Newsom’s 28th Amendment

Re “Newsom proposes U.S. 28th Amendment on gun control,” June 9

While Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a 28th Amendment is an admirable effort to confront the gun violence epidemic, a better proposal would be to repeal and replace the 2nd Amendment through Congress and the states.

By replacing the convoluted language of the 2nd Amendment with a list of specific rules for gun ownership, gun violence can be reduced.

The country needs a national response because state laws often conflict with each other. For instance, California bans assault rifles, but a shooter can buy one elsewhere.

The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure falls on deaf ears in many states. Gun violence costs thousands of lives and injuries, as well as billions of dollars in medical bills, police investigations, lost work productivity and other related matters — not to mention the emotional toll on families.

Bob Ladendorf

Los Angeles

I think the time and energy it would take to ratify a 28th Amendment could be put to better use.

Instead of taking decades to secure approval of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states, I believe a gun summit at Camp David — with gunrights advocates, law enforcement and survivors — could hammer out new, commonsense gun safety measures soon.

Impossible, you say? Isn’t that what critics of President Carter said when he brought old warriors Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel together at Camp David in 1978?

Denny Freidenrich

Laguna Beach

Newsom should take an approach that would be entirely consistent with the 2nd Amendment’s wording.

The 2nd Amendment begins with “a well-regulated militia” — not just a militia, but a a well-regulated one. An honest interpretation would be that as long as restrictions do not impede the formation of a regulated state militia, they are permissible

My suggestion to Newsom: Allow widespread ownership of firearms, but all such arms would be held by the California National Guard and could be accessed and used only through the Guard.

David Perel

Los Angeles