Three Proposed Amendments to the United States Constitution

Jared Morisue-Lesser

Intro to American Govt

3/28/2021

Gun Restrictions

Amendment:
Note: A portion of the 2nd Amendment would be superseded by this amendment.
Section 1. To protect our citizens, specific licensing requirements must be passed
before acquiring a firearm. The requirements would include passing a firearm safety
course and submitting an application to the police for a background check. The check
would include the FBI database, local law enforcement agencies, and the local
department of mental health to ensure that citizens are legally qualified and fit to own a
firearm.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Reasoning:
The number of mass shootings in the United States is growing and we need new gun
reform to prevent this. Dangerous people have been able to acquire guns which is why
our current background checks are not enough. These background checks are not
required if guns are bought from an unlicensed dealer (private sellers). Furthermore,
when bought from licensed sellers, these background checks only catch dangerous
people who have criminal records and not dangerous people without criminal records.
Background checks use an outdated FBI database that allowed the Charleston church
shooter (Dylann Roof) in 2015 to purchase a gun.

Current Systems:
There are many systems in place both in the United States and internationally that have
helped prevent gun deaths. The way that has proven to be the most effective in
preventing gun homicides and suicides is a “licensing system.”
● California - Implemented a background check law. This law was “not associated
with changes in firearm suicide or homicide” (Marshall). This shows how
background checks do not stop dangerous people from purchasing guns.
● Massachusetts - You need to take a firearm safety course and submit an
application with references and your fingerprints so the police can perform their
own background check. Not only is the FBI database checked but so are all local
law enforcement agencies in the area where you live. They are directly contacted
and so is the local department of mental health.
● Connecticut - Implemented a gun licensing system similar to Massachusetts and
both gun homicides and suicides greatly decreased.
● Missouri - Used to have a licensing system but they repealed it, causing a

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 massive spike in gun suicides and homicides.
● 12 states and the District of Columbia - Established a licensing system.
● Australia - Gun owners are required to demonstrate a “genuine need” for a
particular type of gun, which does not include self-defense. They also need to
take a firearm safety course. This has caused Australia to only have 229 gun
deaths in 2019 while the United States had 39,682 (Alpers & Picard).

Biggest Barriers:
The biggest barrier to passing this amendment would be from republican
congresspeople and their constituents in majority republican states who support the
current second amendment. Many Republicans might disagree with very strict gun
control laws which is why I am not planning to try to ban all guns. 68% of gun-owning
households and 77% of all Americans support licensing which will make it an option in
the foreseeable future (Marshall). The proposed licensing process takes about three
weeks and 97% of people pass. This system would not stop any law-abiding citizens
from obtaining a firearm. This would only screen out people who should not have guns
and create a system that reduces impulsive gun purchases.

Ending the Electoral College

Amendment
Note: A portion of the 12th Amendment would be superseded by this amendment.
Section 1. The person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be
elected as the President if such a number be a majority of the voting population.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Reasoning:
If the Electoral College had not been created then no one today would consider creating
it. The Electoral College’s primary goal has always been to create malapportioned
political power. The consequences of it have been terrible. It gave the Three-Fifths
Clause (counting slaves as population towards taxes and voting) power to elect the
president even though African-American people were still enslaved. After the Civil War,
every person counted as a full person for apportionment purposes which largely only
benefitted white male power-holders until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Present Practices:
Very similar situations are happening currently where the state’s numbers of electors
are based on total population, not actual voters. This gives the states no incentive to
enfranchise new groups of people or to make voting easier for those eligible. It is
systematically harder for people of color to get registered to vote which has allowed
states to take advantage of them. This was similar to the time before the Voting Rights
Act. Five of our past presidents had won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote.
Our current governing body would be similar if we eliminated the Electoral College. A
popular vote is needed to provide a greater balance for the voting population and to
eliminate the ability of large population centers to dominate elections.

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Past Attempts:
Over the history of our country, there have been at least 700 proposed amendments to
modify or abolish the Electoral College, more than any other subject of Constitutional
reform. The closest the country has ever come to abolishing the Electoral College was
after Governor George Wallace’s presidential campaign nearly threw the 1968 election.
He planned to get enough votes to prevent any candidate from reaching 270 electoral
votes thus kicking the decision to the House. Though his plan failed, his near-miss was
enough to spur Congress to action. However, they ultimately decided not to abolish the
Electoral College.

Current Electoral Colleges:

Most countries do not have an electoral college. Some of the exceptions are India,
Madagascar, Myanmar, and Pakistan. Out of the countries that have ever had electoral
colleges, nine of them have abolished them including South Korea, Finland, and
France.

Biggest Barriers:
The biggest barrier would be from Republicans where only 23% oppose the Electoral
College. According to Gallup.com, 83% of Democrats want to abolish the Electoral
College (Brenan). It is important to note that there are some very notable exceptions
being Donald Trump (Republican) and Joe Biden (Democrat). Trump opposes the
Electoral College while Biden is in favor of it. About 61% of all Americans oppose the
Electoral College which shows that this has a high possibility of becoming an
amendment in the future.

Equal Protections

Amendment:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied by the United States or
by any State on account of sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, social position, or disability [herein referred to as minorities].
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Reasoning:
The Equal Rights Amendment is necessary because the Constitution has never been
interpreted to guarantee the rights of minorities to be equal to straight white men. The
only right that is explicitly guaranteed to people of color and women in the United States
Constitution is the right to vote. The current equal protection clause of the 14th
Amendment was first applied to sex discrimination and does not cover discrimination
caused by racism, homophobia, or any other type of prejudice. This amendment would
provide a clear judicial standard for addressing cases of discrimination including hate
crimes, workplace discrimination, and institutionalized prejudice. Many states do not
have equal rights laws. This amendment would ensure that all federal and state courts
would be consistent in their rulings on cases of discrimination. Additionally, this would

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defend the major advances our country has made against all discrimination.

Current Attempt:
Currently, there is a proposed amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The
first section of their proposed amendment says “Equality of rights under the law shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The
proposed amendment is similar to mine but theirs does not include the ban of
institutionalized discrimination against other minority groups. The Constitution should
specifically guarantee equal rights for all minorities.

International Laws:
A majority of constitutions explicitly protect equal rights or prohibit discrimination on the
basis of gender (85%), race or ethnicity (76%), and religion (78%) (The Partisan Divide).
A growing number of laws in other countries also cover disability, social position,
migration status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. My proposed amendment
would cause the United States to be aligned more with other countries in not only
ensuring women’s rights, but also the rights of other minority groups.

Biggest Barriers:
Similar to my other proposed amendments, I think the biggest barrier would be
republicans who do not approve of equal rights within any of the minority groups listed
in my amendment. Within the Republican party, 47% of people do not approve of
homosexuality, 34% believe that the obstacles facing women are largely gone, and 86%
do not believe that racial discrimination is the main reason why black people cannot get
ahead in our society (The Partisan Divide). These statistics show that this would be the
most difficult amendment to pass since it has the least bipartisan support.

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 Work Cited

Alpers, Philip and Michael Picard. 2021. United States — Gun Facts, Figures and
the Law. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney.
GunPolicy.org, 22 February. Accessed 28 March 2021. at:
https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states

Brenan, Megan. “61% Of Americans Support Abolishing Electoral College.”

Gallup.com, Gallup, 23 Mar. 2021,
news.gallup.com/poll/320744/americans-support-abolishing-electoral-colleg
e.aspx.

Brockell, Gillian. “Of the 700 Attempts to Fix or Abolish the Electoral College, This
One Nearly Succeeded.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 Dec. 2020,
www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/12/04/abolish-electoral-college-geor
ge-wallace-trump-bayh/.

Chafetz, Josh. “Why We Should Abolish the Electoral College.” The New York
Times, 17 Mar. 2020,
www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/books/review/let-the-people-pick-the-preside
nt-jesse-wegman.html.

“Electoral College.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Feb. 2021,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_college#:~:text=Other%20countries%20with
%20electoral%20college,chosen%20by%20an%20electoral%20college.

Equal Rights Amendment, 2018, www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq.

“Equal Rights and Discrimination.” WORLD Policy Analysis Center,

www.worldpolicycenter.org/topics/equal-rights-and-discrimination/policies.

Margraf, Rory. “5 Constitutional Amendments Americans Should Consider ASAP:

Rory Margraf.” FEE Freeman Article, Foundation for Economic Education, 5
Mar. 2020,
fee.org/articles/5-constitutional-amendments-americans-should-consider-as
ap/.

Marshall, Madeline. The Gun Solution We're Not Talking About. YouTube,
YouTube, 11 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENw2y0ek1Jg.

Stanglin, Doug. “How Gun Laws in a Dozen Countries Compare with New
Zealand's New Ban on Semiautomatic Weapons.” USA Today, Gannett
Satellite Information Network, 24 Mar. 2019,
www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/03/22/new-zealand-mosque-shootings-
how-12-countries-compare-weapons-ban/3235123002/.

“The Bill of Rights: What Does It Say?” National Archives and Records
Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, 24 July

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 2020, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights/what-does-it-say.

“The Constitution: Amendments 11-27.” National Archives and Records

Administration, 12 Jan. 2021,
www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27.

“The Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider.” Pew Research Center
- U.S. Politics & Policy, Pew Research Center, 28 Aug. 2020,
www.pewresearch.org/politics/2017/10/05/the-partisan-divide-on-political-val
ues-grows-even-wider/.

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