By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Three California Democrats vying to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2024 have many things in common with the late senator, and prominent among those similarities, as revealed by an article in The Trace, is their adherence to extreme gun control.
Feinstein died last month at her home in Washington, DC.
A questionnaire send to Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee came back with identical answers to a dozen questions, including support for gun registration, requiring permits to purchase firearms, mandating so-called “universal background checks,” repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and banning so-called “assault weapons.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, in responses from each Democrat, there are no references to locking up criminals who use guns in the commission of crimes. There is no acknowledgement that the same criminals routinely ignore existing gun control laws, such as background checks and waiting periods. Only Schiff approaches going after the criminal element by stating, “we need to prioritize more data collection, and research of gun violence, of tracing and prosecuting straw purchasers and gun traffickers…”
All three would do away with the filibuster in order to push their anti-gun-rights agendas, and they would also mandate waiting periods, raise the minimum age for firearm purchases to 21 years and support a national “red flag” law.
The Trace article offers a keen insight into the thinking of anti-gun Democrats. Both Schiff and Lee support Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which would gut the Second Amendment. Many critics are calling Newsom’s proposal the “gun control amendment.” Newsom contends it does not hurt the Second Amendment.
Porter, however, offers a different perspective, according to The Trace article.
“While I strongly support the policy goals within the proposed amendment,” Porter replied, “I believe that this proposed constitutional amendment could, in fact, limit our ability to implement other policies that would keep people safe from gun violence.”
She contends that if someone “concedes that it takes a constitutional amendment to ban assault weapons,” it might open the door for Second Amendment advocates to successfully argue other proposed restrictions must also require constitutional amendment.
It’s an argument one might say admits—without actually admitting—that the Second Amendment means what it says.
She said this could “hamstring Congress and state legislatures from passing gun safety laws.”
Feinstein was one of Capitol Hill’s most ardent gun prohibitionists. Thanks to The Trace, California voters now understand the three leading contenders to fill her empty seat are eager to continue her legacy.
