4.

2 Write Your Own Amendment to the Constitution

Your assignment: select an issue you believe the Constitution does not currently address and
propose a new amendment, which would become the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Begin by reviewing the 27 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Use the existing 27
amendments as guides for the form and language in writing your own amendment.

Part One
The actual text of your amendment (keep this to just 3-4 sentences). Note: You cannot create an
amendment that duplicates one of the existing 27 Amendments. Also, keep the amendment
realistic and not something silly, such as “The right of citizens of the United States to free candy
bars for life shall not be denied by the United States or by any State” or “Young persons should
not have to go to school unless they get to play video games all day.”

Think about a current problem and how you would solve it with an Amendment. Below are
some current problems as thought-starters:

 Gun violence
 Illegal immigration
 Drug abuse
 Terrorism
 Poverty
 Privacy in the age of rapid technological change
 Gender inequality

The citizens of the United States of America are unable to purchase automatic weapons without
explicit governmental permission. If someone should own an automatic weapon, they must
constantly inform their State officials the location of the weapon. There are also extreme
background checks in order to buy any weapon, including a check on mental health.

Part Two
Explanation of your proposal for a 28th Amendment:
Explain what your proposed amendment will do in detail.
1. Explain why you believe it is needed and how Americans will benefit if it is ratified.

2. Indicate what opposition you expect there to be to your amendment and why. Address
what types of citizens would oppose your amendment.

3. Develop arguments to reply to the criticisms you expect about your amendment.

4. Discuss potential conflicts between personal, political, and economic rights in your
amendment: how might your amendment conflict with an existing right guaranteed by the
Constitution?
MEDIA COMPARED 2

My proposal for a 28th amendment is to have stricter gun laws, including banning specific
weapons and having deeper background checks. Automatic weapons are used in many mass
shootings across the United States. Having this amendment will make automatic weapons
unavailable to most people unless they are approved of by the state and have more lengthy
background checks. This amendment is necessary because of the number of mass shooting and
school shootings that take place each year in the United States of America. The people dying in
school shootings shouldn’t have died. The people who died in the Las Vegas shooting in 2017
shouldn’t have happened. Having stricter gun laws will lower the number of mass shootings
country wide. Some people may say that having stricter gun laws violates the second
amendment. However, this amendment wouldn’t ban guns, just make them harder to get. It
comes down to morals. What’s more important; people’s lives or having guns? Yes, the second
amendment does give American citizens the right to own weapons. But having stricter gun laws
won’t take that away, just make it safer for the average citizen.