AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Senate Joint Resolution No. 7

Introduced by Senator Wahab and Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

(Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Ashby, Becker, Blakespear,
Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dodd, Durazo, Glazer, Gonzalez,
Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Padilla, Portantino,
Rubio, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, and Stern)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula,
Berman, Bonta, Bryan, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Connolly,
Mike Fong, Friedman, Gipson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Irwin, Jackson,
Kalra, Lee, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi,
Ortega, Papan, Pellerin, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Luz Rivas,
Blanca Rubio, Santiago, Schiavo, Ting, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wood,
and Zbur)

August 14, 2023

Senate Joint Resolution No. 7—Relative to a federal constitutional

convention.

legislative counsel’s digest

SJR 7, as amended, Wahab. Federal constitutional convention:
firearms.
The measure would apply to the United States Congress to call a
constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution of the
United States for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment
relating to firearms, as specified.
Fiscal committee: no.​

line 1 WHEREAS, Approximately 49,000 Americans died in 2021 as

line 2 a result of gun violence, and firearms are the leading cause of death

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line 1 for children under 18 years of age in the United States and the
line 2 most common method of both homicide and suicide, and
line 3 WHEREAS, It is estimated that there are approximately
line 4 393,000,000 firearms in civilian hands in the United States as of
line 5 2023, meaning that firearms now outnumber people in our country;
line 6 and
line 7 WHEREAS, Gun safety laws are proven to lessen the scourge
line 8 of gun violence, as evidenced by the fact that since some of
line 9 California’s most significant gun safety laws took effect in the
line 10 early 1990s, California has cut its rate of gun death in half, and
line 11 the state’s gun death rate is 39 percent lower than the national
line 12 average as of 2023; and
line 13 WHEREAS, Precedents of the Supreme Court of the United
line 14 States, including its decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol
line 15 Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022) 142 S.Ct. 2111, have limited the
line 16 ability of the states to enact and enforce reasonable restrictions on
line 17 the public carry of firearms, and prompted challenges to many
line 18 other common sense regulations, such as those allowing law
line 19 enforcement officials to assess the potential dangerousness of
line 20 individuals seeking to obtain firearms and prohibit possession of
line 21 firearms by those deemed dangerous, and those restricting
line 22 possession of certain particularly dangerous weapons, including
line 23 weapons of war; and
line 24 WHEREAS, Modern technology and capabilities, including
line 25 semiautomatic firing mechanisms, capacity, range, accuracy, and
line 26 use of specialized ammunition, of the firearms commercially
line 27 available today make them far more lethal than anything the
line 28 founders could have imagined in the 18th century, when most
line 29 weapons needed to be reloaded after every shot; and
line 30 WHEREAS, Common sense public safety regulations limiting
line 31 aspects of firearms acquisition, possession, public carry, and use
line 32 by individuals, including, but not limited to, the types of firearms
line 33 and ammunition that private individuals may possess, categories
line 34 of private individuals who may not acquire or possess firearms,
line 35 and locations where private individuals may carry firearms, as
line 36 well as procedures to ensure that individuals possessing or seeking
line 37 to acquire or publicly carry firearms will not pose a threat to the
line 38 safety of themselves or others or use a firearm in furtherance of
line 39 otherwise unlawful conduct, are proven to save lives; and

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line 1 WHEREAS, Since state leaders first announced their intention

line 2 to introduce this joint resolution in June 2023, the Supreme Court
line 3 of the United States has granted review in United States v. Rahimi,
line 4 yet another case in which a court struck down a commonsense gun
line 5 safety regulation, and the scourge of gun violence has continued
line 6 unabated, with recent mass shootings bringing tragedy to
line 7 communities across the country, further underscoring the need for
line 8 urgent action; and
line 9 WHEREAS, Amending the United States Constitution as
line 10 described herein will ensure that federal, state, and local
line 11 government can effectively pursue common sense solutions to this
line 12 deadly nationwide problem, consistent with the understanding that
line 13 throughout American history private individuals have possessed
line 14 firearms for home defense, hunting, and recreational purposes;
line 15 and
line 16 WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
line 17 requires the United States Congress to call a constitutional
line 18 convention upon application of two-thirds of the legislatures of
line 19 the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
line 20 United States Constitution; now, therefore, be it
line 21 Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
line 22 California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California,
line 23 speaking on behalf of the people of the State of California, hereby
line 24 applies to the United States Congress to call a constitutional
line 25 convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States
line 26 for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment that would
line 27 do either, or both, of the following:
line 28 (a) Affirm that federal, state, and local governments may adopt
line 29 public safety regulations limiting aspects of firearms acquisition,
line 30 possession, public carry, and use by individuals, and that such
line 31 regulations are consistent with the Second Amendment to the
line 32 United States Constitution and the understanding that throughout
line 33 American history private individuals have possessed firearms for
line 34 home defense, hunting, and recreational purposes;
line 35 (b) Impose, as a matter of national policy, the following firearms
line 36 regulations and prohibitions: (1) universal background checks as
line 37 a prerequisite to purchase or acquisition of a firearm, (2) a
line 38 prohibition on sales, loans, or other transfers of firearms to those
line 39 under 21 years of age, subject to limited exceptions, (3) a minimum
line 40 waiting period after the purchase or acquisition of a firearm before

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line 1 that firearm may be delivered to the buyer or acquirer, and (4) a
line 2 prohibition on the private possession sale, loan, or transfer of
line 3 assault weapons and other weapons of war; war to private civilians;
line 4 and be it further
line 5 Resolved, That this application is for a limited constitutional
line 6 convention and does not grant Congress the authority to call a
line 7 constitutional convention for any purpose other than those set forth
line 8 herein and that this application shall be void if ever used at any
line 9 stage to consider any constitutional amendments on subjects other
line 10 than those specified herein; and be it further
line 11 Resolved, That this application shall be considered as covering
line 12 the same subject matter as applications from other states to the
line 13 United States Congress to call a convention to propose a
line 14 constitutional amendment for each respective purpose set forth
line 15 herein and that this application shall be aggregated with such
line 16 applications for the purpose of attaining the two-thirds of states
line 17 necessary to require Congress to call a limited convention on each
line 18 respective subject, but shall not be aggregated with any other
line 19 applications on any other subject; and be it further
line 20 Resolved, That the State of California intends that this
line 21 application shall constitute a continuing application, considered
line 22 together with any applications on the respective subject that other
line 23 states have adopted or may in the future adopt, until such time as
line 24 two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention and
line 25 said convention is convened by Congress; and be it further
line 26 Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
line 27 this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
line 28 States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority
line 29 Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of
line 30 the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States
line 31 Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California
line 32 in the Congress of the United States.

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