Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore proposed a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution on Sunday, saying that the American people should be afforded the right to be kept safe both from gun violence and the fear it could affect their lives.
Moore proposed a 28th Amendment to the Constitution — which he said would repeal and replace the 2nd Amendment — and laid out a detailed description of what that new amendment would entail.
My version of a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would repeal and replace the 2nd Amendment:
THE 28th AMENDMENThttps://t.co/0SRexdqO9b
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 10, 2022
“The inalienable right of a free people to be kept safe from gun violence and the fear thereof must not be infringed and shall be protected by the Congress and the States. This Amendment thus repeals and replaces the Second Amendment,” Section 1 of Moore’s proposed amendment read.
Section 2 outlined the restrictions that would be imposed for the few situations in which legal firearms could be acquired: a national registry and licensing program that would allow firearms to be used for hunting, target shooting, and — in very limited cases where people could demonstrate a legitimate need — self defense. Section 2 also proposed an extensive background check, including a mental health check and interviews with partners and exes — and a mandatory one-month waiting period.
Section 3 called for a written test and a firearm safety course — which would be required on an annual basis — and Section 4 raised the minimum purchase age to 25.
Section 5 listed the firearms — including some that have not yet been invented — that would be banned under the proposed amendment.
“All automatic and semi-automatic weapons and all devices which can enable a single-shot gun to fire automatically or semi-automatically”
“Any weapon that can hold more than six bullets or rounds at a time or any magazine that holds more than six bullets”
“All guns made of plastic or any homemade equipment and machinery or a 3D printer that can make a gun or weapon that can take a human life”
Moore’s amendment also called for Congress to regulate the types and amounts of ammunition that would be legal for purchase — in addition to gun storage, body armor, and gun sights, among other things.
Police officers, according to Section 7, would be allowed to continue to train and use firearms but would be subject to constant monitoring and stripped of their firearms — and their jobs — if they were found to be racist or violent at any time.
The final section demanded that anyone who already owned a firearm banned under his propose plan would have one month from its ratification to surrender it for destruction.
The responses to Moore’s proposal poured in:
- @philthatremains: “This is really, really stupid. His vision for an amendment allows for abuse that would effectively remove all limitation from the federal government. He’s even got a special carve out for thought crime.”
- @byronyork: “Really kind of amazing. Draconian, as one would expect. And long — longer than 14th Amendment. Just say the moviemaker hasn’t mastered the constitutional amendment style.”
- @michaelmalice: “They’re in fullblown fanfic mode now, completely untethered to reality it’s so glorious to watch the only thing close to this was the people arguing in 2017 how Hillary could still become president.”