Cory Booker's 'sweeping' new gun reform plan might not be realistic

The policy proposals keep on coming.

On Monday, presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) released a 14-point plan to end the United States' gun violence epidemic. The plan, published on Medium, said Booker "won't wait for more thoughts and prayers," and instead will pivot to "the most sweeping gun violence prevention proposal ever advanced by a presidential candidate."

The key element of the plan is instituting federal gun licenses that would function similarly to driver's licenses. Eligibility would be determined by submitting fingerprints, providing background information, and proof that the individual completed a gun safety course. The FBI would then have to verify the information before granting firearm-purchasing power. The license would be valid for up to five years.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Booker also wants to increase regulation over gun manufacturers, require handgun microstamping — technology that identifies ammunition used in crimes that can trace shell casings specific to the gun that fired the round — and ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks.

The Medium post says Booker would attempt to implement many of these changes on his first day in office via executive order. But it could be an uphill battle to actually make the plan reality, since such an order would likely struggle to pass the constitutional test

And changing the law is probably not the most plausible scenario, either. As Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer, explains, legislatively altering a constitutional amendment is a "massive undertaking." Read Booker's full plan at Medium.