To date, the Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times, most recently in 1992. Now, California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a Twenty-Eighth Amendment.
Governor Newsom’s proposal would enshrine four new restrictions related to firearms:
The process of amending the Constitution is difficult, and in a polarized nation, it seems improbable that Newsom’s proposal will come to fruition. To go forward with the amendment process, Governor Newsom requires either approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress or the support of at least two-thirds (33) of the states. Newsom intends to go the route of gaining approval from state legislatures, although that will prove difficult due to the power Republicans hold in statehouses across the nation.
If the proposed Twenty-Eighth Amendment receives the necessary support to go forward, it would still require the approval of three-fourths of the states to be ratified. Only then would it take effect and officially become a part of the United States Constitution.
If the amendment process seems difficult to you, you’re correct – the framers of the Constitution purposefully made it difficult to change or add to the document. They believed that having such a long and difficult process would help ensure stability and protect the basic constitutional mechanisms established when the document was written in 1787. The difficulty of this process explains why the United States Constitution has only been amended twenty-seven times despite the fact that over 11,000 amendments have been proposed.
If you are interested in constitutional amendments, the amendment process, or other aspects of the United States Constitution, you can learn more with our free app. Download Civicly today on the Apple App Store.
Happy Learning!
The Civicly Team
