One Trap Second Amendment Supporters Should Avoid

Philadelphia 1787/United States 2022 – -(AmmoLand.com)- Some Second Amendment supporters look to a constitutional convention as a means to restore our freedoms, and maybe even make the right to keep and bear arms untouchable. It’s understandable, given the mental gymnastics that a number of courts have carried out to keep bans on modern multi-purpose semiautomatic firearms from being stuck down, to name one such issue.

But let’s take a little time to review history before we urge our state legislatures to pass those resolutions calling for a convention. Because our constitution – the same one that protects our right to keep and bear arms – was never supposed to happen in the first place.

As History.com points out, what became the Constitutional Convention was actually supposed to amend the Articles of Confederation. As we now know – those of us who got an actual history education as opposed to whatever is taught in schools today – they didn’t amend the Articles of Confederation. The delegates replaced them.

The text of Article V is clear that Congress “shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments” when two-thirds of state legislatures send requests. But who would be sent to that convention? How would it be organized? What would be the process for deciding if an amendment went to the states for ratification? What would be the scope of potential amendments?

Article V doesn’t say. So, who would make the final call on the above questions? In all likelihood, it would be Congress. The same Congress currently under the control of anti-Second Amendment extremists.

In what world does allowing Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer to call the shots on the legislation that would set the ground rules for the body calling for amendments to the constitution make sense

In addition, any legislation establishing a convention to propose amendments might have to be signed by Joe Biden, so even if we had control of Congress, we’d end up negotiating with an anti-Second Amendment president. Again, do we want to do that?

Then there is the matter of the convention itself. It would be a magnet for antifa and other protesters, all trying to pressure the delegates. There would be massive media coverage, as well. Remember what NBC tried to do to Rittenhouse jurors? Expect that in spades for the delegates to any Article V convention.

Care to be that what actually emerges from such a convention is a proposal to repeal the Second Amendment? Three decades ago, an amendment proposing that was introduced in the 102nd Congress, and again in the 103rd. In the 104th and 105th Congresses, an Amendment to “clarify” the Second Amendment was proposed.

Furthermore, the gamesmanship with the Equal Rights Amendment should be another warning about what may emerge from an Article V convention. Anti-Second Amendment extremists have shown no compunction about twisting processes like civil litigation to attack the right to keep and bear arms. What could happen with this convention?

Second Amendment supporters have a much surer path to defeating anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local level: The ballot box. We need to put in the hard work to reach out to the millions of new gun owners to make that happen. The shortcut of an Article V convention is more likely to hurt than to help.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.