California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a charge for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to take out some rights to bear arms, and Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is calling Newsom to the floor for a debate.
"Gov. Newsom, I am willing to debate you on this in Mississippi any time," Reeves wrote in a tweet Thursday. "So on your next trip to our state to campaign for my opponent, give me a call."
Newsom did not accept the debate, but he did snipe back on Twitter.
"Can't wait for you to defend the fact that Mississippi has the highest gun violence death rate in the nation…. (377% higher than California's, by the way)," Newsom shot back. "You can't be serious."
Reeves was undaunted, mocking Newsom for his hypocrisy, dining maskless at expensive Yountville, California, restaurant French Laundry during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and mask mandates foisted on the state.
"Serious as a heart attack," Reeves responded. "Let's debate taking away guns from law-abiding Mississippians while leftwing activists are using California cash to sue us to prevent police and prosecutors from operating in our capital city.
"I know you would prefer the French Laundry ... but let's do the debate at my deer camp instead!"
The firestorm began as Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to pull back the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment.
The four pillars of the gun restrictions intend to institute universal background checks, raise the firearm purchase age to 21, force a firearm purchase waiting period, and ban the civilian purchase of assault weapons.
"Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution, so today, I'm proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that," Newsom wrote in a statement. "The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support — while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America's gun-owning tradition."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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