators on introducing bills for 2025, when the state begins a new legislative session,” Newsom spokesman Nathan Click said.
Click said the campaign has “signed up more than one million Americans to support right to safety in their states.” He said more than 1,500 people have completed volunteer training to help in their states, and 10,000 volunteers will be trained by the time bills begin to be introduced in early 2025.
Newsom’s national political committee, the Campaign for Democracy, sent an email to its fundraising members in early May seeking volunteers.
The goal set for volunteers in the email was twofold: to inspire voters across the country to elect Democrats and get the Right to Voting Amendment enacted in more states next year.
But Sanford Levinson, a professor at the University of Texas Law School, said Newsom is unlikely to mount a successful move because the Constitution is so difficult to amend.
“He’s trying to convince people that a constitutional amendment regarding guns would be a very productive way to spend their time,” Levinson said.
“No one with any knowledge of contemporary politics could truly believe that this proposal would be implemented in other state legislatures as well as nationally.”
Newsom’s statement is something like this The governor of Texas also took a similar step Once created from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
In 2016, Republican Governor Greg Abbott called a convention of the states to pass nine amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These included several conservative goals such as limiting federal power and requiring a balanced federal budget, which Abbott elaborated on 92 page plan,
Texas Legislature The proposal passed The same thing happened the next year as well. But nothing special happened after that.
“He clearly may have thought there might be some political benefit to this,” Levinson said. “But that clearly didn’t happen.”
